How Playoff Expansion Could Launch UNLV Football Into National Title Contention

A lack of understanding of the criteria to make the current College Football Playoffs may open the door for the UNLV Rebels to find themselves as a regular fixture in a College Football Playoff system in the near future. With the Mountain West Conference looking at major realignment as five teams including the Boise State Broncos prepare to leave for the new-look Pac-12, head coach Dan Mullen has a clear path to build the Rebels into a G5 powerhouse.

With highly influential people around college football frustrated with the current playoff system due to it's lack of clarity on criteria, a 5 + 11 College Football Playoff format is gaining steam. This is a system in which the "top five conference champions and the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion receive automatic bids, and the remaining 11 spots are filled by at-large teams chosen by the selection committee." If this does become a reality, UNLV could find themselves competing for National Championships on a near yearly basis and it looks like this new format continues to gain steam. 

This is what top executives had to say to ESPN about moving to this new format at the SEC Spring Meetings:

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey

"I do think there's a need for change... How do you make those decisions? It's hard, and we trust the committee to do that, and I respect the people in there, so this isn't a criticism of the people. This is wanting to understand the decisions. We have to have better clarity on the criteria that inform those decisions."

Texas A&M Athletic Director Trev Alberts

"If we're not confident that the decision-making about who gets in and why and what are the metrics around it, it's going to be really hard for some of my colleagues to get to the nine games. We've got a timeline that's getting tight, and we recognize that. It seems like everything is coming to a head. In a way it's a little bit frustrating, in another way it feels good because eventually, it feels like we're actually going to get some of this dealt with."

UCF Athletic Director Terry Mohajir

"The construct of the CFP wasn't to give one or two conferences more value. It was supposed to be the best way to conduct a real national championship. I think a 5+11 is the best way to do that, and it gets the best teams in."

Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne

"I know last year I talked about a lot of what I read was two versus three losses, and that was concerning. Granted, ultimately, it's up to you and the play you have on the field, and you have to recognize that, but I also do believe that when you looked at the bullet points for the CFP, strength of schedule was the first bullet point listed. Trying to get some clear understanding of how is that weighed in the room is important. Our conference because of the play on the field has deserved the benefit of the doubt at times to be strongly considered for the CFP."

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