As Notre Dame continues to throw a pity party and pretend that they are too good to play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, there has been another target of their whining. Once people got done slamming the committee and slamming Miami, the focus then came onto new Florida coach Jon Sumrall and his current Tulane squad.
Both Tulane and James Madison made the playoffs as the 4th and 5th highest rated conference champions, and that isn't sitting well with some of the elite of the sport.
But to dismiss Sumrall's squad and pretend they don't deserve a seat at the table cuts away at the lifeblood that makes college football great in the first place.
Jon Sumrall to lead Tulane into the playoffs
As the bracket became final, Nick Saban instantly went into meltdown mode and started complaining about how Tulane and James Madison got a seat in the playoffs ahead of Notre Dame, and started droning on about there being no need to extend a hand to the Group of Five.
Danny Kanell of CBS Sports jumped on a similar train, saying the problem isn't with Miami, Alabama and Notre Dame, but with Tulane and James Madison.
We’re all arguing about Miami, Alabama, Notre Dame and overlooking that TWO groups of 5 schools are occupying spots when they have zero business playing in it this year.
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) December 7, 2025
Tulane lost 45-10 to Ole Miss.
JMU only played ONE P4 school and lost by 14.
What a mess
One can see the seeds being planted to use Notre Dame's exclusion for eventual playoff expansion, which would be a mistake. But since this year is capped at 12 teams, it is Sumrall who is now caught in the crossfire.
What's dumb about these arguments is that they ignore why we love March Madness. 90% of first-round matchups are a blowout, but it's those 10% of games that end in magic that make the tournament what it is.
We have had some fun with James Madison this week, given that they just hired Billy Napier for 2026, but a tweet from a fan account probably best sums up the mindset people have going into these playoffs.
Every other sport on earth - “Let’s root for the underdog!”
— JMU Sports Blog (@JMUsportsblog) December 7, 2025
College football - “Actually, Cinderella is a bitch.”
For Sumrall, he gets a rematch with Ole Miss. If Tulane gets blown out again, the Sabans and the Kanells of the world are going to get on their high horse and go, "See, we told you so."
But this spot at the table exists so that we never have to hear from a team like UCF ever again try to claim a national title it didn't deserve. And while Florida fans probably don't spend too much time watching Group of Five football, the ecosystem of the sport is better off with them than without.