The division between the P4 and G5 teams and conferences in college football has been a division that has been slowly growing over the past few years, and that split may now be so large that separating completely may be inevitable.
The Pac 12 (2, 6, or whatever) has just announced that it will add Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, and Colorado State to the conference, bringing the conference to six teams. One may argue that the transfer from the MWC to the Pac 12 won’t do much, considering the Pac 12 will still be largely viewed as a G5 conference, but there is more to it than just that.
Pac 12 Still Has the Brand Name and Resources
Boise State in the Pac-12 gets much more credibility than in the Mountain West. The Pac-12 logo on the field will garner respect and give the team more credibility than what they currently get. That is the power of a name. It is the same thing as a Nike swoosh. Two identical products can sell for vastly different price points if a Nike logo is on one of the products.
The Pac-12 also has resources. Whether it be connections, equipment, or other factors, the Pac-12 has the ability to grow its brand and follow in ways that the Mountain West of any G5 conference ever could. No, I am not suggesting that the Pac-12 will become the SEC or even the Big 12, but if the rest of the G5 falls apart (more on that later),
Pac-12 Still Needs to Add Teams
For the Pac-12 to remain a conference, at least two teams still need to be added. There aren’t many big brands left, and the ones left probably need to come to the west side of Texas for budgeting reasons. The most likely candidates are UNLV and then perhaps UTSA or Texas State.
If you remove those six teams, what brands are left on that half of the country? Utah State? San Jose State? Hawaii? There really isn’t anyone who is going to move the needle or get common college football fans excited. This leads us to the final point.
Who Can Be Added to the Mountain West?
More FCS schools will jump to the FBS level somewhere down the line. Whether that means the MWC adding teams like North Dakota State and South Dakota State or raiding the CUSA/MAC and leaving those conferences to raid the FCS level, somewhere down the line, more FCS schools are going to be added to the FBS ranks, and it will only further dilute the quality of football at the G5 level.
As it is, it’s crazy to think that Kennessaw State and Sam Houston State are playing for the same National Championship Trophy as Alabama and Ohio State, Yet that is the world we live in. If you look at the current CUSA or Sun Belt conferences, there may be teams you’ve never even heard of, yet they are playing for the same bowl games and accolades as the SEC and Big 10 powerhouses.
The bottom line is that with NIL and the transfer portal already raiding the good players from the G5 conferences every year, it isn’t fair for G5 teams to be on the same level as P4 (P5 again?) conferences. It’s time for the two to split and have their championships.
Where Does That Leave the Pac-12?
The Pac-12 is in a very interesting place. Even with Boise State’s good history and the other schools’ being viewed as the top G5 programs, the Pac-12 will still be viewed as significantly lower than the other P4 conferences. At the same time, they are 10 times better than any other G5 conference, especially if they raid the best remaining G5 schools.
This puts them in an odd spot. Are they considered a P5 again? Are they the SEC of the G5? My guess is that they would be given P5 status but would not get a bye into the College Football Playoff, regardless of where a team finishes ranked. This would mirror Notre Dame’s same access, where the Irish can make the Playoff but can not do better than finishing with the fifth seed.
