Should Tulane, James Madison Blowouts Change CFB Playoff Field?
Ducks average more than 16 yards per play in Eugene rout while Ole Miss also dominates, prompting calls to limit Group of 5 teams
After the 2024-2025 edition of the College Football Playoff, there were major adjustments made to the selection criteria. Strength of schedule was given more importance, benefiting deeper conferences like the SEC, and ostensibly, the Big Ten too. The top four teams in the rankings received byes into the quarterfinals, as opposed to simply giving conference champions the first round off.
Those changes came as a result of teams like Boise State and Arizona State getting a bye, despite not having the resume or ranking of those forced to play a first round game, like the Texas Longhorns.
Well, based on Saturday's results in the 2025-2026 edition of the College Football Playoff, there's going to be a huge push for more changes to the selection process moving forward. And for good reason.
Ole Miss blew out Tulane in Oxford, 41-10. While the game was a bit closer than the score indicated, Tulane averaged nearly six yards per play, for example, the outcome was never in doubt. The Rebels racked up almost 500 yards of offense and frequently looked like they could do whatever they wanted.
With two non-Power 4 conference teams in the field, that wasn't the best start for those who want more representation from the lower ranks of college football. It got worse.
EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon Ducks tight end Jamari Johnson (9) celebrates after a touchdown during the first quarter against the James Madison Dukes at Autzen Stadium on Dec. 20, 2025. Photo: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
Ole Miss, Oregon Blowing Out Overmatched Teams
If you thought 500 yards of offense and 7.3 yards per play sounds like a dominant offensive performance, just wait until you hear what the Oregon Ducks did through the first half against the James Madison Dukes.
Oregon had the ball five times, by late in the second quarter. In those five drives, they had the ball for less than nine minutes…and scored five touchdowns. 21 plays and 349 yards, on five drives. They scored five touchdowns while averaging just over four plays per drive. And an absolutely insane 16.6 yards per play. Averaging 16.6 yards per play! Mind-blowing.
They had a 56-yard rushing touchdown. A 20-yard receiving touchdown. Then a 46-yard receiving touchdown.
Here's the total drive chart:
- 4-plays, 68 yards - Touchdown
- 5-plays, 75 yards - Touchdown
- 3-plays, 78 yards - Touchdown
- 4-plays, 63 yards - Touchdown
- 5-plays, 80 yards - Touchdown
Demolition doesn't even begin to cover it. And you can almost hear the arguments starting now that the criteria should change, to prevent this from happening again.
The current rules got Tulane and James Madison in because they were among the five highest ranked conference champions. That has to change, immediately. Because the ACC's weird tiebreaker rules prevented Miami from playing Duke, we had two teams in the field that didn't really deserve to be there. And it meant teams like Notre Dame or Vanderbilt were excluded, despite resumes that were far more impressive.
Limiting the field to one Group of 5 team would obviously not be popular with the smaller conferences. But it's hard to argue with the results. Two simply can't happen. Not just because of competitive imbalance, but for entertainment value. Diego Pavia is divisive, but he'd have been fun to watch in the playoff. Notre Dame's rushing attack or Arch Manning would have provided star power. And there's simply no comparison between the teams JMU plays on a weekly basis and the SEC or Big Ten.
It has to change.