New Mexico Lobos and Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher has a soft spot for the Group of Six conferences, which was evident during a discussion we had recently in promotion of the 2026 American Century Championship. Urlacher will be one of over 90 celebrities taking part in the celebrity golf tournament from July 8-12 on NBC, live from the Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Stateline, Nevada.
I asked Urlacher several questions about the state of Group of Six conference football, including last year's CFP field having included two G6 champions and the separation of several Mountain West teams from the conference to rebuild the Pac-12. Urlacher played for New Mexico for three seasons in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and one year in the Mountain West before being taken No. 9 in the 2000 NFL draft.
Urlacher offered a potential solution to the competitive issues G6 teams have run into during the CFP, particularly this past January, when the Ole Miss Rebels defeated the Tulane Green Wave 41-10, and the Oregon Ducks defeated the James Madison Dukes 51-34. He also shared his line in the sand for how the CFP should evolve.
On if Tulane and James Madison deserved to make the CFP field and his response to some saying they didn't...
"I'm glad (Tulane and James Madison) got in, but it's just that the games weren't competitive, right? I mean, the level of competition is different. And Oregon and Ole Miss were awesome teams. Obviously, they showed that by how they played in the playoff, but I like those teams being in there...
"But they need to do something different with the seeding or something. I don't know what it is. Maybe they play each other and then move on to the next round. I don't know what it is, but those games...the spreads were what, 25, 28 points for the games? I don't think either of them covered. They were big wins. There's a separation there...
"A couple of years ago, Boise State ended up getting beat, true, but their game was closer. So I don't know, man. It's hard to get that right every year. I'm glad that's not my job -- I'll tell you that much -- to pick those teams."
On the Mountain West losing Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State to the Pac-12...
"Yeah, I feel like our stronger teams, well, other than New Mexico, our stronger teams left for the Pac-12 there."
On separating the Power 4 and Group of Six conferences and staging two different playoffs...
"I don't like that, man. No, I think it diminishes (the CFP)... I think you got to keep them all in one. I mean, you make it as a hot team, you never know. I mean, the games haven't been close, but you may get a team from, you know, a Boise State beating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl... You just never know. They could get hot at the right time... That's why they play the games."
On expanding the CFP to 16 or 24 games...
"Yeah, I mean, it's more games. I like college football, so the more games, the better. I just wish they didn't have so long in between games. You know, they could get this all done before the Super Bowl or before the last week of January. I think they can condense that a little bit...
"Maybe they play every week during the season. So give those top four or eight teams a bye, and then the other teams battle it out, and then you play them out. The time off is what you earn for being good. So if they're worried about the kids getting tired, either make them play fewer regular-season games or figure it out, but the playoffs are more fun to watch."
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