James Madison and Tulane represent the two Group of Five teams to make the College Football Playoff.
Both teams have unusual preparation with Bob Chesney and Jon Sumrall also preparing for different jobs next season.
A year ago, Bob Chesney knew it was possible. The 2025 college football season was still months away, but the James Madison coach and players envisioned history for a program going into its fourth Bowl Subdivision season.
“Every single player on this team said we should be the one from the Group of Five to be playing in this 12-team playoff,” Chesney said. “That was the goal that we set out in the winter.”
Flash forward to Dec. 7, Chesney and the Dukes were able to deliver on that goal – they just couldn’t predict how they got there.
The second year of the 12-team College Football Playoff features a field not many imagined when it expanded: two Group of Five teams in Tulane and James Madison. Even crazier, both coaches already accepted new jobs; Chesney is headed to UCLA and Jon Sumrall to Florida.
Instead of taking the Lane Kiffin route, both coaches are being allowed to stick with their squads and finish these magical runs together – and fairy tale might be the best way to describe the national perception of the two teams.
There already was hesitancy with one designated spot for a non-power conference team, but two – due to five-loss Duke winning the ACC – has pushed the college football world to the brink of insanity. There’s belief they stole spots from more deserving teams and don’t stand a chance in their first-round matchups.
Yet, even in the midst of an unusual period, neither team is backing down, eager to prove they belong.
“If you are who you say you are, you can’t shut down when the lights are bright,” said James Madison quarterback Alonza Barnett III.
Preparing for College Football Playoff with coaching changes
While Chesney interviewed for the UCLA job, Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond made one thing clear: you will coach your team to the very end.
“To have someone that will leave in that kind of situation that you’re doing something special – when you sat in those young men’s homes and said we’re going to compete and win a championship – I didn’t feel that was right. I want a guy that will want to stay with his team and we were going to support that,” Jarmond said during Chesney’s introductory press conference. “It’s the right thing to do, and it’s always time to do the right thing. That was an easy conversation we had.’
While nice, there hasn’t been much sleep since then. As Chesney has prepared James Madison to face Oregon during the day, he’s UCLA coach at night. He said the three hour time zone difference from Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Los Angeles helps divvy up his attention.
It appears to be a little more chaotic for Sumrall. He didn’t come back to New Orleans until game week, and new Florida coordinators, Buster Faulker and Brad White, as well as general manager Dave Caldwell are still in Gainesville.
While trying to prepare Tulane for Mississippi, Sumrall said he’s been working the phones to speak with players and families to try to retain a roster and “cast a vision for what 2026 for the University of Florida is going to look like.” Those calls have been happening before and after the Green Wave practice, and it’s not over since Sumrall said he has “plenty more” people to connect with.
It makes for a whirlwind of a time trying to prepare for arguably the biggest games in program history, but both coaches have praised their teams for not letting the distractions get in the way.
“They’ve taken ownership of the team, and through all of this transitional stuff that may be going on in regards to what 2026 is going to look like – either for myself or for Tulane – our players have been amazing,” Sumrall said. “Man, just very, very impressed with their maturity, their focus and their processing of all this and their approach.”
The coaches give credit to the players, but the feelings are mutual; James Madison running back Wayne Knight said the coaching staff has done a great job of “being able to keep all the players and everyone locked in.”
Why James Madison, Tulane deserve CFP spot
Despite the impressive resumes, there’s little belief James Madison and Tulane have a chance to make their games competitive, and further the discourse the Group of Five don’t deserve to be in the playoff. The Dukes are three-touchdown underdogs and Green Wave are playing a team they lost to by 35-points in Week 4.
It’s a big reason why the narrative is the playoff doesn’t include the 12 best teams. One Group of Five spot was guaranteed, but an incredible series of events had to occur for James Madison to steal the ACC auto-bid.
Notre Dame, Brigham Young, Vanderbilt and even Texas had cases to get in, and there’s belief they would make close, intriguing games. Not much respect is being given to James Madison or Tulane, and if they both get blown out, plenty of people will use it as reasoning to exclude others like them from the chance at playing for a national championship.
That doesn’t sit right with either team.
“I don’t think it should be just looked over as far as the type of football that is played here,” Chesney said. “We’re excited for the opportunity. You’ll be surprised by the football that we can play.”
Chesney and Sumrall both gave arguments of why they belong. James Madison’s one loss came to Louisville, a team that also beat Miami. The argument of Tulane playing a team it already lost to? The same thing can be applied to Alabama getting another shot at Oklahoma, which Sumrall said “don’t hear anybody whining about that.” The Green Wave also beat Duke to justify getting in ahead of the ACC champion.
Ultimately, neither team didn’t game the system. They were rewarded for doing what they needed to do.
“There’s only so much a team could do. What else can they do?” Chesney said. ”We can only play the football based on the schedule that we have.”
“I respect maybe wanting the top 12 teams – regardless of conference champion – whatever. I get that. I would like to see one G5 team in. I understand the gripe, I do maybe understand the gripe about two, to some degree,” Sumrall said. “But the way they set the rules up right now, it’s the highest five ranked conference champions.”
They have the opportunity, now it’s time to seize it. Tulane will try to prove it’s the team that ended the season with a strong five-game win streak and not the same one that got blown out against Ole Miss.
James Madison is going against an Oregon team that is top 10 in the country in scoring offense and defense, but so are the Dukes.
“People who are saying (we don’t belong) don’t watch JMU football, and they don’t understand the brand that we have here and the kind of talent that we have here,” Knight said. “We put it on display every single time we go out on the field.”
The two teams will have extra fans cheering them on for it. UCLA freshman linebacker Scott Taylor said the Bruins plan to watch the first-round matchup and root for their new coach. The same is expected at Florida.
With the spotlight now focused on them, Tulane and James Madison aren’t running away from it. The Green Wave and Dukes are embracing it, eager to show the little guys will always deserve a seat at the table.
“I’m sure the outside world is saying, why? Or how? “ Chesney said. “We’re just saying, of course.”