Includes up to date weekly polling/rating for top 25 teams. Up to date information on the shaping up of the college football playoff. Includes weekly articles from college football analysts. ◆Bracket making system to create your own mock College Football Playoff brackets But those nonconference games return this year EMU will play Wisconsin, WMU takes on Michigan and Central Michigan visits Missouri and LSU.◆Insider Overview of College Football Playoff system Under lifted pandemic restrictions MAC schools are taking full advantage of adding Top-25 teams to their non-conference schedule. In the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, MAC teams did not play nonconference games. Since 2017, EMU boasts a 3-0 record against Big Ten schools, defeating Illinois, Purdue and Rutgers. Hopefully, a new playoff system will show that we can compete on the biggest stage with the biggest teams.' 'Just because the badge on my jersey says MAC and not Big Ten doesn't mean that I'm not gonna play as hard and it doesn't mean I'm not good enough. MAC as a conference and a lot of other Group of Five conferences are criminally underrated. 'Playoff committee looks at a lot of things and strength of schedule is one so if you play MAC teams, they're going to assume that you're not as good as if you're playing SEC teams,' Eastern Michigan tight end Thomas Odukoya said. WMU faced the same dilemma in 2016, undefeated regular season and MAC championship, was passed over, getting a bid to the Cotton Bowl instead. The Knights finished ranked sixth in the final Associated Press poll behind two-loss Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State. In 2017, Central Florida was the only FBS team undefeated at the end of the regular season not to make the playoff. Group of Five schools have been historically slighted for contention into the College Football Playoffs. 'It's amazing when you look at it when you compare it to other sports, and like how many people get an opportunity to win a championship and in basketball when 64 teams had a chance, and the percentage chance of actually winning one and how football is so lopsided. I don't know what the final number will be, but I think at all it really does give more teams an opportunity to live out their dream.'

When (the MAC) has a team that fits all the criteria to have an opportunity to get in, it'd be great for that team, whichever team that is,' Western Michigan coach Tim Lester said. 'It's just opportunity, you need to get a ticket to the dance to go. MAC schools and other Group of Five schools are not looking at the expanded playoff as a handout but are solely focused on more opportunities for non-Power Five schools to compete for the national title.

Mac football playoffs