Fixing the Group of Five: A Fun Idea to Bring Promotion-Relegation to College Football

Realignment among the Power Conferences has lessened the meaning of geography in favor of sweet, sweet dollar bills.

But that shuffling up top has also led to shuffling within the Group of Five ranks. There, the money is more scarce, but despite that, Group of Five conferences are starting to widen their geographic footprints while seeking survival. That’s led to this year where Sac State will play in the MAC and Northern Illinois playing in the Mountain West. Meanwhile, Conference-USA spans from Delaware to New Mexico State — two schools separated by more than 2,000 miles.

In this new era where schools are constantly shaking out couch cushions to find some spare change, how does it make sense for these schools already at a monstruous financial disadvantage compared to their Power Conference counterparts to send a football team 2,000 miles across the country for a game not many outside of those two school’s fanbases would have any interest in?

Well, it’s the middle of summer and Big 12 Media Days isn’t until next week. So with little going on, I’ve dived into the Group of Five and come up with a concept I think could make that level of the sport a lot more fun.

The Concept

So, I’m calling this anchor-based promotion-relegation.

There are 61 teams across the American, Mountain West, Conference-USA, Sun Belt and MAC. Each of those schools would have what I’m calling an Anchor Conference in either the Mountain West, Conference-USA, Sun Belt and MAC — which lean heavily into geography. Each year, that league’s conference champion would be promoted to the American Conference, as essentially the Group of Five’s Champion’s League. Meanwhile, the bottom four teams in the American would each be relegated back to their Anchor Conference.

If that wide view is still a little confusing, let’s break it down a little further.

Here is what I came up with among the active G5 schools in terms of Anchor Conferences. There’s some mixing and matching here, but I kept things close regionally. Another rule I gave myself is that every G5 team within a given state had to have the same anchor conference — this, hypothetically, promotes regional rivalry and interest.

Mountain West (15)
Hawaii
Sac State
San Jose State
Nevada
UNLV
Wyoming
Air Force
New Mexico
New Mexico State
UTEP
UTSA
Rice
Sam Houston
North Texas
Tulsa

Sun Belt (16)
Louisiana Tech
Louisiana
Louisiana-Monroe
Tulane
Southern Miss
Jax State
UAB
South Alabama
Troy
Kennesaw State
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
FAU
USF
FIU
Coastal Carolina

Conference-USA (16)
Missouri State
Arkansas State
Memphis
Middle Tennessee State
Appalachian State
Charlotte
East Carolina
Old Dominion
Liberty
James Madison
Navy
Delaware
Temple
Army
Buffalo
UMass

MAC (14)
North Dakota State
Northern Illinois
Western Michigan
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Ball State
Western Kentucky
Bowling Green
Miami (OH)
Toledo
Kent State
Akron
Ohio
Marshall

You might be thinking those are some big Group of Five conferences, but none of them will ever be that full because a number of schools from each would be in the American.

As for the American, I could be convinced of either a 10-team conference, where everyone plays everyone that way there is little excuse for why a team went relegated. Or, a 14-team conference split in east-west division where the bottom two from each division get dispersed back to their Anchor Conference.

For the sake of being fair, multiple teams in a given season could be sent back to the same anchor. You don’t avoid relegation because a team close to you geographically did slightly worse. This would force the Anchor Conference’s to stay on their toes in terms of scheduling, but that’s a task that is worth it, I think.

Nowadays, there isn’t much reason for the average college football fan to care about a Group of Five team’s season after a team loses one game. That’s essentially already enough for a Group of Five team to be out of College Football Playoff discussions. But in this system, every game would mean a ton in regards to climbing up the ladder or being sent back down.

You could certainly nitpick the divvying up of schools. I wasn’t thrilled about separating Buffalo from the other MAC schools, for example, but I wanted to follow my rule about teams from the state being in the same conference. That’s one example where I wouldn’t mind breaking that rule. I also think I’d prefer to keep the Carolinas together, which would take Coastal Carolina out of the Sun Belt and put it with Conference-USA. I could tinker with that all day.

What Would This Take?

I’m unsure of the Group of Five’s relationship with one another. If it’s anything like the Power Conference’s, they can’t even decide what to get for dinner.

But this would obviously take some deep collaboration among the G5 conferences. Dare I say, it would probably work best if they came together under some parent company that sells TV rights as one. How’s that for a Super League, SEC and Big Ten?

How the Money Would Hypothetically Work

As opposed to creating that map, I didn’t spend a ton of time fully understanding each Group of Five conference’s TV deal, but according to my limited research, those five league’s pay about $186 million annually to its members. For easier math and the fact that TV partners might be more intrigued by a promotion-relegation system, let’s call it an even $200 million.

The American should get the lion’s share of that, being that it’s the league teams are striving to get to. So, let’s say a 14-team American gets half of that pot, which is a little more than $7 million per team. That’s slightly better than what the American is currently doing.

There are a few ways we could go with the four Anchor Conferences.

One is that the remaining $100 million gets split evenly among the 47 schools not in the 14-team American. That would come out to about $2.1 million a school. That, according to my research, would be more than Conference-USA and Sun Belt members currently make but less than what the Mountain West and MAC are used to. But again, it would come with the caveat of if you perform well enough to make it to the American, you 3x your TV money.

Another way to split the remaining 50% would be to base it off an Anchor Conference’s number of teams in the American. If Conference-USA schools account for six of the 14 spots in the American, give them more of a cut. That would promote competition among the conferences.

Does Promotion-Relegation Make Sense with Roster Turnover?

This is a more than fair question.

Say Ball State has a big year in the MAC, gets promoted but loses all of its stars from the previous season to bigger schools. Ball State might stink the next season.

All true, but while this would be a reward for those Ball State players who returned, the real reward would be for the program. The program would benefit with more money via the TV rights. And maybe that extra boost in revenue would be the difference in keeping some of the players from the previous season.

As things stand, small programs get essentially nothing for developing a player who leaves for a bigger school. This model would at least provide some sort of reward for consistent programs.

What About the Other Sports?

I say do this in every sport.

Some schools already have programs in multiple conferences. So what if a team is a Sun Belt school in football and an American school in basketball?

Money would have to be further broken down. Ex: a school with teams in the American in football and basketball would earn more than a school with an American football team and a Mountain West basketball team. I think it’s another small headache for something that’s worth it in the end.

It does get a little weird with a school like Wichita State. The Shockers play basketball in the American but don’t have football. I don’t have a firm answer on remedying that right now, but it can be overcome, I think.

What about the Pac-12?

Yeah, I think the Pac-12 in its current form much more represents a Group of Five conference instead of a Power Five conference. But with so many teams leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12 this offseason, there has to be some sort of prestige still associated with being in the Pac-12, so I don’t know that the league would so willingly run to be a part of something like this.

Potential Tournament Idea

The Anchor Conferences’ title games would be so exciting. A win there not only gives a conference crown, but it also moves you to the American.

Those title games would also be brutal for the losers. So close, yet so far. But what if, the Anchor Conferences’ four second-place finishers played a four-team tournament for a final promotion spot? Or maybe the winner of that tournament plays the fifth-lowest team in the American and the winner of that gets the spot in the American.

There are aspects would could build off this to make it all the more fun.

I don’t think this works in the Power Conferences. Too many hoops that wouldn’t make financial sense for many schools to jump through, but I think it could make Group of Five football as interesting as it’s ever been.