Here’s how the top teams in the college football Group of Five stack up heading into week 9.
While not nearly as chaotic as the preceding Saturday, Week 8 provided plenty of noteworthy results in the Group of Five ranks, leading to some changes in the power rankings.
It wasn’t easy for the top New Year’s Six contenders, as the three ranked G5 teams all came away with hard-fought road wins over the weekend. Memphis erased a 17-point third-quarter deficit to top Houston in the final minutes, UCF impressively snapped Navy’s 17-game home winning streak with a 31-21 triumph, and South Florida held off a late charge from rapidly improving Tulane.
With Boise State also triumphing over Wyoming, the top four of the power rankings are unchanged from Week 8, but there were some big surprises elsewhere. After putting together a miserable 1-11 campaign a year ago, Fresno State is shockingly in control of its division following a 27-3 romp over San Diego State in the biggest G5 upset of the week.
Marshall is engineering a remarkable turnaround itself at 6-1, and trounced Middle Tennessee State on Friday night for its fifth straight blowout win. With Toledo and Appalachian State also taking command of their respective conferences, the Group of Five has one of its strongest fields in recent memory.
One major absence from this week’s power rankings is Navy, which has lost two straight following a 5-0 start. The Midshipmen certainly deserve plenty of credit for giving mighty UCF its toughest test of the season, but a resume that has Florida Atlantic as its best win isn’t good enough to crack the top 10 given the depth in the G5 this year.
Here’s how the top 10 Group of Five teams grade out heading into Week 9.