Do any G5 fans have mixed feelings about the plight of lower-tier P5 teams?
For the past few years, many fans of the lower tier power five teams have been hit with the very real fear that their team will be left behind in whatever college football becomes in the next 5-10 years. We even have a post at the top of the sub about that. The fear that their team will be left out of games with in-state rivals, won't get to play historic regional opponents, being viewed as a level below the top teams, and won't have the opportunity to have that special season and play in the playoffs. Their biggest fear is essentially becoming... us, a group of five team.
As a group of five fan, I can say many of our teams have had great success, reached some of the highest heights in college football, and have great fan bases that sell out stadiums, but have been locked out for decades. Often times these same fans of power five teams were the ones advocating to keep us out. The same fans who didn't want us to play their team, didn't want us in the playoff, didn't want our teams to move up, wanted to split the P5/G5 into separate levels and now they want us to hear the plight of their teams.
And I do feel them, I don't like the direction college football is heading, it sucks for all of us. A decade ago my school (ECU) was seen as a giant killer, now the giants don't want to come to play because it's "not worth it for us." North Carolina a school we have decades of history with, now refuses to schedule us and NC State likely won't renew our current series when it reaches it's conclusion. Most other G5 teams can tell a similar story.
When I hear from fans of teams in the lower tier of the PAC and ACC, I get a lot of mixed feelings. I feel sympathy for them but also think about how these teams never stood up for schools like mine