Group of Five conferences

In college football, the term Group of Five is an informal term which refers to five athletic conferences whose members are part of NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The five conferences are American Athletic Conference (AAC), Conference USA (C-USA), Mid-American Conference (MAC), Mountain West Conference (MW), and Sun Belt Conference (Sun Belt).[1][2][3][4][5]

This article is about an informal term used in American College Football since 2014. For the group of five English-speaking nations sharing intelligence, see Five Eyes. For the emerging economies group, see Group of Five. For other uses, see G5 (disambiguation).

The Group of Five conferences are five of the ten conferences in NCAA Division I FBS. The other five FBS conferences are informally known as the Power Five.[1][2][3][5] In addition, a number of schools compete in FBS as independents in football; all except BYU and Notre Dame are considered part of the Group of Five.

The terms Group of Five and Power Five are not formally defined by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the precise origins of the terms are unknown. However, each of the ten conferences are named in the NCAA's Division I manual.[6][7][8] A notable difference between the Group of Five and Power Five are designated areas of institutional autonomy granted to member institutions of the Power Five conferences. [9][10][11]

The Group of Five is often considered disadvantaged as to the Power Five, as its constituent members do not have similar access to New Year's Six or College Football Playoff bowls. It has historically been an ongoing area of contention among NCAA Division I schools[3] since the BCS era. Since 2014, a team from one of the Group of Five conferences is guaranteed a spot in one of the New Year's Six bowls.[5]

In sports other than football (mainly basketball), conferences outside of the Power Five are known as mid-major conferences.

Current conferences and teams

The ten current FBS conferences are listed below. For the Group of Five, the football members of each conference are also listed.[lower-alpha 1] Six of the seven independent NCAA Division I FBS teams (all except full but non-football ACC member Notre Dame) are listed in a third table.(As of the 2020 football season.)

Group of Five Conferences, Divisions, Teams Group of Five Conferences, Divisions, Teams American C-USA MAC MW Sun Belt Football Members West Division East Division West Division East Division West Division Mountain Division West Division East Division Cincinnati South Florida Louisiana Tech Charlotte Ball State Akron Fresno State Air Force Arkansas State Appalachian State East Carolina Temple North Texas Florida Atlantic Central Michigan Bowling Green Hawaiʻi Boise State Louisiana Coastal Carolina Houston Tulane Rice FIU Eastern Michigan Buffalo Nevada Colorado State Louisiana-Monroe Georgia Southern Memphis Tulsa Southern Miss Marshall Northern Illinois Kent State UNLV New Mexico South Alabama Georgia State Navy UCF UAB Middle Tennessee Toledo Miami San Diego State Utah State Texas State Troy SMU UTEP Old Dominion Western Michigan Ohio San Jose State Wyoming UTSA Western Kentucky

Power Five conferences Power Five conferences Atlantic Coast Conference Big Ten Conference Big 12 Conference Pac-12 Conference Southeastern Conference

Independent Independent Teams Army BYU Liberty NM State UConn UMass

1. Two Group of Five conferences have full members that do not have football teams. Wichita State is a member of The American, while Little Rock and UT Arlington are Sun Belt members.

2020 Map of Group of Five Teams

Temple SMU Houston Navy Tulane Memphis Cincinnati Tulsa ECU UCF USF Charlotte FIU FAU LA Tech Marshall MTSU N. Texas Old Dominion Rice S.Miss UAB UTEP UTSA WKU Akron NIU Bowling Green CMU Miami (OH) Toledo WMU Ball State EMU Ohio Kent State Buffalo Air Force Boise State Colorado State Fresno State New Mexico SDSU SJSU UNLV Utah State Wyoming Nevada Louisiana Arkansas State App State Coastal Carolina GA Southern GA State ULM S. Alabama Texas State Troy This map shows NCAA Division I Group of Five FBS teams during the 2020 season. Not shown: Hawaii (Mountain West). American (blue), C-USA (green), MAC (pink), MW (orange), Sun Belt (red).

See also

• Mid-major

References

1. McMurphy, Brett (August 7, 2014). "Power Five coaches polled on games". ESPN. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
2. McMurphy, Brett (December 29, 2016). "Group of 5 officials considering playoff for non-Power 5 teams". ESPN. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
3. Solomon, Joe (January 2, 2017). "SEC commissioner explains why Group of Five should 'be careful' about playoff idea". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
4. Walder, Seth; Sabin, Paul (October 4, 2019). "Which teams would reach a Group of 5 College Football Playoff?". ESPN. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
5. Mandel, Stewart (November 12, 2012). "Big East, rest of 'Group of Five' score victory with six-bowl decision". SI.com. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
6. "4.2.1(a) Division I Board of Directors" (PDF). 2019–20 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2019. p. 21. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
7. "4.2.1(a) Division I Board of Directors" (PDF). 2018–19 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2018. p. 21. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
8. "4.2.1(a) Division I Board of Directors" (PDF). 2017–18 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2017. p. 21. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
9. "5.3.2.1 Process for Areas of Autonomy" (PDF). 2019–20 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2019. p. 33. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
10. "5.3.2.1 Process for Areas of Autonomy" (PDF). 2018–19 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2018. p. 33. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
11. "5.3.2.1 Process for Areas of Autonomy" (PDF). 2017–18 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2017. p. 33. Retrieved December 30, 2019.