Here’s how the 10 best teams in the college football Group of Five grade out following an eventful week four.
The Group of Five continues to have a strong contingent of challengers for a spot in the New Year’s Six, but Week Four of the 2017 college football regular season will be looked at as a missed opportunity after a few teams just missed out on a chance to take down Power Five programs.
Week four did not get off to a good start for the G5, as its most consistent program in the Boise State Broncos suffered a shocking blowout home loss to Virginia on Friday night. With Boise State falling to 2-2, Houston losing to Texas Tech at home and BYU toiling away at 1-3 behind a woeful offense, three perennial G5 contenders are off to disappointing starts.
A few other underdogs will regret missing chances to score major upsets on Saturday afternoon. Appalachian State and Louisiana Tech both suffered heartbreaking one-point losses to Power Five opponents, while Toledo held a halftime lead on Miami before folding late.
It wasn’t all bad news for the G5, as UCF surged up the power rankings by earning a resounding road victory over Maryland. San Diego State and South Florida, the only two G5 teams to make an appearance in the AP Poll this week, also remained perfect and appear headed for an intriguing battle for the New Year’s Six spot over the course of the season.
The top four teams in the Group of Five held steady in the week five power rankings, but Saturday’s busy slate led to some shakeups elsewhere.