The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University . They began playing in the NCAA 's Division I-A in 2001 , became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy University's athletics nickname was the Red Wave until the early 1970s when the student body voted to change the name to Trojans.
100-732: Prior to becoming a member of NCAA Division One athletics in 1993, Troy University was a member of the Gulf South Conference of the NCAA Division II ranks. At the time, Troy's primary rivals were Jacksonville State University , Livingston University (now the University of West Alabama ), and the University of North Alabama . The rivalry between Troy and Jacksonville State was arguably the fiercest of those. However, since Troy University moved to Division I-A participation in football and because Troy and JSU no longer share
200-620: A Group of Five conference has been selected. No teams with two or more losses have been selected. Note: Notre Dame was a member of the ACC in 2020 (Due to COVID-19 ). Cincinnati was a member of the American in 2021. In 2013, the television broadcast rights to all six CFP bowls and the National Championship were acquired by ESPN through the 2025–26 season. ESPN then reached 12-year agreements to retain rights to
300-579: A change from previous BCS rules. However, some non-semifinal bowl selections still maintain their conference tie-ins, similarly to the BCS's automatic qualifier berths. A team from one of the "Group of Five" conferences was guaranteed a spot in one of the New Year's Six bowls. The CFP will expand to a 12-team format for the 2024 and 2025 seasons . Features of the expanded playoff include: The teams seeded 5–12 will play first-round games hosted by
400-780: A dominant team for many years. Troy has won a total of 15 conference championships as a member of the Gulf South Conference, winning titles in 1971 and going on a streak of title runs from 1974 to 1988. In 1997, the Troy University women's basketball team, under the direction of head coach Jerry Hester, won the Mid Continent Conference (now the Summit League ) tournament championship in Buffalo, New York, and received an automatic berth to
500-747: A football team continuously since 1946. Troy has won national championships at the NAIA level in 1968 and at the NCAA Division II level in 1984 and 1987. Troy University football began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football-only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. In 2001, Troy defeated Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi to notch
600-461: A four-team knockout bracket to determine the national champion. Six bowl games —the Rose Bowl , Sugar Bowl , Orange Bowl , Cotton Bowl , Fiesta Bowl , and Peach Bowl – rotated as hosts for the semifinals. The rotation was set on a three-year cycle with the following pairings: Rose/Sugar, Orange/Cotton, and Fiesta/Peach. The two semifinal bowls and the other four top-tier bowls were marketed as
700-652: A monumental turnaround for the football program in the 2016 season, as the Trojan finished 10-3, including a 28-23 win over Ohio in the Dollar General Bowl . During that season, Troy cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time since the program joined the FBS in 2001. Troy was also the first football program in the Sun Belt Conference to ever receive a Top 25 ranking. Chip Lindsey was hired after Neal Brown accepted
800-429: A more deliberative evaluation method. Now the playoff folks are going to try to do both." Addressing the "pecking order" nature of traditional polls, George Schrodeder of USA Today wrote that "if it actually works as intended, we could see volatile swings" from week to week, with lower-ranked teams moving ahead of higher-ranked teams without either team losing (a rarity in traditional polls). Both Long and Bill Hancock,
900-473: A new contract will be drawn up, with indications that additional expansion may take place as soon as 2026. As the NCAA does not organize or award an official national championship for FBS football (instead merely recognizing the decisions made by any of a number of independent major championship selectors ), the CFP's inception in 2014 marked the first time a major national championship selector in college football
1000-476: A nine-game conference schedule. However, the league opted to stay with the eight-plus-Notre Dame model, stipulating instead that teams would have to play one Power Five school in their non-league slates beginning in 2017, which would include the Notre Dame game or other ACC schools, as will games against another FBS independent , BYU . Despite the push to increase schedule strength, some ACC coaches preferred
1100-460: A ranking for several weeks," he said. Long also noted: "Early on there was some talk that we would go into a room at the end of the season and come out with a top four, but that didn't last long." In analyzing this change in thinking, Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated commented: "The whole point of the selection committee was to replace the simplistic horse-race nature of Top 25 polls – where teams only move up if someone above them loses – with
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#17327727540481200-514: A return of the game to broadcast television for the first time since 2010 . The inaugural College Football Playoff games in January 2015 generated larger ratings than previous BCS games. The 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship had an 18.9 Nielsen rating and was watched by approximately 33.4 million people, the largest broadcast audience of all time on American cable television (non- broadcast ), according to AdWeek . That
1300-525: A six-year extension, valued at $ 1.3 billion per year. This deal will see ESPN add the four new first-round playoff games, of which ESPN has sublicensed two to TNT Sports and will simulcast the two others on ABC . ESPN will continue to be the home for the New Year's Six bowls and the National Championship Game. In addition, as part of this deal, beginning in 2026–27, ESPN will simulcast the National Championship Game on ABC , marking
1400-473: A stadium hosting at least one National Football League team, and has been played indoors and/or in a warm-weather city. The College Football Playoff Selection Committee consists of 13 members who generally serve three-year terms, although some initial 2013 selections served two- and four-year terms "to achieve a rotation" of members. The 2024-25 CFP selection committee members are: The committee members include one current athletic director from each of
1500-421: A three-year cycle with the following pairings: Rose/Sugar, Orange/Cotton, and Fiesta/Peach. The College Football Playoff National Championship is then played a week later at a separately determined neutral site. From the beginning of the CFP, many within college football wanted a playoff larger than four teams. The four team playoff seems to have been arrived at through a combination of concerns such as keeping
1600-425: A time and coming to a consensus on how they should be ranked, then repeating the process with the next tier of teams. Discussion and debate happens at each voting step. All votes are by secret ballot, and committee members do not make their ballots public. Each week's ranking process begins anew, with no weight given to the previous week's selections. In this fashion, the committee selects the four teams to compete for
1700-573: A year. A team's strength of schedule is one of the most pertinent considerations for the committee in making its selections. Other factors that the committee weighs are conference championships, team records, and head-to-head results, plus other points such as injuries and weather. Unlike the BCS system, the AP Poll , Coaches' Poll , and the Harris Poll , computer rankings are not used to make
1800-849: Is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States . Originally known as the Mid-South Athletic Conference or Mid-South Conference , the Gulf South Conference was formed by six universities in the summer of 1970: Delta State , Florence State (now North Alabama ), Jacksonville State , Livingston (now West Alabama ), Tennessee–Martin , and Troy State (now Troy ). Scheduling problems for
1900-523: Is arguably the oldest organized sport in the United States. It is substantially older than its professional counterpart, the NFL, and its earliest game, in 1869, was occurring at almost the same time professional baseball was getting started. The game developed into a popular sport with its own unique "post-season" of bowl games by the end of the first four decades of the 20th Century, the time around which
2000-611: Is their game against DeVry Institute of Atlanta on January 12, 1992 when the Trojans came out victorious by the NCAA-record score of 258–141. This is currently the highest scoring game in NCAA basketball history. The Troy University baseball team won two Division II national championships in 1986 and 1987 under the leadership of baseball coach, Chase Riddle . One of Troy's most significant victories in baseball came in April 1998 when
2100-529: The New Year's Six . Per contract, the Rose and Sugar Bowls were always on New Year's Day . Originally three games were held on New Year's Eve with the other three on New Year's Day. However, disappointing TV ratings in the first rotation led to games originally planned for New Year's Eve be moved to as early as December 27 in some years. The selection committee seeded the top four teams, and also assigned teams to
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#17327727540482200-488: The Bowl Coalition ( 1992 – 1994 ) and then Bowl Alliance ( 1995 – 1997 ) clumsy and incomplete at best. By 1997, public pressure from fans, coaches, and commentators for a true playoff of some kind had grown too great to ignore. The Bowl Championship Series in 1998 succeeded in finally bringing all major conferences and bowl games into the fold for a combined BCS National Championship Game rotated amongst
2300-603: The Coaches Poll . On December 16, 2022 Troy defeated UTSA in the Cure Bowl . The Trojans ended the 2022 season with an 11 game win streak. The Trojans football team has won three national titles: 1968 ( NAIA ), 1984 ( Div. II ), and 1987 ( Div. II ). The Troy University men's basketball team is currently under the direction of head coach Scott Cross . Don Maestri is currently the winningest coach in Troy University history. The Trojans' last NCAA Tournament appearance
2400-531: The College Football Playoff National Championship game. The inaugural tournament was held at the end of the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season under a four-team format. The CFP Board of Managers voted in 2023 to expand the playoff to twelve teams beginning in 2024, an arrangement that will last at least through the end of the 2025 season. After 2025, the current contract between all major players expires and
2500-554: The NAIA to NCAA . Both universities began GSC competition in the 2012–13 academic year but will not be eligible for NCAA national tournaments until the 2014–15 academic year. In August 2011, the GSC added the Florida Institute of Technology as an associate member for football beginning in the 2013 season. On October 11, 2012, Mississippi College announced that it would petition the NCAA to leave Division III and return to
2600-526: The New Year's Six bowl games, with a national championship game after that. From 2014 through 2023, the two semifinal games rotated among the six New Year's Day bowl games: the Cotton Bowl , Fiesta Bowl , Orange Bowl , Peach Bowl , Rose Bowl , and Sugar Bowl . In addition to the teams selected for the playoff, from 2014 to 2023 the final CFP rankings were used in determining the participants for
2700-558: The Silicon Valley Football Classic against Northern Illinois University on December 30, 2004, but lost. The Trojans won their first bowl game on December 20, 2006 at the New Orleans Bowl against Rice University by a score of 41-17. The football program won five straight Sun Belt titles from 2006 to 2010, finishing their run in 2010 with a New Orleans Bowl win over Ohio by a score of 48-21. At
2800-493: The Southeastern Conference (SEC) that year and in future years and gave a glimpse at what post-season football might look like. Other conferences would follow suit over the next decade. FBS schools also began making changes to bowl games themselves in the 1990s to increase the likelihood of having the top two ranked teams play each other. However, existing bowl tie-ins with conferences made arrangements such as
2900-661: The Southern Miss Golden Eagles twice, but were eliminated by the Alabama Crimson Tide in the championship game. Following the season, Jared Keel, Mike Felix, and Tom King were selected in the MLB draft. Troy's highest rank of the season was #29 by the NCBWA . In 2007 the Trojans went 34–27, finishing in a tie for second in the Sun Belt Conference , and were selected as a number three seed in
3000-660: The Sun Belt Conference . Troy's track and field men's teams routinely feature some of the best athletes in the Sun Belt Conference, as well as the country. Multiple athletes have qualified for the NCAA Championships. The team won eight Gulf South Conference titles from 1977 to 1986, with head coaches John Anderson, Charles Oliver, and Rick Stetson all being named Coach of the Year a combined eight seasons. The Trojans men's cross country program has been
3100-664: The 1970–71 academic year limited the league to football , won by Jacksonville State. In 1971, the league changed its name to the Gulf South Conference; added Southeastern Louisiana (SLU) and Nicholls State (increasing the membership to eight); opened an office in Hammond, Louisiana ; and began championships in all men's sports. The following year, Mississippi College and Northwestern Louisiana (NWLA, now Northwestern State) were admitted. NWLA withdrew to go Division I two years later, followed by SLU and Nicholls State in 1979. The conference continued with seven teams until 1981, when
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3200-665: The 2008–09 season due to issues between the University's President and the Commissioner. The GSC moved away from divisional play after the 2010-11 season after its six Arkansas members broke away, dropping the membership to eight. Thanks to an aggressive expansion plan, the GSC sponsored the Division II applications of Union University (TN) and Shorter University (GA), which became official members in 2014-15. The next step in bolstering its membership came in 2012, backing
3300-755: The 2010 and 2015 Sun Belt titles, finishing with rankings as high as #51 in the nation. Just like the men's golf team, the women's golf team has a deep of history winning as well. In the NCAA's Division II, the Troy State women's golf team was one of the strongest teams in the nation in the 1980s, winning three national championships in 1984, 1986, and 1989. Despite the shorter history of the women's team, they've established themselves as proven winners. The women have been extremely successful recently, capturing three Sun Belt Conference titles and also receiving an individual at-large NCAA Regional berth for player Fátima Fernández Cano in 2016. The women's cross country team
3400-607: The 2011 season with a 42-17 record. Troy's highest rank of the season was #18 in the Baseball America poll. Troy had also reached a ranking of #25 in the USA Today coaches poll and #22 in the College Baseball News poll. Troy once again won a regular season title in 2013, this time in a thrilling fashion. The Trojans played #18 South Alabama during the last series of the regular season. After losing
3500-538: The 2015-16 season. Mississippi College entered its second candidacy year with the 2014-15 season in its path to full Division II membership in 2016-17 and added Gulf South Conference teams to its schedule. The next change to the conference's membership was officially announced on December 6, 2016 when North Alabama was accepted to the ASUN Conference and would begin a transition to Division I sports in 2018. In May 2020, affiliate member Florida Tech announced
3600-420: The 2015–16 school year. Departing members in pink. College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff ( CFP ) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of college football competition in the United States. It culminates in
3700-424: The 4-team playoff era, the bowls rotated on a 3-year cycle. Two of the six bowls served as the CFP semifinals for any given year with the following pairings: Rose/Sugar, Orange/Cotton, and Fiesta/Peach. The year's four off-cycle bowls hosted bowl games outside of the CFP tournament bracket. In the 12-team playoff format, four of the six bowls host quarterfinal games on or around New Year's Day (which are determined in
3800-568: The ACC, Pac-12, and Big Ten dissolved, and along with it resistance to playoff expansion. The CFP Board of Managers unanimously voted to expand the playoffs to 12 teams, with the earliest possible change happening in the 2024 season. Conferences and bowls negotiated early expansion for several months during the fall of 2022. A potential sticking point was the Rose Bowl, which desired to keep its traditional 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT kickoff on New Year's Day or January 2, even during years it will host
3900-522: The BCS rankings leaving USC , No. 1 in both major polls, out of the Sugar Bowl . This controversy ultimately led to the AP Poll withdrawing from the BCS, and additional fine-tuning of the BCS formula. After that, the controversies lessened, but the BCS approach itself had lost the confidence of many within the college football world, and ultimately the pressure for more change led to the development of
4000-505: The CFP executive director, say they expect that to happen. The committee's voting method uses multiple ballots, similar to the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and the entire process is facilitated through custom software developed by Code Authority in Frisco, Texas. From a large initial pool of teams, the group takes numerous votes on successive tiers of teams, considering six at
4100-609: The CFP rejected the playoff proposal that had seemed to have already won approval, largely through resistance of the Atlantic Coast Conference This pushed implementation of any changes to the playoff pool to no sooner than the 2026 season. However, that decision was reversed on September 2, 2022, following the announcement by USC and UCLA that they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. The "alliance" between
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4200-497: The College Division for smaller programs with scholarships (Div II) and without scholarships (Div III). In 1978, Division I was sub-divided into I-A (largest programs) and I-AA, which would later be renamed FBS (I-A) and FCS (I-AA) respectively. As the smaller divisions and FCS subdivision were created, the NCAA organized post-season playoffs for them. However, FBS programs resisted making any changes to how its post-season
4300-532: The College Football Playoff. In 2014, the College Football Playoff made its debut, facilitating a multi-game single-elimination tournament for the first time in college football history. Four teams are seeded by a 13-member selection committee rather than by existing polls or mathematical rankings. The Cotton and Peach bowls were also brought into the fold. The two semifinal games became rotated among these New Year's Six bowl games, set on
4400-427: The Division II application of Lee University (TN) which was on track to join the league officially in 2015-16. The league added its first-ever associate member, Florida Tech , in football only in 2013. The Conference planned to add an old friend back into the fold when Mississippi College submitted its application to rejoin Division II and was on track for 2016-17 membership. Former Commissioner Jim McCullough brought
4500-729: The FBS annual "national champion" open to considerable debate and controversy. At times in the past, particularly during the polling era from 1936 to 1997, the term " mythical national championship " was frequently used, and larger programs have often unilaterally declared themselves national champions. While the NCAA has never officially endorsed a championship team, it has documented the choices of some selectors in its official NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records publication. In addition, various analysts have independently published their own choices for each season. These opinions can often diverge with others as well as individual schools' claims to national titles, which may or may not correlate to
4600-475: The GSC office to Birmingham when he was hired in 1979. The conference welcomed its seventh commissioner in May 2014 when Matt Wilson was selected to follow Nate Salant who retired after a 22-year stint. Beginning with the 2011–12 academic year; Arkansas Tech University, University of Arkansas at Monticello, Harding University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, and Southern Arkansas University left
4700-595: The GSC to form the Great American Conference . The University of New Orleans , which was transitioning from Division I to Division II, was accepted into the conference in June 2011, but the school announced intentions to stay at Division I in March 2012. In July 2011, Shorter University and Union University (Jackson, Tenn.) were accepted into the NCAA and began the multi-year transition process from
4800-760: The NCAA Division II Golf Championships from 1975 to 1993. In that span, they managed to win three national championships in 1976, 1977, and 1984. Troy's men's tennis team began to rise to prominence in the early 1990s, after finishing ranked #8 in the nation in the NCAA Division II ITA Rankings. Soon after moving to Division I, Troy still brought their successes with them, winning the Mid-Continent Conference championship. The team would also go on to win conference titles in 2010 and 2015 in
4900-622: The NCAA Tournament where the Trojans traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia , and fell in the first round to the Virginia by a score of 96–74. Under current head coach Chanda Rigby , Troy has been to the NCAA Tournament twice and has won two Sun Belt tournament titles. In 2020, the Trojans won the Sun Belt regular season conference championship for the first time in program history. Upon Troy University's athletics moving all sports to
5000-502: The NCAA began to develop and oversee post-season tournaments in other sports. The NCAA did eventually come to oversee much of college football. For example, in 1957, the NCAA organized college football into University and College divisions, with larger programs in the University Division, smaller ones in the College Division. In 1973, the NCAA created Division I out of the University Division, and Divisions II and III out of
5100-614: The NCAA's Division I in 1993, the Troy softball program was started that same year and officially began their first season in 1994 under head coach Melanie Davis. Under Davis' leadership, the program immediately became a competitive softball program, finishing their first season in Division I with a 40-13 record, including a 4-3 win over an already prominent program in Georgia Tech . In just Troy's third season of playing softball (1996),
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#17327727540485200-582: The Oxford Regional hosted by Ole Miss . The Trojans were defeated by Southern Miss and Sam Houston State in consecutive games and eliminated from the regional. In 2011, the Trojans struck again by winning the Sun Belt regular season title and earning a bid to the Nashville Regional as a 3-seed. The Trojans defeated 2-seed Oklahoma State in the first round, but fell to 1-seed Vanderbilt and Belmont consecutively. The Trojans ended
5300-527: The Pike County Cattlemen's Arena in Troy where it hosted a three-day rodeo each October that featured college rodeo programs from throughout the southern region of the United States. The university discontinued its rodeo program at the end of the 2014 season. Troy has won 14 NCAA national championships across five different sports, as well as 2 NAIA national championships. Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference ( GSC )
5400-781: The Redhawks by scores of 3-2 and 1-0. The ladies would then receive a bid to play in the NCAA West Regional as the #4 seed. In their first game against Arizona , the Trojans were outmatched, losing 0-8 to the Wildcats. The Trojans were knocked out of the tournament after dropping a heartbreaker against South Florida , 5-6. The Trojans are currently coached by Beth Mullins, who is in her 4th season. The Troy women's volleyball team has won three conference tournament championships, one regular season championship, and two conference divisional championships in their history. In 2019,
5500-506: The Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl following the dissolution of the Bowl Championship Series. In November of that year, ESPN reached a 12-year deal to broadcast the remaining three bowls, the championship game, as well as shoulder programming such as ranking shows. As a whole, the contract is valued at around $ 470 million per year, or nearly $ 5.7 billion for the life of the contract. On March 19, 2024, ESPN reached
5600-639: The Trojans 12-2. The Trojans hosted Coastal Carolina for the Sunbelt Conference Championship December 3, 2022 where the Trojans took home a 45-26 victory. Following the championship victory, Troy was ranked No. 24 in the CFP Rankings. This was the first time the Trojans had been ranked by the CFP Committee in program history. Troy also earned a No. 23 ranking in the AP Top 25 and was also ranked No. 24 in
5700-474: The Trojans advanced to the Second Round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship , defeating North Carolina A&T in the first round, before falling to Georgia Tech in the second round. The Troy men's and women's tennis teams have a short but successful history in the sport. The women have won conference championships in the Atlantic Sun Conference and the Sun Belt Conference and received national rankings in various years. The men's team has won
5800-428: The Trojans knocked off the #3 nationally ranked Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 8-4 at Riddle-Pace Field on the Troy campus. In 2006, Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Bobby Pierce led the Trojans to a regular season conference title, conference tournament title, and an NCAA Regional appearance with an overall record of 47–16. The Men of Troy were the 2-seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional in 2006, defeating
5900-426: The Trojans' first victory over a BCS level program. On September 9, 2004, the Trojans garnered the program's first win over a ranked opponent when they defeated then #17 ranked Missouri , 24-14, upsetting former Heisman-hopeful Brad Smith 's Heisman Trophy chances. Three years later in 2007, the Trojans routed Oklahoma State at home by a score of 41-23. The Trojan football team made its first bowl game appearance in
6000-420: The above pairings on a 3-year cycle). The winners advance to play in the semifinals, held in the two remaining bowls one week later. The bowls will again cycle on a rotating basis. Cities around the country bid to host each year's championship game . The playoff group's leaders make a selection from those proposals, in a similar fashion to other large sporting events, such as the NCAA Final Four . Officials say
6100-602: The added strength-of-schedule we were seeking". In 2014, the first year of the College Football Playoff, one team (Georgia) played two opponents from the Power Five, nine of the 14 teams played one Power Five conference opponent and three lower-level opponents (including one FCS school), and four teams did not face a Power Five foe. In the spring of 2015, the SEC decided to count games played against Independents BYU and Army toward its Power Five requirement. The ACC, whose teams also play eight conference games (plus Notre Dame at least once every three years), also considered moving to
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#17327727540486200-402: The at-large bowls (Cotton, Fiesta, and Peach) in years when they did not host semifinals. The four-team format pitted the No. 1-ranked team against No. 4 and No. 2 against No. 3. The seeding determined the semifinal bowl game assigned to each matchup; the No. 1 seed chose its bowl game to prevent it from playing in a "road" environment. There were no limits on the number of teams per conference,
6300-424: The better seed, either at their home stadium or another venue of their choosing. The semifinal and quarterfinal rounds of the playoff are hosted by the New Year's Six : the Rose Bowl , Sugar Bowl , Orange Bowl , Cotton Bowl , Peach Bowl , and Fiesta Bowl . These games are played annually on or around New Year's Day and represent six of the oldest and most prestigious college football bowl games . During
6400-408: The championship game is then selected based on bids submitted by cities, similar to the NCAA Final Four . The winner of the Championship Game is awarded the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy . Playoff officials commissioned a new trophy that was unconnected with the previous championship systems, such as the AFCA "crystal football" trophy which had been regularly presented after
6500-408: The championship game since the 1990s (as the AFCA was contractually obligated to name the BCS champion as the Coaches Poll champion). However, BCS Properties, LLC is the legal entity which owns all CFP trademarks. CFP Administration, LLC is the legal entity that administers the College Football Playoff. From its formation in 2014 to the end of the 2023 season , the College Football Playoff used
6600-419: The championship game will be held in a different city each year, and that bids must propose host stadiums with a capacity of at least 65,000 spectators. Under the system, cities cannot host both a semifinal game and the title game in the same year. In practice, since the inaugural CFP national championship game every title game up to and including the 2025 season has been played (or is scheduled to be played) in
6700-461: The committee will look at is strength of schedule," said selector Oliver Luck . Teams in the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 play nine conference games on their twelve-game schedules and thus only have flexibility in choosing their opponents for the three non-league games. Some programs are opting to increase their schedule strength by scheduling high-profile matchups at neutral sites and on weeknights, garnering primetime TV exclusivity. In response to
6800-441: The conference tournament final. Because of this, Troy made its way back to the NIT for the second time since 2004, falling to Ole Miss in the first round. The Trojan basketball team is recognized in recent Division I Basketball history for leading the nation in three-pointers from 2004 to 2006, making 1068 three-pointers over the course of 89 games (11.66 per game) during those three seasons. Troy's biggest claim to fame, however,
6900-428: The conference. The transition was a lengthy process; Mississippi College officially became a Division II candidate starting with the 2013–14 academic year, with the school becoming a full Division II member for 2016–17. In 2013, Lee University joined the GSC, bringing the membership to 11. Lee University moved to Division II provisional membership for the 2014-15 season. They will complete transition to Division II in
7000-701: The discontinuation of their football program due to the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic . The GSC currently has 12 full members: The GSC currently has six affiliate members: The GSC had 19 former full members, with all but four being public schools. The GSC had three former affiliate members, one was a public school and two were private schools: Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football only) Associate member (sport) The GSC sponsors competition in 8 men's sports and 9 women's sports. The conference began sponsoring women's lacrosse and men's / women's track & field in
7100-414: The end of 11 different seasons since then; this situation is referred to as a "split" national championship . As the years passed, public pressure for a playoff grew, especially following seasons in which there were split national championships in the polls. By the 1990s, the sport underwent several changes that led to a playoff. The 1992 SEC Championship Game was an enormous risk that paid off well for
7200-464: The end of 1992–93. Mississippi College dropped to Division III at the end of 1995–96 and was replaced by Christian Brothers to keep the Conference at 16 schools. In July 2000, the GSC welcomed Harding University and Ouachita Baptist University , making it the largest NCAA conference at any level with 18 schools. The Conference membership decreased to 17 when MUW dropped its athletics program at
7300-697: The end of the 2002–03 season. 2006–07 was another season of change for the GSC. Central Arkansas moved to Division I , leaving the West Division with eight schools while Lincoln Memorial left for the South Atlantic Conference due to travel and location issues, leaving the East Division with seven schools. Montevallo announced on June 27, 2008 that they would be leaving for the Peach Belt Conference following
7400-482: The end of the 2014 season, longtime head coach Larry Blakeney retired from coaching. He finished his career at Troy with a 178-113-1 record, 8 conference championships, and 5 bowl appearances. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. Neal Brown was hired as head coach following Blakeney's retirement. After starting his first season ever as a head coach in 2015, going 4-8, he led
7500-473: The first game of the series, the Trojans went on to win the next two games and clinch a share of the Sun Belt title. They finished the regular season with a 39-16 record. Troy finished the 2013 regular season ranked #21 in the College Baseball News poll. The Troy men's golf team has a deep history of winning championships. A three-time NCAA national champion, the Trojan men were one of the most dominant golf teams in Division II, making 19-straight appearances in
7600-529: The five "major" conferences— ACC , Big Ten , Big 12 , Pac-12 , and SEC —also known as the Power Five conferences . Other members are former coaches, players, athletic directors, and administrators, plus a retired member of the media. The goal was for the panel to consist proportionally of current "Power Five" athletic directors, former coaches, and a third group of other voters, excluding current conference commissioners, coaches, and media members. During
7700-459: The four New Year's Six bowls that were not hosting the semifinals that year. Under the original four-team format, the two semifinal games were played on the same day; with the expansion of the CFP in 2024, they will be played on back-to-back days. The College Football Playoff National Championship game is then played on the first Monday that is six or more days after the Semifinals. The venue of
7800-449: The four largest, most profitable bowl games - Fiesta, Orange, Rose, and Sugar. BCS rankings originally incorporated the two major polls as well as a number of computer ranking systems to determine the two best teams at the end of the season. Although the BCS era did regularly produce compelling matchups, the winnowing selection of the top two teams resulted in many BCS controversies , most notably 2003's split national championship caused by
7900-423: The head coaching position at West Virginia in 2019. Lindsey had an overall record of 15-19 while at Troy. He was fired November 21, 2021 with one game left in the season. Defensive coordinator Brandon Hall served as interim head coach until Jon Sumrall was hired December 2, 2021. Sumrall previously served as assistant head coach under Neal Brown from 2015-2017. During his first season as head coach Sumrall lead
8000-408: The increased emphasis on strength of schedule, teams have considered playing more challenging opponents during the non-conference portion of their schedules. Some teams have traditionally played three or four "weak" non-conference opponents, but wins against such low-level competition are unlikely to impress the committee. For teams on the cusp of making the playoff four, "I think one of the first things
8100-580: The institution. All committee members have past ties to certain NCAA institutions, but the committee decided to ignore those ties in the recusal requirements. "We just boiled it down to where we felt this group was fit to its high integrity and would differentiate from those past relationships," Long said. Some football writers, like Dennis Dodd and Mark Schlabach , have said the recusal arrangement isn't transparent or objective, suggesting that members' alma maters and former coaching jobs should be considered disqualifying conflicts of interest. College football
8200-400: The national championship. Committee members who are currently employed or financially compensated by a school, or have family members who have a current financial relationship (which includes football players), are not allowed to vote for that school. During deliberations about a team's selection, members with such a conflict of interest cannot be present, but can answer factual questions about
8300-511: The new playoff system, the Southeastern Conference considered increasing its conference schedule from eight to nine games, with Alabama coach Nick Saban a vocal proponent. According to Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News , "The prevailing opinion among SEC athletics directors: The SEC is difficult enough that there's no need for a ninth game." Some in the conference, like Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin , expressed
8400-477: The opinion that a nine-game SEC schedule would result in more teams with two losses. Commissioner Michael Slive and Vanderbilt AD David Williams, among others, supported a stronger out-of-league schedule, which would likely impress the committee. In April 2014, the league voted to mandate that all SEC teams must play a Power Five foe (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, or independent Notre Dame) in its non-conference slate beginning in 2016. Slive noted this rule "gives us
8500-584: The presidents admitted Valdosta State . West Georgia joined in 1983. Eight years of stability ended in 1991 when Tennessee–Martin and Troy State went Division I, briefly dropping the GSC back to seven members, before the beginning of an expansion resulting in ten new members: Lincoln Memorial (1992–93); Alabama–Huntsville , Henderson State , Central Arkansas , and Mississippi University for Women (MUW) (1993–94); West Florida (1994–95); and Arkansas-Monticello , Arkansas Tech , Montevallo , and Southern Arkansas (1995–96). Jacksonville State went Division I at
8600-417: The regular season meaningful, balancing academic schedules, and fear of eroding public support for bowl games. Several years of the 4-team playoff led to growing calls for expansion. In June 2021, the CFP announced that it would begin studying an expansion to a 12-team playoff. The CFP stated that the starting time of any new format would only be determined after it had been approved. On February 18, 2022,
8700-488: The same conference affiliation, this once heated rivalry has cooled significantly. Troy has Sun Belt rivalries with all East Division schools (Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and South Alabama). Currently, the Trojans' most prominent rival in all sports is their main Sun Belt rival, South Alabama . A member of the Sun Belt Conference , Troy sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Troy University has fielded
8800-764: The scheduling flexibility available with fewer permanent fixtures on a team's slate. Opinion was split among league athletic directors on moving to a nine-game schedule prior to the vote. An SEC expansion to a nine-game schedule would limit the ACC's opportunities to play Power Five non-conference opponents. To date, 32 of the 40 teams selected for the College Football Playoff have been undefeated or 1-loss conference champions from Power Five conferences . Three 1-loss Power Five teams have been selected without playing in their conference championship game, and three others have been selected after losing their respective conference championship games. One undefeated independent team has been selected, and one undefeated conference champion from
8900-580: The second half of the regular season. The top four teams are seeded in that order for the playoff. During the season, the committee meets and releases rankings six or seven times, depending on the length of the season (the number of games is consistent, but the number of weeks those games are played over can vary from year to year). The group, which meets at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine, Texas , reportedly meets in person up to 10 total times
9000-541: The selection process, organizers said they wanted the committee to be geographically balanced. Conference commissioners submitted lists totaling more than 100 names from which to select the final committee members. The selection of Condoleezza Rice , a former U.S. Secretary of State and Stanford University provost , was met with some backlash within the sport and the media. Critics questioned her qualifications, citing gender and lack of football experience. The committee releases its top 25 rankings weekly on Tuesdays in
9100-560: The selections published elsewhere. Among the most widely recognized national champion selectors has been the Associated Press (AP), which has conducted the AP Poll of sportswriters since the 1936 season. ( see also : List of AP Poll national champions ). The AP's main competition, United Press International (UPI), created the first Coaches Poll in 1950. ( see also : List of Coaches' Poll national champions ). The two polls have picked different final national poll leaders at
9200-433: The selections. Advanced statistics and metrics are expected to be submitted to the committee, though like other analytics, they have no formal role in the decision. Committee members are not required to attend games. Long said the panel considered less frequent rankings, but ultimately decided on a weekly release. "That's what the fans have become accustomed to, and we felt it would leave a void in college football without
9300-454: The semifinals instead of the quarterfinals. The problem was resolved when the commissioners gave the Rose Bowl an ultimatum to accept no special treatment or be excluded from the new playoffs, with the bowl agreeing to forgo its demands. By the end of 2022, a new 12-team format was approved to be implemented for the 2024 season. Originally, the expanded playoff was to include the top six ranked conference champions and six at-large bids, though it
9400-474: The team managed to make history by winning their first ever conference title and receiving a bid to play in an NCAA Regional. The team finished the season with a 47-22-1 record, winning the Mid-Continent Conference regular season title and conference tournament title. The Lady Trojans would receive a bid to play in the NCAA Play-In Series versus Southeast Missouri State , where they would sweep
9500-449: Was a four-team single-elimination tournament, with participants determined and seeded by the selection committee. The current 12-team CFP format will feature, for the first time, a first round of playoffs separated from bowl games. The first round will consist of seeds 5 through 12 playing one another at the home stadium of the better seeded teams, or another venue of their choice. Then, the quarter-final and semi-final games will consist of
9600-480: Was able to determine their champion by using a bracket competition . A 13-member committee has selected and seeded the teams to take part in the CFP. This system differs from the use of polls or computer rankings that had previously been used to select the participants for the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), the title system used in FBS from 1998 to 2013. The CFP format used from 2014 to 2023
9700-539: Was dominant while a member of the Gulf South Conference, winning the conference title five-straight years from 1982 to 1986. Troy University had one of the top collegiate rodeo programs in the nation during its existence. In 2007, Troy calf roper Ben Mayworth won the calf roping national championship at the National Finals College Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. The rodeo program's home facility was
9800-404: Was in the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as a 14 seed after winning the 2003 Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. The Trojans faced 3-seed Xavier in the first round, but the Trojans lost 71–59. They finished the 2003 season with a 26-6 overall record. In their most recent post-season appearance in 2010, the Trojans won the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title but lost in
9900-507: Was later changed to five conference champions and seven at-large bids after the 2021–2024 NCAA conference realignment resulted in the Pac-12 Conference dropping to two members. "Strength of schedule will become such an important factor ... that if you want to be under consideration, you need to have a more meaningful schedule than perhaps you've had in previous years." — Tom Jernstedt , selection committee member Due to
10000-535: Was organized. This was because of the popularity and profitability of bowl games, which had become major TV events in the decades following World War II. Bowl games, which for many years were only exhibition games, became so popular and important within college football that, starting in 1965, the AP (sportswriters) Poll waited until after the bowl games were completed to declare its national champion. The other major poll, UPI (Coaches) began doing so in 1974. This evolution led
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