The 2024 season marks the first time 12 teams will compete in the College Football Playoff, and that expansion is structured in a way to ensure at least one squad hailing from the conferences that comprise “Group of Five” will have the chance to play for a title.
Getty Image
The new College Football Playoff structure states the five highest-ranked conference champions will automatically secure a spot, and with the Power Five turning into the Power Four in the wake of the collapse of the Pac-12, that means one G5 team is ensured a postseason opportunity this season.
The G5 is comprised of the AAC, Mountain West, Conference USA, MAC, and Sun Belt, and as things currently stand, there are a handful of teams under those umbrellas who have the best shot of punching their ticket when everything is said and done.
Boise State
Getty Image
As things currently stand, it would appear the College Football Playoff spot is Boise State’s to lose, as the 6-1 Broncos are currently the highest-ranked G5 team after ending up at #15 in the latest AP Poll.
Most people seem to think they’ll end up facing off against UNLV in the Moutain West conference championship game, but there’s still plenty of football to be played.
Army
Getty Image
Army is sitting at 7-0 and ranked at #21, and the Black Knights have looked pretty impressive this season while dispatching every opponent by a minimum of 17 points thanks in no small part to the play of QB Bryson Daily.
2024 marks Army’s first year as a member of the AAC, and there are a number of teams they could end up facing off against in the conference championship.
They’ll likely enter that contest with a single loss barring an upset of Notre Dame, but if they can dispatch the Fighting Irish at Yankee Stadium, they’ll almost certainly be representing the G5 in the College Football Playoff.
Navy
Getty Image
Army isn’t the only service academy that’s managed to hold its own on the gridiron this year, as the Midshipmen got off to a 6-0 start before running into a Notre Dame team that didn’t have any trouble dispatching them last weekend.
Their showdown with Tulane on November 16th is the biggest game left on the schedule, and there’s a chance we could get an Army-Navy game two weeks in a row if the bitter rivals end up meeting in the AAC Championship (it’s worth noting the annual showdown slated for December 14th won’t be taken into consideration by the College Football Playoff Committee, as the 12 teams that make the cut will be announced prior to the game).
Tulane
Getty Image
Speaking of Tulane, the Green Wave are 6-2, undefeated in AAC conference play, and got 28 votes in the most recent AP Poll that put them on the cusp of the Top 25.
Those two losses came at the hands of Kansas State and Oklahoma, and while there’s a solid chance they’ll win their last four games prior to the AAC championship, they’ll have their work cut off for them in the aforementioned contest with Navy before closing out the season against Memphis.
Memphis
Getty Image
Speaking of Memphis, the Tigers are 7-1 and received 34 votes in the most recent AP Poll but did suffer a setback with a 56-44 loss to Navy in September that serves as the lone but notable blemish on their résumé.
At the end of the day, every AAC team’s College Football Playoff hopes largely hinge on Boise State’s performance to close out the season, but things could get very interesting if the Broncos hit a snag.
UNLV
Getty Image
UNLV is a bit of a dark horse after falling to 6-2 with a loss to Boise State in a game it really needed to win last weekend, but there’s still a chance the two teams end up meeting in the Moutain West conference championship.
The Rebels would probably need to win the four remaining contests on their schedule and get the win in that revenge game to punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff, but it’s still in the realm of possibility.
Louisiana
Getty Image
Louisiana-Lafayette would need the stars to align to end up representing the G5 in the College Football Playoff, but the Ragin’ Cajuns are 7-1 (their lone loss came to Tulane) and the only team that’s currently undefeated in Sun Belt conference play.
They’d all but certainly needed to extend their current five-game winning streak to ten (which would include a win in the conference championship) while relying on the other teams on this list to cannibalize each other, but there’s a slim glimmer of hope.