Group of 5 power rankings: Who will win the American Athletic Conference?

After the SEC, the American Athletic Conference is the most interesting league in college football with six undefeated or one-loss teams, and if Boise State slips up, the conference champ will likely go to a New Year’s Six Bowl.

Boise State has regained their crown as the king of the Group of 5 after UCF’s struggles earlier this month. Whether they can continue their reign through the rest of the season and claim a New Year’s Six automatic berth remains to be seen. Should the Broncos get upset, the next in line for the Cotton Bowl berth would likely come to the American Athletic Conference. Who the best team in the league is changing by the week in one of the nation’s most compelling conferences.

In this week’s Group of 5 power rankings, Boise State remains in the top spot with Cincinnati and a few American Athletic Conference teams in pursuit.

Group of 5 power rankings entering Week 8

10. Utah State Aggies

Sorry Utah State, even though you had a bye some quality wins pushed you down after a 36 point loss. The good news is they should get back on track this weekend at Nevada.

9. UCF Knights

Exact same situation as Utah State. With a bye week, the Knights can’t move up, but impressive victories move them down. As I said before the American Athletic Conference is loaded, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see UCF drop a couple more games before the season ends.

8. Navy Midshipmen

Malcolm Perry continues to dominate on the ground, as he ran for 218 yards and three touchdowns in Navy’s victory over Tulsa last weekend. Navy was only favored by about a point in this game and ended up winning by 28. They are making a statement that they are to be feared in the American.

7. Memphis Tigers

In last week’s Group of 5 power rankings, I predicted Memphis was going to lose to Temple and then they did. Memphis could not take care of the ball against Temple and ended the game with four turnovers. Despite all these turnovers, the Tigers still were able to showcase their offensive prowess with 492 total offensive passing yards. Memphis’ offense will keep them in a lot of games, but sloppy play will be their downfall. Things won’t get any easier this week as they take on Tulane.

6. Temple Owls

Hello, Temple! You just read why the Tigers lost the game, but let’s give the Owls credit for capitalizing on mistakes and winning the game. Temple now has two top 25 victories under their belts, their previous one being against Maryland. They’ll be looking to add another one next week as they take on the SMU Mustangs.

5. Tulane Green Wave

Tulane easily beat the UConn Huskies last week, 49-7. This was expected and was little more than a tune-up before their matchup with Memphis this weekend. Look for The Green Wave to win the turnover battle this Saturday, as they have a +4 margin on the year. They will need to follow Temple’s blueprint of bending but not breaking. The good news: Tulane has an offense that can keep up with Memphis, averaging almost 500 yards and 39.2 points per game. I think Tulane could run the table and win the American this season.

4. Appalachian State Mountaineers

Appalachian State took care of business in the first Wednesday night game of the year. Actually electric sun belt conference action. Well, it was only electric if you consider a 17-7 win electric, but hey it was still weekday football. The Mountaineers now enter a cushy part of their schedule with ULM, South Alabama, and Georgia Southern as their next four opponents. They should come out of these next three games undefeated.

3. SMU Mustangs

SMU has been the surprise of the season so far and looks to remain undefeated against Temple. They will likely keep the ball on the ground with Xavier Jones to avoid costly mistakes. Jones has had a great season so far, rushing for 646 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has been a great complement to Shane Buechele.

2. Cincinnati Bearcats

Cincinnati came out and took care of business against a disappointing Houston team, and now enters a fairly easy part of their schedule. With games against Tulsa, ECU, UConn, and South Florida coming up, the Bearcats should enter late November undefeated in conference play.

1. Boise State Broncos

Boise State’s defense has shown up all season, and on Saturday the offense took their performance to a greater level. The Broncos put up 59 points against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, and are now favored in every remaining matchup according to ESPN’s FPI. The Broncos are the leaders in the Group of 5 for a New Year’s Six bowl bid, and barring disaster they should clinch it. Their toughest remaining test comes this weekend at BYU.

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