Group of Five power rankings: Does Cincinnati have a playoff argument?

Group of Five power rankings entering Week 7.

Despite the lack of activity at the top of the  Group of Five this week. A couple of programs played their first games of the season this week. The Temple Owls played Navy in their season debut, falling 31-29. The Houston Cougars defeated the Tulane Green Wave 49-31 in their season opener.

The Liberty Flames are 4-0 after defeating the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks 40-7. If the Flames go undefeated, they most likely do not have enough schedule to get to a New Year’s Day bowl, but it would be a great story for a program that has been at the FBS level since just 2018.

Week 7 starts with a Sun Belt showdown between the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns. The Cincinnati Bearcats play a pesky Tulsa Golden Hurricane squad while the SMU Mustangs play an always dangerous Tulane Green Wave team. Here are the Group of Five Power rankings for Week six.

Editor’s Note: BYU and Army are included in the Group of Five power rankings even though neither is eligible for the Group of 5 New Year’s Six bowl bid, but as Independents, we want to include the two teams who aren’t part of Power 5 conferences either.

Group of Five power rankings after Week 6

5. Coastal Carolina

The Chanticleers were off this week after a convincing 52-23 victory over the Arkansas State Red Wolves at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina. Their victory sets up a pivotal game with the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns. This game will not decide the conference, but the loser is eliminated from any chance of a New Year’s Six bowl.

The Chanticleers formula is simple. They want to run the football. Coastal has three players with at least 20 carries this season. When their opponents’ safeties creep up to fill the box, quarterback Grayson Mccall has two receivers “highly likely” to make big plays. Wide receiver Javion Heiligh and tight end Isaiah Likely have caught six of McCall’s 9 touchdown passes. It will be a test for one of the Group of Five’s better defenses in Louisiana.

4. Louisiana

Speaking of the Ragin Cajuns, their game against Appalachian State was postponed this week, which sets up their showdown against Coastal Carolina. Keep an eye out for the makeup game between the Cajuns and Mountaineers. That game could go a long way in deciding the Sun Belt Conference winner.

This week against the Chanticleers is about the last undefeated team in the Sun Belt. The Chanticleers bring their hybrid option, downfield passing attack to Cajuns Stadium to take on the second-best defense in the Sun Belt. The Cajuns come into this game with the second-best scoring defense (21.3 ppg) and third-best pass defense (198.7 ypg) in the conference.

The Cajuns have two questions to answer to win this game. Can they score enough points to keep up with Coastal Carolina? Can they at least slow down the Coastal Carolina rushing attack? This one promises to be loads of fun.

3. SMU

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times last week for the Mustangs. They notched a huge victory in the American Athletic Conference defeating the Memphis Tigers 30-27 to stay undefeated. Even if the Mustangs never make up their game with TCU, they’ll have a New Year’s Six case if they can stay undefeated in the best conference of the Group of Five.

Unfortunately, SMU lost both wide receiver Reggie Roberson and running back T.J. McDaniel to injury. Sonny Dykes stated that the Mustangs “have to be prepared to move on” without both stand out offensive players. SMU should be able to get past a pesky Tulane team without Roberson or McDaniel. That might be more difficult with Cincinnati on Oct. 24 and Houston later in the season.

2. Cincinnati

Legendary wrestling announcer Jim Ross would best describe the Bearcats‘ offense as “bowling shoe ugly.” Head coach Luke Fickel wants to win with his defense. They run the ball a ton (Cincy has four players with at least 15 carries this season) and throw when they need it. The 55 points they scored against Austin Peay is a big reason for the 35.7 points per game average.

The Bearcats now enter into the meat and potatoes of their schedule. This weekend they play Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane played the Oklahoma State Cowboys to the wire and defeated the UCF Knights last weekend. That’s followed by three games against SMU, Memphis, and Houston, respectively. The Bearcats have to force them to play their brand of “bowling shoe ugly” football. Cincinnati cannot get into a shoot out with these teams.

1. BYU

The Cougars were in survive and advance mode against a much improved UTSA team this weekend, winning 27-20 in Provo, Utah. Despite a lackluster offensive performance, the Cougars’ defense was outstanding most of the game. UTSA quarterback Lowell Narcisse did throw for 229 yards and two touchdowns. The Roadrunners rushed for only 78 yards.

What’s unfortunate about the run the Cougars are currently on is their schedule could be their undoing. BYU lost its game against Wisconsin because of COVID when the Big Ten decided to postpone its season. They do not have a Power 5 opponent this season, and their best win could come next week when they take on Houston in the battle of the Cougars.

This is ironic since they are ineligible for the New Year’s Six because they are independents, yet they might be the best program in the Group of Five.

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