An all-new, expanded College Football Playoff -- with 12 participants and seemingly less controversy -- comes on line this fall throughout the sport.
With the new format awarding an automatic bid to five highest-rated conference championships, Group of Five programs seem to be pragmatically assured of at least one berth.
But that's it.
And as powerbrokers from college football's middle tier seek to ensure the viability of their teams and programs beyond this arrangement, a new reality could be in store: A Group of Five playoff.
According to CBS Sports, the Group of Five playoff model has been, in part, by former Tennessee Volunteers head coach Derek Dooley and has financial backing from private equity firms.
Of note, before Dooley -- who also served as head coach at Louisiana Tech, as well as that school's athletics director -- followed his father, the late Vince Dooley, into coaching, Dooley was an attorney who dealt in private business in Atlanta.
While the Big Ten and SEC are set to receive the most guaranteed revenue distribution from the new CFP. model, at approximately $22 million per school, and the ACC and Big 12 will each gain $12 million per school, Group of Five programs are set only to receive $1.8 million, per current projections.
Only Cincinnati, which won its conference in 2021, finished undefeated and advanced into the CFP on the strength of an in-season win at nationally ranked Notre Dame, has represented the Group of Five in the playoffs.
Cincinnati has since moved to the Big 12.
Both head and assistant coaches from Group of Five programs have shared concerns about their programs' future in the past 18 months with FootballScoop, since the expanded 12-team CFP began to crystallized.
"Forget not making the Playoff," A G-5 coach said. "We may not have a program if we don't figure this out and find out how we all stay alive."
CBS shares several potential iterations of a G-5 playoff and notes that financial backing already is being discussed.
Several G-5 programs in recent years have proved capable of standing tall against power-conference residents and even Notre Dame, which was beaten by Charles Huff's Marshall squad inside Notre Dame Stadium in 2022.
Additionally, just a few years ago, Billy Napier led Louisiana to a dominant upset-win at top-10 Iowa State.
There have been numerous additional upsets, but coaches and personnel directors have expressed a desire to "just have a chance."
"Look at the NFL," one coach said. "Look how many guys we (G-5 schools) have out there.
"We play good football."