Top-10 players outside of the Power Five conferences

Aren’t we sick of the popular kids getting all the glory? Isn’t it time we distribute recognition to the big-time numbers being put up in a quiet fashion? Everyone wants to kiss the feet of the Power Five conferences. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC have been on a pedestal for years — with the SEC being the ring leader of late.

We’ve seen plenty of occasions where smaller schools have risen up in the cliche David vs Goliath fashion and taken down a power-five program.

Appalachian State shocked the college football world by beating Michigan in 2007 — pretty much the revolution of the mid-major program.

Georgia Southern took down Florida in 2013. Though, it’s hard to assemble a case for the Gators being worthy of a spot in the SEC rotation that year.

Aside from smaller schools (somewhat) consistently stumbling into upset wins over the years, we’ve seen a lot of players come from those same small schools and excel in the National Football League. 

Terrell Owens (UT at Chattanooga), Randy Moss (Marshall), London Fletcher (John Carroll), and plenty others have gone on to flat-out ball on football’s highest level.

And do you know why? It’s because the major programs are obsessed with winning. Okay, wait, that might have come out wrong. Those power-five schools have their systems, and they work toward the ultimate goal of winning a national championship.

It’s not that the smaller schools don’t want to win, but the strength of schedule that a school like Boise State would need in order to make it into the College Football Playoff is a lot tougher than what Alabama or Ohio State would need.

And that leaves room for the small-school guys to prepare for the NFL game — to mold their overall ability in order to make it at the next level.

So that’s what we’re going to focus on right now. Here’s a list of the top-10 players outside of the power-five conferences during this 2015 season.

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