Urban Meyer joined the chorus of critics who felt the first round of the College Football Playoff left something to be desired.
The former Ohio State coach labeled the first round of games “awful” and was critical of the inclusion of James Madison and Tulane in the field. Meyer felt that their inclusion was unfair to all players involved, and that the field should consist of the 12 best teams in the country.
“It was awful,” Meyer said. “It’s really not fair to have those two teams, James Madison and Tulane. It’s not the best 12 teams in America. It’s not even close. What’s amazing to me is what did you expect? When I saw it hit, I thought, that’s really not fair to the players involved. It’s not fair to the coach. And it’s certainly not fair to those two teams that were left out.”
“It was awful.”@CoachUrbanMeyer on the first round of the #CFBPlayoff @nhtsagov #drivesober pic.twitter.com/NwrVipudX4
— The Triple Option (@3xOptionShow) December 24, 2025
By rule, at least one Group of Five team will always be in the College Football Playoff field. This season, both James Madison and Tulane made it largely due to a poor season from the ACC. Unfortunately, the gap between power conference teams and their non-power counterparts is huge, as was demonstrated by Oregon and Ole Miss in their wins.
How many Group of Five teams are entitled to a playoff spot, if any, remains a heated debate. There are other complaints about the playoff format as well, just as there have been since the tournament’s inception. If someone as prominent as Meyer is willing to be so critical, it’s a safe assumption that NCAA leadership will take a look at the format in the years to come.
