Playoff Expansion

The Rose Bowl was blocking the negotiations but has backed off their hardline stance for guarantees, reports Sports Illustrated. That means we will have an expanded playoff sooner than later.

For CUSA, that does not mean too much right now. The idea will be that the six highest-ranked champions will get a bid, and the rest will battle it out for the other spots by ranking. This is the current playoff ranking.

UTSA social media fans have been angling for a ranking in the CFBP but considering that the two title team contenders have a combined 0-3 record against the mid-tier of the AAC, this year the playoff would not include the winner of the league. For the last few years, the champion has simply been the best of a weak bunch. Last year’s UTSA squad did beat Illinois, Memphis, and UNLV. That’s not quite a murderer’s row but they probably could have made an argument that they should be higher. The loss to UNT in Denton really hurt the ranking at the time.

All of that is to simply illustrate the point: CUSA as currently perceived is not going to put the top-6 champion in the CFPB.