Former Texas football coach Mack Brown attends an NCAA college basketball game between Kentucky and Texas in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)

When Mack Brown offers an opinion on the state of college football, it is backed by a record of achievement that spanned 36 seasons as a head coach and included 288 wins and a national championship at Texas.

Over the summer, Brown suggested that it is time to acknowledge the competitive disparity that exists between the Power 4 and Group of Five conferences by creating a postseason playoff exclusively for the Group of Five conferences, which are the American, Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt and Conference USA.

“They’ve got to separate divisions and have a ruling body for each division,” Brown said. “I even think that the Group of Five should have their own national championship, have a playoff, just like FCS. Their teams are not going to win the national championship. They’re not going to be able to pay $20 million to these kids.

“Let them have a chance, every one of them, to win a national championship. Have their own Heisman, have their own Lombardi Award, Butkus Award. And I just think we separate the divisions and let them play, and it’d be fun. I would watch a great championship game between (two) Group of Five teams. But watching a Group of Five play Alabama in the first round is a waste in many cases.”

Brown’s take is bold, enlightening and refreshingly honest.

As supporting evidence of his position, the two Group of Five conference representatives in this week’s Associated Press Top-25 Poll are situated in the bottom fifth of the rankings.

Most innovative ideas are scoffed at until thoughtful consideration transitions to research and development.

Land a man on the moon.

Ridiculous.

Cook dinner by generating electromagnetic waves in a unit that’s not much bigger than a bread box.

Absurd.

Operate a phone that flashes light, takes photos and plays music.

Now that’s just plain silly.

As Brown intimated, the likelihood of a Group of Five team running the table in the

College Football Playoff is unlikely, if not impossible.

This isn’t South Florida knocking off Florida or Memphis beating Arkansas in the regular season.

It’s more like Penn State routing SMU on a cold December afternoon in Happy Valley.

A CFP first-round game should not resemble a Labor Day Weekend tune-up.

Not that long ago, no one imagined that college athletes would command seven-figure contracts or that universities would be attaching fees related to those contracts to season-ticket renewals.

And then the wheels started turning in someone’s head.

Mack Brown may one day be regarded as a pioneer for his views on a separate national championship for the Group of Five conferences.

Based on history and the evolution of college athletics, you can count on it.

A complete package

After Texas Tech defeated Utah, 34-10, on Sept. 20, the first comment from Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire was, “We play defense at Texas Tech.”

McGuire’s team plays offense, too, and at an exceedingly high level.

Texas Tech ran its record to 5-0 after defeating Houston, 35-11, last Saturday. All five wins have been by at least 24 points.

The Red Raiders, off to their best start since opening the 2013 season at 7-0, have outscored the opposition 158-14 in the first half and 243-56 overall.

The team’s overall point differential of 37.4 is the second-highest in the nation behind Indiana’s 38.2

“There’s a next level that no one has seen,” said Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton, who threw for 345 yards and a touchdown against Houston.

In the third phase of the game, Texas Tech special teams contributed a school record five field goals against the Cougars.

One for good measure

Propelled by two first-half touchdowns on blocked punts, UNLV defeated Wyoming, 31-17, to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 1974 when the program was a member of Division II.

UNLV’s Kayden McGee and Jaden Bradley combined for the two blocked punts and the resulting scores.

Playing on a field that was covered with hail, UNLV posted its first win at Wyoming since 2003.

Take a bow

In his first game action in college, Florida wide receiver Dallas Wilson caught six passes for a team-high 111 yards and two touchdowns in his team’s 29-21 upset of Texas.

The first true freshman receiver in Gator program history to catch a touchdown pass in his debut, Wilson missed the first four games of the season while recovering from a foot injury that he suffered in preseason camp.

Notables

ö In losses to Power 4 Conference opponents Texas Tech, Florida State and Oklahoma, Kent State allowed an average of 57.3 points. In a 44-0 shutout at Oklahoma last Saturday, the Golden Flashes totaled 135 yards, including 17 on 33 rushing attempts.

ö Texas Tech is the only FBS team that has not trailed in a game this season.

ö In the loss to Alabama, Vanderbilt played in a game that featured top-16 opponents for the first time since 1956.

ö The lone 6-0 team in FBS and the first to become bowl eligible, Memphis defeated Tulsa, 45-7, to extend the nation’s longest-active winning streak to 10 games.

ö After a loss to Michigan, Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell’s overall record at the school dropped to 15-16. That mark includes an 0-8 record against teams ranked in the Top-25.

ö Navy, which has started 5-0 in back-to-back years for the first time since 1978-79, has won 76 consecutive home games when leading after three quarters, which is the longest streak in the nation.

ö In a 27-23 loss to Appalachian State, Oregon State’s final two possessions ended with a two-yard loss on a fourth-down running attempt from the App 1-yard-line and an interception. The next four games for the Beavers (0-6) are all at home.

Quotables

“We did things well enough to win, but we didn’t earn the win. That’s why we’re walking out of here with a one-point loss and a lot of woulda, shoulda, couldas.”

–Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman after a 35-34 loss to Baylor dropped his team’s record to 2-4 overall

“It takes the heart of a champion to win a game like that. It takes grit. It takes belief. Not all of them are pretty, and they don’t have to be. You just gotta find a way to win.”

–Virginia head coach

Tony Elliott after a 30-27 OT victory over Louisville

“The mentality was right where it needed to be coming off a huge win on the road in the Big 12 at Kansas, and then to be able to put that one to bed and really focus everything on Iowa State, they did an absolutely great job with that.”

–Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield praising his team after a 38-30 upset of No. 14 Iowa State

Jim Caltagirone, a former member of Penn State’s sports information department, comments on the national scene for Gameday. He can be reached at jimclion4ever@gmail.com