Here's One Simple Reason Why The College Football Playoff Selection Process Will Change

We're in year two of the expanded College Football Playoff, and far from ending controversy, the much larger field has created new and different arguments. 

In the first year, the SEC was absolutely furious after Indiana and SMU were included over three-loss teams like Ole Miss, Alabama and South Carolina. That led to a change in criteria, meant to prioritize strength of schedule. Then this year's playoff selection courted more controversy by excluding the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in favor of SEC Championship Game loser Alabama.

Those two Group of 5 teams, the Tulane Green Wave and James Madison Dukes, both lost their games. And they weren't particularly close. Tulane had opportunities against Ole Miss, and James Madison showed resilience by playing through the final whistle. But Tulane had little hope against the Rebels offense, and Oregon averaged an insane 16 yards per play through the first half. To the point where the Ducks had scored five touchdowns in less than nine minutes. 

RELATED: Should Tulane, James Madison Blowouts Change CFB Playoff Field?

There are valid arguments that blowouts are part of college football, and more specifically, part of the College Football Playoff, even in games between power conference teams. Quality of play and close outcomes would be ideal, though even the NFL often struggles with competitive balance. Yes, the powers that be in college football would like to achieve it. But that on its own may not be enough to change the selection criteria yet again. 

But as has become abundantly clear in recent years, what actually matters in college football is money. And that is why we're likely going to see more adjustments moving forward.

Oregon Ducks tight end Jamari Johnson celebrates after a touchdown from Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore during the first quarter against the James Madison Dukes at Autzen Stadium on Dec. 20, 2025 in Eugene, Ore. Photo: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Ratings For G5 Playoff Games Were Dismal

ESPN public relations released the ratings for the first round of the College Football Playoff, and as expected, the first two games did huge numbers. 

Alabama-Oklahoma had 14.9 million viewers, peaking at over 16 million. Overall, that was the most-watched first round CFB playoff game yet. Miami's upset win over Texas A&M was right behind, at 14.8 million, though it managed an even bigger peak at over 19 million viewers. All good news so far, right? 

Well, then there's the Group of 5 games. 

The Ole Miss win over Tulane pulled in just 6.2 million viewers, peaking at 8.3 million. Oregon-James Madison was even worse, as that dropped all the way to 4.4 million with a 7.2 million peak.

Both of those last two games were on TNT, not ESPN. Still, that's a gigantic decline in viewership, and there's an obvious explanation: people were significantly less interested in those matchups than the first two games. 

Some of that isn't Tulane or JMU's fault; Ole Miss and Oregon, despite their recent success, still don't have the brand name cachet of Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, or maybe even Miami. But replace Tulane with Notre Dame, let's say, and there's no doubt that 6.2 million is much higher. Same with replacing JMU.

And that is why we're going to see changes to the selection criteria moving forward. College football, perhaps more than any other sport, runs on money. The bigger the ratings, the more money gets involved. The bigger the brand names, the bigger the ratings. 

While much of the discussion on this year's field revolved around Alabama getting in over Notre Dame, the reason why both couldn't be included was because of the criteria forcing the committee to take the five highest-ranking conference champions. Fix that, and in years like this, you'll get better matchups. And more viewers and more money. 

That's why this is going to change, and change in a hurry. Not just because of the blowout wins, but because money talks. In this sport, it talks very loudly.