The College Football Playoff is set to double its field to 24 teams, but not everyone is thrilled with how the new format treats the so-called Group of Six. UNLV head coach Dan Mullen is among the loudest voices pushing back, arguing that the expansion should have opened the door for more than just one guaranteed spot for the non-Power conferences.
Under the approved 24-team structure, the field will include the four Power 4 conference champions, the highest-ranked Group of Six team, and 19 at-large selections. That means the Group of Six—comprising the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and independents—still gets only one automatic bid, even though the overall field has doubled.
Mullen, speaking to reporters Wednesday, made it clear he believes that's a missed opportunity. "I think it could be great," he said. "At our level, the Group of Six at 12, we got one in. I think we should have two in. So, they doubled the number of teams. I don't know why we didn't get a second bid. If they're gonna do 24, we should have got a second bid."
To solve that, Mullen floated an unconventional idea: a mini-playoff among the top Group of Six teams to determine who earns those two automatic bids. He suggested staging it on the same weekend as the Army-Navy game, a traditional college football showcase that often stands alone on the calendar.
"During that weekend, the four top-ranked Conference Champions play each other. The winners get the automatic bids," Mullen explained, via On3. "Imagine there's no college football that weekend, or is Army–Navy going to that weekend? Right? Well, that's fantastic. They play at whatever time they play at. Play a game before, play a game after. Now, there's a couple games that weekend. Maybe, we should do that."
The idea is bold, but Mullen believes there's a market for it. "I bet someone would buy that game. We could find someone between CBS, FOX, The CW. I'm sure somebody would like some college football. NBC? Everybody's showing it right now. Amazon might like it. You don't know. All of a sudden, whoever wins those games get an extra bid. Might have to play the next week, but here we go."
While there's no indication the CFP committee is considering such a tournament, Mullen's proposal taps into a growing frustration among Group of Six programs. Many feel the expanded playoff still doesn't give them a fair shot, especially when the top teams from those conferences are often overlooked in favor of power-conference squads with more name recognition.
This isn't the first time the playoff format has sparked controversy. Criticism of ESPN's SEC bias has been a recurring theme, and the recent defense of Alabama's No. 5 ranking shows how contentious the selection process can be. Mullen's suggestion adds another layer to the debate, questioning whether the Group of Six deserves more respect in the new landscape.
For now, the 24-team playoff is set to debut in the 2026 season, but the door isn't closed on tweaks. If enough coaches and administrators rally behind Mullen's mini-playoff concept, it could gain traction. As he put it, "Only time will tell if the Group of Six gets more respect from the CFP."
