G6 Playoff Talk

[UD '01 grad]

Segment starts around 14:48.

https://youtu.be/2IdSQxcOV5g?si=6S72KBUlH2sIWgAr

"The bowl in Mobile" is referenced.

[Hensfansince03]

Interesting. This would essentially (officially) make the G6 a level between FCS and the Power 4 which makes sense. In terms of UD what do you think? This is where UD with its resources could be competitive and a playoff could generate additional games, fun matchups, and excitement. Any thoughts?

[Gannonfan]

I've never been a fan of this. Why celebrate that we're less than? We moved up to FBS to be part of the highest level of football. Make sure we get representation in the real DI playoff (which Tulane and JMU did last year), and other than that I'm fine with a bowl to end the season for those not making it. Part of the attraction of FBS football was to make the regular season really attractive and exciting and to play the exciting teams during the regular season. There's a reason why things like the NIT and the CBI in basketball have faded over the years - competing to be the best of the middle of the pack just doesn't create that much excitement, especially year after year.

[Fightinghens2025]

I've never been a fan of this. Why celebrate that we're less than? We moved up to FBS to be part of the highest level of football. Make sure we get representation in the real DI playoff (which Tulane and JMU did last year), and other than that I'm fine with a bowl to end the season for those not making it. Part of the attraction of FBS football was to make the regular season really attractive and exciting and to play the exciting teams during the regular season. There's a reason why things like the NIT and the CBI in basketball have faded over the years - competing to be the best of the middle of the pack just doesn't create that much excitement, especially year after year.

I agree with this take. Well, in our minds, we know that we are a lower level FBS team right now( a lot of the players are comparable to what the old FCS used to be) you’re playing at the highest level and that’s what this move was supposed to be about.. not watering things down again

[Baltimore Hen]

I've never been a fan of this. Why celebrate that we're less than? We moved up to FBS to be part of the highest level of football. Make sure we get representation in the real DI playoff (which Tulane and JMU did last year), and other than that I'm fine with a bowl to end the season for those not making it. Part of the attraction of FBS football was to make the regular season really attractive and exciting and to play the exciting teams during the regular season. There's a reason why things like the NIT and the CBI in basketball have faded over the years - competing to be the best of the middle of the pack just doesn't create that much excitement, especially year after year.

well, because we ARE less than? perhaps? Its delusional to think otherwise. that and the fact that the bowl season is on life support is what makes a G6 playoff make sense. the Haves are going to ensure at some point that the Have Nots are not eligible for the playoff in the near future...They do not want TUlane and JMU in the playoffs and they all made that clear last fall!

and stop trying to equate football to the NCAA basketball tournament. Basketball is a massive tournament with wide representation from major and mid major schools and after that, yes the NIT and CBI are forgotten...Football? you will NEVER see a cinderella run like basketball...hell you may never see it in basketball anymore with player movement...The Bowl season is ALREADY the NIT or CBI. Nobody watches or cares now that theres a playoff...

[dchen]

P4 = High Major
G6 = Mid Major
FCS = Low Major

[Gannonfan]

I've never been a fan of this. Why celebrate that we're less than? We moved up to FBS to be part of the highest level of football. Make sure we get representation in the real DI playoff (which Tulane and JMU did last year), and other than that I'm fine with a bowl to end the season for those not making it. Part of the attraction of FBS football was to make the regular season really attractive and exciting and to play the exciting teams during the regular season. There's a reason why things like the NIT and the CBI in basketball have faded over the years - competing to be the best of the middle of the pack just doesn't create that much excitement, especially year after year.

well, because we ARE less than? perhaps? Its delusional to think otherwise. that and the fact that the bowl season is on life support is what makes a G6 playoff make sense. the Haves are going to ensure at some point that the Have Nots are not eligible for the playoff in the near future...They do not want TUlane and JMU in the playoffs and they all made that clear last fall!

and stop trying to equate football to the NCAA basketball tournament. Basketball is a massive tournament with wide representation from major and mid major schools and after that, yes the NIT and CBI are forgotten...Football? you will NEVER see a cinderella run like basketball...hell you may never see it in basketball anymore with player movement...The Bowl season is ALREADY the NIT or CBI. Nobody watches or cares now that theres a playoff...

Still plenty of people watching bowl games despite your belief that they're on life support.

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-rele ... e-2015-16/

And just for reference, using the same source, here's the numbers for the FCS playoffs.

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-rele ... mpionship/

I'm not sure the NIT title game even had a million viewers this year based on what I found.

Clearly, based on numbers, a 6-6 Delaware team got to play in a bowl game that attracted as many people as an FCS quarterfinal game (round of 8 ). And we didn't have to suffer through watching a steady diet of Bryant and Campbell and Hampton, among others throughout the season. If and when there is no avenue into the real college football playoff (and there hasn't been a proposal yet that closes the door on that) and if bowls do die out (and people have been predicting their demise for 20 years and yet, here we are, with 33 non-CFP bowl games being played with millions of people still watching them) then we can have a playoff among the lesser teams to determine who the best lesser team is.

We just had the best season probably ever in terms of student attendance, we saw a real resurgence in fan excitement, and probably more people saw Delaware football last year than in a very long time, and it was all because we were playing football at the highest level in the sport. No one is pretending the CUSA is on equal footing with the Big 10, and we have no shot to win the national title. But we're in a far better place now than we've been in a long time, and trying to keep moving forward is a lot more exciting and will bring more passion that just parking where we are again and celebrating being less than.

[Baltimore Hen]

I've never been a fan of this. Why celebrate that we're less than? We moved up to FBS to be part of the highest level of football. Make sure we get representation in the real DI playoff (which Tulane and JMU did last year), and other than that I'm fine with a bowl to end the season for those not making it. Part of the attraction of FBS football was to make the regular season really attractive and exciting and to play the exciting teams during the regular season. There's a reason why things like the NIT and the CBI in basketball have faded over the years - competing to be the best of the middle of the pack just doesn't create that much excitement, especially year after year.

well, because we ARE less than? perhaps? Its delusional to think otherwise. that and the fact that the bowl season is on life support is what makes a G6 playoff make sense. the Haves are going to ensure at some point that the Have Nots are not eligible for the playoff in the near future...They do not want TUlane and JMU in the playoffs and they all made that clear last fall!

and stop trying to equate football to the NCAA basketball tournament. Basketball is a massive tournament with wide representation from major and mid major schools and after that, yes the NIT and CBI are forgotten...Football? you will NEVER see a cinderella run like basketball...hell you may never see it in basketball anymore with player movement...The Bowl season is ALREADY the NIT or CBI. Nobody watches or cares now that theres a playoff...

Still plenty of people watching bowl games despite your belief that they're on life support.

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-rele ... e-2015-16/

And just for reference, using the same source, here's the numbers for the FCS playoffs.

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-rele ... mpionship/

I'm not sure the NIT title game even had a million viewers this year based on what I found.

Clearly, based on numbers, a 6-6 Delaware team got to play in a bowl game that attracted as many people as an FCS quarterfinal game (round of 8 ). And we didn't have to suffer through watching a steady diet of Bryant and Campbell and Hampton, among others throughout the season. If and when there is no avenue into the real college football playoff (and there hasn't been a proposal yet that closes the door on that) and if bowls do die out (and people have been predicting their demise for 20 years and yet, here we are, with 33 non-CFP bowl games being played with millions of people still watching them) then we can have a playoff among the lesser teams to determine who the best lesser team is.

We just had the best season probably ever in terms of student attendance, we saw a real resurgence in fan excitement, and probably more people saw Delaware football last year than in a very long time, and it was all because we were playing football at the highest level in the sport. No one is pretending the CUSA is on equal footing with the Big 10, and we have no shot to win the national title. But we're in a far better place now than we've been in a long time, and trying to keep moving forward is a lot more exciting and will bring more passion that just parking where we are again and celebrating being less than.

still does not change that WE ARE LESS THAN. NOBODY sees UD nor CUSA remotely on the same playing field of THe power 4...Hell CUSA isnt even seen on the same playing field as some G6 programs. At the end of the day, Nobody wanted Tulane or JMU in the playoffs last year. it was widely panned across all platforms and only really embraced by those with G6 interest. Make no mistake that the token berth will disappear as they continue to tweak the format. as far as bowl season on life support, more and more teams/players will opt out in years to come as we saw last year. 10 schools opted out of bowl games and star players opted out as well. Jacksonville St rode their star running back into the bowl last season only for him to sit while he entered the portal. its not my opinion, the writing is on the wall and Everyone sees it. Hell My cousin lives in Mobile and had NO IDEA that there was a bowl game being played that Wednesday in September...And they went to Auburn and are huge College football fans! the focus has been squarely put on the playoff both by the major networks AND the power players in College football.

It's ok, you like others want to feel important because UD football can now say FBS and I get it, but UD football is important to us and CUSA and thats about it. there will never be an 80K stadium on South College, we will never be playing for a national championship at the power 4 level. and as the bowl system dies its slow agonizing death, we will just be playing for the CUSA title or whatever conference we find ourselves in as the ever shifting dominoes fall.... We are FBS, but do not confuse that with being at the top level of college football. Thats P4.....

[VIKING '87]

I for one would rather play for something other than a "toilet bowl." if Every conference winner got to play in the post season, that would be fine. But, the P4 are not our peers. So, the G6 doing something on it's own makes sense to me as an opportunity to play for a G6 championship.

[Info Hound]

What a fun season 2025 was!

Such a downer to read some of these comments.

With the players we have returning, another fun successful year is in the offering.

Enjoy the ride and quit worrying about things you cannot control, is my advice.

[Udforever1]

What a fun season 2025 was!

Such a downer to read some of these comments.

With the players we have returning, another fun successful year is in the offering.

Enjoy the ride and quit worrying about things you cannot control, is my advice.

Right, Info. Someone is certainly grumpy.

[Bluewyn Gold]

To be clear, Pernetti's idea is a longshot proposal at best.

Personally, I just don't see any way a G5 playoff would work financially or that there's any swell of support for this idea, and I'm not alone. This goes well beyond the silly "less than" chatter in this thread. Two conditions would have to exit for this to ever gain traction. First off, there would have to be some formal separation between one half of the FBS and the other. And secondly, there would have to be a sponsorship and media package in place to make it attractive for the G5. If those two things don't happen, there's simply no incentive for it. But the talkers will continue to talk.

I'm not terribly interested in the idea and much prefer an end of the season championship game and bowl, absent an invitation to the true FBS playoff.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/ ... r-AA22cLNb

[UD '01 grad]

Reminder, from this past winter:

Poll: What do Hens fans prefer?
Poll ended at Sat Feb 14, 2026 2:30 pm


Bowl games with outside chance to make CFP
51%
G6 playoff system with games on campus until championship.
33%
A G6 playoff that includes bowl games at neutral sites until championship.
16%
Total votes: 45

This received less than half the votes that the traditional "progress" poll receives immediately after the season is over. Pretty much an even split between bowls and playoff.

[77HEN]

It wouldn’t be the first time the Hens are late arriving in a sub classification. But with the NIL money situation, it’s probably best.

[Caldwell Chicken]

What a fun season 2025 was!

Such a downer to read some of these comments.

With the players we have returning, another fun successful year is in the offering.

Enjoy the ride and quit worrying about things you cannot control, is my advice.

Amen! It was fun! Excited for 2026 and new places to watch games.