Only 10 schools in the country accomplished all three of the following during the 2025-26 athletic year:
Sun Belt > Big XII?NC State
Troy
Nebraska
Virginia
Texas
Georgia
Tennessee
Miami
Texas A&M
Alabama
One of these things is not like the other...and kicked our asses this morning.
But seriously, I would never have guessed that Troy was on the list.
It's the opposite, no? You play in those scrimmages because you're not going to win a championship?Horse **** list- nobody cares if your team qualifies for a post season scrimmage they call a bowl game. You can’t win a championship playing in those glorified scrimmages.
Change it to the playoffs and now it has legit meaning. The other two qualifiers actually matter.
If they did it correctly and with meaning- there would only be 4 teams on that list.It's the opposite, no? You play in those scrimmages because you're not going to win a championship?
But I have been curious about the G5/6 and wondering what the system should do with them for a while, since we all know that they can't win a championship anyway, and I did a little back-of-the-napkin math to see if this was hyperbole or not. And it's not; you are correct. It's more than twice as easy to qualify for a bowl game than it is to qualify for March Madness or for a Regional Baseball Tournament.
Basketball:
76 qualifying teams / 361 D1 teams = 21.1% chance
Baseball:
64 qualifying teams / 308 D1 eligible teams = 20.8% chance
Football:
82 bowl spots / 138 FBS teams = 59.4%
Also, if we just look at G5/6 opportunities, in 2025, 38 bowl spots were filled by G5 teams (38/82), so 46.3% went to G5 teams. I wanted to look at this number, to ensure that P4 schools weren't taking the majority of the bowl spots, but G5 schools have plenty of opportunities to play in bowl games. The SunBelt Conference was represented by ten teams last postseason, which was third highest of all conferences (ACC was tied for second).
In my research, however, I did discover that Kentucky, South Carolina, UCF, and West Virginia are all partial SunBelt members, for men's soccer only. Who knew!
One of these things is not like the other...and kicked our asses this morning.
But seriously, I would never have guessed that Troy was on the list.
Please explain?If they did it correctly and with meaning- there would only be 4 teams on that list.
Look at the list- there are only 4 teams who meet the criteria of playoffs- bball tourney and baseball regionals. Their list has bowl game as one of the criteria. Bowl games are meaningless bull**** scrimmages - playoffs are meaningful- same as bball and baseball criteria.Please explain?
Gotcha. I wasn't sure if you were talking the general criteria or specific teams from this list (2025 season), which is why I asked.Look at the list- there are only 4 teams who meet the criteria of playoffs- bball tourney and baseball regionals. Their list has bowl game as one of the criteria. Bowl games are meaningless bull**** scrimmages - playoffs are meaningful- same as bball and baseball criteria.
So if memory serves me- Miami- Bama- AM and UGA would be the only schools to actually hit the meaningful criteria. .
It was a way to give NC State a participation trophy.Gotcha. I wasn't sure if you were talking the general criteria or specific teams from this list (2025 season), which is why I asked.
It appears the list was created and published by NC State, so it's not like it's an actual award or something. Prior to this, they only celebrated the years they beat FSU, and now that's not even an achievement anymore. I'm okay with letting them have this.![]()