Administrators from the Group of Five conferences—the American Athletic Conference, Sun Belt, Mountain West, Mid-American Conference and Conference USA—have discussed a potential "G5-only postseason playoff or even wide-scale G5 realignment with the involvement of private equity."

Chris Vannini of The Athletic reported that news Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports broke news that ex-Tennessee football head coach Derek Dooley was pitching G5 schools on the idea of a playoff involving only programs from those conferences.

The root of the potential switch is money, with Dodd noting that Group of Five conferences are disappointed with their revenue cut under the new College Football Playoff media rights deal.

Per Dodd:

"The average program in those conferences will receive $1.8 million per year in CFP revenue beginning in 2026 under the new deal, up from the current $1.5 million payout.

"The Group of Five splits 9% of the annual $1.3 billion deal with ESPN. While the payout marks an increase in raw numbers, it is a percentage decrease considering the Group of Five received 22% of the pot in the prior deal (2014-23).

"By comparison, the Big Ten and SEC will each receive 29% of CFP money -- millions more than any Group of Five league is paid in media revenue alone during a given year."

One G5 athletic director put it this way to Vannini: "We're taking some leadership here to control our own destiny so that Tony Petitti and Greg Sankey don't make that decision for us," referencing the Big Ten and SEC commissioners.

As Vannini noted, the "details of the plans under discussion vary." Some higher-ups want a G5-only playoff in place of the traditional bowl games.

Others go a step further, to the point of even reorganizing under one "banner" with divisions and sharing revenue equally.

As one AD noted, nothing is set in stone or definite. However, it's clear people are open to new ideas in the face of a changing college football landscape.

"But for the first time, everybody is saying, 'I'm all ears.' I don't know if this model is the model, but I'm ready to talk about something now," that AD said.

We'll see if anything happens down the road. For now, at least one Group of Five team will get a seat at the CFP table. Under the new 12-team format in 2024 and 2025, the five highest-ranked conference champions will make the field, alongside seven at-large teams.