This was my first thought when this year, all I heard everywhere was "BUT CINCI IS A GROUP OF 5 THEY CAN'T GET IN TO THE PLAYOFFS" and my little brain had no clue WHAT that meant. So, I'm here to attempt to explain it easily.
Now, to begin, what is a Conference?
If you are familiar with the NFL at all, you should be aware of conferences such as the AFC South or NFC North etc, and College ball has these as well, and these conferences are:
ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference)
Big12
Big10
Pac-12
SEC (South-eastern Conference)
AAC (American Athletic Conference)
C-USA (Conference USA)
MAC (Mid-American
MW (Mountain West)
Sunbelt Conference
These conferences are then split into two groups, with everyone playing each other in their group. At the end of the year, whoever tops each group then plays a championship game to be that years conference championship.
But, that doesn't answer the question exactly, what is a Power 5 and a Group of 5?
Well, the 5 conferences with the most quality and which possess the top tier competition are known as the Power 5 Conferences, these conferences are ACC, Big12, Big10, Pac-12 and the SEC. These are filled with all the big well known colleges, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Clemson etc.
The Group of 5 conferences are the lower half of these conferences and consist of the AAC, C-USA, MAC, MW and Sunbelt Conferences. The fact these are recognised as the lower half of the the ladder, doesn't mean they aren't competitive or fun to watch though, especially this year with Cincinnati (a member of the AAC) going undefeated and looking likely to make the playoffs, being the first Group of 5 team ever to do so.
Not all teams fit into conferences though, some choose to brave it alone and be Independents. These teams include BYU, Liberty, Army and, most notably, Notre Dame. For a variety of reasons, all of these teams have decided to not join one of these conferences.
So, that's it! A Power 5 Conference is one of those large powerhouse conferences and a Group of 5 is lower down the rung of College Football and is treated as such, making it extra hard for Group of 5 teams to reach the playoffs. However, Cincinnati are changing that, and all of us are here for it!
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