Outside the 20s of football season, I root comprehensively for the G5 to do well (and thrash the P5) in baseball and basketball. The response, nearly every time, is somebody chiming in with “There’s no G5 in baseball or basketball.”

There is a G5 in baseball and basketball, I feel like this is a very simple argument to win, yet convincing anybody to accept my position has been an exercise in failure. Power Five and Group of Five only exist in football, and the only reason why I’m told this is true is because sometimes, other conferences are good at basketball or baseball. But having a glory run in one sport isn’t what makes the Power 5 and the Group of Five the Power 5 and the Group of Five.

See? Honestly, why is this so hard to see? Maybe it will help to make it more complicated.

For Example, Baseball….

The other day on FunBelt Podcast, I announced that my interest in college baseball was now 0.0%. My pal and co-host, Dusty Thibodeaux, responded, “Well, you gotta root for the one G5 who’s left.” He was referring to Oral Roberts, the plucky little program from the Summit.

I let it slide, but listen, there’s nothing Group of Five’y about Oral Roberts or the Summit, whose members on average spend less than a million bucks on baseball. Comparatively, the Power Five invests $4,0009,355 in baseball annually. The Group of Five falls just a bit behind at $1,619,350. Lump the five biggest non P5/G5 conferences (WCC, Big East, Big West, Colonial, and A10), and their average budget is $1,494,850 with none bearing the expense of a major football program.

SEC	$5,733,644
Big 12	$4,220,444
ACC	$3,792,047
Pac-12	$3,713,238
Big Ten	$2,587,405
American	$2,234,350
WCC	$1,847,330
Big East	$1,749,211
C-USA	$1,662,012
Sun Belt	$1,646,425
Big West	$1,628,875
MWC	$1,575,652
MAC (21st)	$978,311
Summit (23rd)	$814,235

Of the eight teams who made it to Omaha, seven hail from the deep-pockets of the Power Five. Oral Roberts, by pluck and by luck, squeak in after spending more money on baseball than any program in the Summit

Florida	$4,954,818
LSU	$5,981,966
Tennessee	$6,250,169
TCU	$6,390,891
Wake Forest	$3,677,427
Stanford	$4,012,460
Virginia	$4,439,041
Oral Roberts	$1,192,568

For baseball, there is the Power Five and then everybody else – when it comes to winning. With spending, there’s a tier.

So Who’s the “G5” of Basketball and Baseball?

Don’t overthink this: The Group of Five for baseball and football is the same Group of Five for football. Why? Because just like the Power Five, the Group of Five is one of two unions of conferences that play (and fund) all three sports at the highest level.

When somebody says, “Well, actually, in basketball, it’s the Power Six with The Big East.” Just stop with that. The Big East is a boutique conference specializing in basketball. In terms of dollars, the Big East’s signature member, Connecticut, discovered that it costs dearly to pay, with the university ranking among the athletic departments nationally with the greatest gap between expenses and revenues. Meanwhile, UCONN football (and independent), which has never looked particularly good on the gridiron, generated $4.7 million in revenues in 2022 while costing $18.4 million in expenses. UCONN is not meant to be a football school. Financially, it has all it can handle being a basketball school.

Skill is a single sport alone does not place a conference in a Group or a Power. Funding a well-rounded and deep athletics program does. The costs are staggering – just ask Idaho. If you’re favorite conference plays Group of Five football, it also plays Group of Five baseball and basketball. Make it easy on yourself and stop overthinking it.