Tulane and James Madison both made the new 12‑team College Football Playoff by winning their conferences and finishing as two of the five highest‑ranked FBS conference champions under the current CFP rules, which guarantees them automatic bids even though they were ranked in the 20s.

Big Picture: The Rule That Let Them In

  • Under the expanded 12‑team CFP format, the five highest‑ranked conference champions automatically qualify for the playoff field.
  • In 2025, both Tulane (American Athletic champion) and James Madison (Sun Belt champion) finished in that top‑five group of champions despite modest overall rankings (Tulane around No. 20, JMU around No. 24).
  • That structure is why two Group of Five leagues (AAC and Sun Belt) both got in, even while some higher‑ranked at‑large Power‑conference teams were left out.

Tulane: How The Green Wave Got There

  • Tulane won the American Athletic Conference with a strong resume that included non‑conference wins over Northwestern and ACC champion Duke, which boosted its strength of schedule compared with other Group of Five teams.
  • By winning the AAC title game over a ranked North Texas team, Tulane locked up its league championship and finished as the highest‑ranked Group of Five champ, earning the No. 11 seed in the CFP.
  • Tulane’s profile (solid record, good scoring margin, quality wins, and a conference viewed as the top G5 league) made it essentially a “lock” for one of those five champion spots once it took the AAC.

JMU: How The Dukes Slipped In Too

  • James Madison won the Sun Belt Championship, finishing with a double‑digit win over Troy and one of the best scoring margins in the country (top 10 nationally in average scoring margin).
  • JMU’s playoff odds hinged heavily on the ACC title game: with Duke winning the ACC and landing lower in the rankings than JMU, the Dukes ended up ranked ahead of Duke as a conference champion, which let JMU take one of the five automatic champion slots.
  • That combination—Sun Belt title, dominant margins, and landing ahead of another power‑conference champ—pushed JMU into the field as the No. 12 seed.

Why Two G5 Teams At Once?

  • The new CFP format does not cap Group of Five entries; it simply says “five highest‑ranked conference champs,” regardless of league.
  • In 2025, quirks in the season (like a five‑loss ACC champ and other flawed power‑conference champions) opened the door for two G5 champions to qualify at once: Tulane and JMU.
  • This has sparked heated forum and media debate, with some fans saying these teams “don’t belong” after first‑round losses, and others arguing that the system is doing what it promised—rewarding champions instead of just filling the bracket with at‑large powers.

What People Are Arguing About Now

  • Critics say that including lower‑ranked G5 champs waters down the field and leads to blowouts, calling for rules changes or more at‑large spots for big brands.
  • Defenders counter that Tulane and JMU simply played by the rules—won their leagues, earned their rankings—and that if power‑conference teams want those spots, they need to win their own championships.
  • Some fans even float ideas like a separate “G5 championship” tier or further expansion (e.g., 24 teams) so more power‑conference teams can get in without kicking out auto‑bid champions.

TL;DR: Tulane and JMU made the playoffs because the 12‑team CFP guarantees spots to the five highest‑ranked conference champions, and in 2025 their league titles and rankings put them in that group, even over some more “name‑brand” teams.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.