Nevada football coach Jeff Choate is among those who wouldn’t mind seeing the Group of 5 hold a play-off, although his idea has a twist.

Choate would like to see a playoff for a Group of 5, leading to the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Group of 5 commissioners have reportedly discussed holding their own play-off to boost television revenue. However, the published formula sees the top-ranked Group of 5 champion advance directly to the CFP, with a separate play-off for the remaining top teams in Group of 5.

Choate’s proposal would consist of a Group of 5 playoff that crowns a champion who advances to the CFP, rather than having that spot earned by being the highest-ranked conference champion in a non-Power 4 league.

“The Group of 5 already has a spot through 2032,” Choate said of the Group of 5’s CFP participation. “So that’s already in place. Now it’s, ‘How do you want to select that team?’ Right now, the highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of 5 would have a chance to get into the 12-team playoffs. I think the decision that the commissioners and the university presidents have to make is, ‘Hey, do we want to stick with the plan that’s already laid out through 2032?’ Or do we want to create something that maybe captures a different audience and fills some of the empty air in those weeks before the bowl games start so that we can put our playoff system in place and the winner of that playoff has a chance to get into the 12-team playoffs?”

Choate cited last season’s Group of 5 team that ended up in a New Year’s Six bowl as a reason why a playoff format might better serve the non-Power 4. Liberty earned that Group of 5 spot after going 13-0 and winning Conference USA prior to bowl season. But the Flames’ non-league games were against Bowling Green, Buffalo, Old Dominion and UMass, three of which were at home. Those opponents combined to go 19-31, with only 7-6 Bowling Green finishing above .500. Liberty lost to Oregon, 45-6, in the Fiesta Bowl

Liberty edged out SMU for that New Year’s Six Group of 5 bowl spot with the Mustangs going 11-2 overall and 8-0 in the American Athletic Conference entering bowl season. The Mustangs played Louisiana Tech, Oklahoma, TCU and Prairie View A&M in non-league play, losing to those two power-conference opponents.

“I’ll use Liberty as an example,” Choate said. “Liberty’s schedule last year, SMU can make a big argument that they should have been in that game. Now, they wouldn’t be in the CFP because there were only four teams last year. But you could argue that they got screwed a little bit with this deal because Liberty was undefeated, but who did Liberty play? What if Liberty had to go through a playoff system with SMU and beat them in a playoff? I don’t know. They didn’t play. But it would have been cool if they had. And then you can say, ‘Hey, we’re comparing apples to apples.’ We’re not saying the strength of this conference schedule was different than the strength of this schedule. We’re going to a playoff and winner takes all.”

Choate said he favored a playoff system in part because of his experience in the Big Sky, where he was the head coach of Montana State from 2016 to 2020. During his four seasons with the Bobcats, Choate coached in two FCS playoffs, reaching the second round in 2018 and the semifinals in 2019. Nevada was also a fixture in the FCS playoffs before joining the FBS in 1992, with the Wolf Pack reaching the FCS semifinals five times and the national championship game in a loss to Georgia Southern in 1990.

“I’m very familiar with it,” Choate said. “It’s really the FCS playoff model, which Wolf Pack fans of a certain age will certainly understand. I grew up a Big Sky fan and I was a head coach in the Big Sky, so I understand that format. Playoff football is cool. That’s what it is. It’s a cool deal. And I think there’s a lot of scenarios that need to be talked about, because I don’t think the (conference affiliation) movement is done. We don’t even know yet what the full implications of the House decision (vs. NCAA) are. I think there’s other things that need to happen. But I do think that’s certainly a conversation that’s being had and probably should be had.”

Choate said the regular season would be affected by a Group of 5 playoff, but that could be worth it if the total revenue pool is increased. Those changes include fewer regular-season games and an earlier start to the year.

“There are a number of things that have to happen if that choice is made, and it’s clearly way above my pay grade,” Choate said. “You have to go to an 11-game regular season, so you’re going to lose a non-conference game. You probably have to go to Week 0 to play because you have a much bigger audience and you also create a longer lead-in time for your playoffs. Do you give up a home game? Do you give up a money game? What’s the cost benefit of that?”