By james art 
With the arrival of the 12-team format in the College Football Playoff, that now guarantees at least one group of five team will do CFP.
This team will need to win a conference championship, and that won’t be easy in any G5 league this season. Here’s a look at the G5 teams that have the best chance to make the College Football Playoff and compete for a national championship.
2025 G5 CFP Predictions
I predict Boise State will be the G5 team to make the CFP this season. It’s an easy pick considering the Broncos are the top five program in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 at No. 12. However, Army (No. 18) is also ranked and should be a team that to consider a place in the CFP.
The case for Boise State
Boise State has the best betting odds to make the College Football Playoff and win the national title among the top five teams. And I don’t think there’s a strong argument against it.
Yes, the Broncos lost to Oregon in Week 2. But the Ducks are the No. 1 team in the country and Boise State almost beat them on their home court. That’s what makes a top-notch college football team.
Boise State has an elite offense that includes running back Ashton Janty, who has a chance to win the Heisman Trophy this season. The Broncos defense isn’t perfect, but they are capable of producing turnovers and putting pressure on quarterbacks, and sometimes that’s all you need.
With quarterback Maddux Madsen continuing to be effective on the year, I think the Broncos have a great chance to win the Mountain West with just one loss during the regular season.
The case for the army
The Army have no problems with any opponent this season. And the Black Knights deservedly received some recognition, as they are ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press top 25 and No. 2 in the HERO Sports Group of Five Top 25 poll.
Army is 8-0, including a perfect 6-0 mark against AAC teams. And the Black Knights have beaten all of those teams by at least 17 points.
Army quarterback Bryson Daly is second in the nation with 19 rushing touchdowns and is 15th with 909 rushing yards. The Black Knights are also in the top 35 in total offense (433.9 yards per game) and total defense (272.8 yards allowed per game), as well as scoring offense (37.9 points per game). They are first in the FBS in scoring defense (11.25 points allowed per game).
The case for the fleet
Navy is 6-2 overall right now. With the exception of their losses against Notre Dame and Rice over the past few weeks, the Midshipmen have been dominant.
They beat Bucknell, Temple, UAB, Air Force and Charlotte by more than 20 points. Navy quarterback Blake Horvath is among the nation’s top rushers with 814 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was also efficient enough as a passer to keep drives going.
Winning the AAC won’t be easy, but Navy can do it.
The case for UNLV
UNLV had a challenging non-conference schedule and nearly picked up three wins over Power Four teams.
UNLV opened the season with a 27-7 triumph over Houston. And after beating Utah Tech 72-14, the Rebels picked up a second Power Four victory in a 23-20 contest at Kansas in Week 3. UNLV suffered its first loss, falling to Syracuse in overtime and is now 6-2 overall after the loss by Boise State in his last outing.
UNLV’s defense has been impressive thus far and will need to continue to struggle against Mountain West foes. UNLV will certainly be in this CFP conversation if the Rebels win the MW.
2025 CFP betting odds for a group of five teams
There are several G5 teams with college football betting odds to enter the CFP, via BetMGM. The group of five teams with betting odds at BetMGM are:
- Boise State -250
- Memphis +450
- Tulane +750
- Army +900
- Louisiana +1100
- UNLV +3000
- Navy +3000
2025 CFP Championship Group of Five Odds
There are also betting odds for G5 teams to win the national championship. The teams with odds to win the title at BetMGM are:
- Boise State +10,000
- Tulane +100,000
- Memphis +100,000
- UNLV +100,000
I predict that Texas will play Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Championship, with Texas winning.
Right now, I think the Longhorns, no matter who the quarterback is, are the best team in college football. And I believe that even after their loss to Georgia.
Predicting which teams will win the SEC and Big Ten is especially difficult because those two conferences are always loaded with talent, and this year is especially difficult because Texas is already in the SEC and Oregon is already in the Big Ten.
But from my perspective, Texas and Ohio State are the most complete teams and would be the most poised to get through a daunting CFP bracket.
I predict that Texas, Oregon, Miami and BYU will be the top four teams in the College Football Playoff at the end of the season.
I predict the next highest ranked conference championship winner will be Boise State, and I believe the CFP selection committee will rank the Broncos #10.
From there, I predict Georgia, Alabama, SMU, Tennessee, Penn State, Indiana and Notre Dame to be in the CFP.
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2024 CFP Game Schedule
The first round of the CFP will be played on Friday, December 20 and Saturday, December 21. The CFP quarterfinals will take place on Tuesday, December 31 and Wednesday, January 1. The CFP semifinals will be held on Thursday, Jan. 9. and Friday, Jan. 10.
In the first round, the No. 12 seeded team will play the No. 5 seeded team. The No. 9 team will go on the road to face the No. 8 team. The No. 11 team will travel to face the No. 6 team. And the No. 10 team will compete against the No. 7 team.
The winner of the 5/12 matchup will play the No. 4 seed in the quarterfinals. Whoever wins the 8/9 race will face the top seeded team. The winner of the 6/11 contest will face the #3 team. And whoever triumphs in the 7/10 matchup will compete against the No. 2 seeded team.
The winners of the games involving the No. 1 seed and the No. 4 seed will face each other in the semifinals, and the winner of the games involving the No. 3 seed and the No. 2 seed will also play in the semifinals.
The winner of these two races will meet in the national championship.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee has yet to release any rankings and will do so for the first time this Tuesday, November 5th.
So, going off the Associated Press Top 25 after Week 10, the teams in the CFP right now would be:
- #1 Oregon
- No. 2 Georgia
- No. 3 Miami
- No. 4 BYU
- No. 5 Ohio State
- No. 6 Texas
- No. 7 Penn State
- No. 8 Tennessee
- No. 9 Indiana
- No. 10 Notre Dame
- No. 11 Alabama
- No. 12 Boise State
The College Football Playoff will feature 12 teams for the first time this season.
The five highest-ranked FBS conference champions – determined by the CFP selection committee – will be in the field, as will the seven highest-ranked teams that have not won a conference title.
The four highest-seeded conference winners will earn a bye, while the remaining teams will compete in the first round.
The higher seeds in these matches will host in the first round. The top four conference bye winners will receive a bowl game, such as the Sugar Bowl, and the four teams playing in the two semifinal games will also be assigned to another bowl.
There will be no realignment, nor will any changes be made to avoid regular season rematches or contests between teams in the same conference.
