The Group of 5 is utter madness with a pair of undefeated teams losing this weekend and it’s anyone’s best guess who gets the New Year’s Six berth.
Look, the College Football Playoff committee is never going to allow a Group of 5 team in their four-team field because we saw them shun an undefeated UCF. So if I could, I would start a four-team playoff for the Group of 5 to see with the winner getting a big trophy and a hefty payday.
Think about how much excitement it would create for the sport, those leagues, those coaches, players and fans?! It would be awesome and I hope it can become a reality in the near future.
But while I stop dreaming about a Group of 5 playoff, there is an automatic bowl berth for the best Group of 5 team who will play in the Cotton Bowl. But who will ultimately play in the game is wide open after undefeated Appalachian State and undefeated SMU lost to Georgia Southern and Memphis, respectively.
App State was undefeated but was behind a few other teams so they were always the underdog to get the NY6 berth with the teams from the American Athletic Conference and Boise State the most likely contenders.
With UCF giving up their mantle as the top Group of 5 team, Cincinnati, Memphis and SMU have all laid claim to being the top team in the AAC. The Bearcats were on the ropes against East Carolina before having a furious comeback and kicking the game-winning field goal at the final whistle to win by three. They remain in control of their division but the other side of the AAC saw Memphis move into pole position after handing SMU their first loss of the year.
The American could come down to a Cincinnati-Memphis American Conference Championship Game to decide who gets the New Year’s Six bid.
But it’s also too soon to forget about Boise State despite the Broncos being largely written off after losing to BYU a few weeks ago.
Cincinnati, Memphis, SMU, Boise State, Appalachian State is how I’d rank the Group of 5’s top five teams after Week 11. I still think Cincinnati wins the American and earns the New Year’s Six bowl bid. This is definitely one of the most exciting races in the last few years after UCF lapped the field over the last two years.
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