Group of Five: Week 5 Access Bowl Power Rankings

Everyone on this list of teams has not yet beaten a Power Five opponent, which will make it harder to climb in national prominence. Troy sits at the head of the list for two reasons. One, the Trojans are at the head of the pack (along with 15th-ranked Georgia Southern) in the Sun Belt standings. But unlike their conference rivals, Troy has A) taken on a defending power-conference champ and B) almost beat Clemson on the road.

Behind the Trojans are a half-dozen Group of Five teams that are all still very much in their league pictures. Despite losing to Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee still looks like the team to beat in the East Division of Conference USA. Navy’s loss to Air Force on Saturday put them behind in the battle for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, but it did nothing to affect their standing alongside Houston atop the AAC West. Similarly, Toledo’s narrow loss at BYU is painful from a record standpoint, but the Rockets are still as alive as anyone in the MAC West.

That includes an Eastern Michigan team that has won more games already this year than the past two years combined. Their only defeat came on the road at Missouri. The Eagles are followed by a Tulsa team whose only loss came on the road against second-ranked Ohio State. In these cases, the lopsided nature of the defeats hurts their long-term case for inclusion in the CFP rankings. But the first prerequisite for Group of Five teams will always be winning a conference championship. Both are still very much in the mix.

And, as mentioned before, Georgia Southern rounds out the list. They are stuck in the biggest quandary. While the Eagles are right there with Troy atop the Sun Belt standings, they have two things going against them. First, they have yet to even play a Power Five opponent. Second, their one loss this year came against Western Michigan. Should both teams win their respective conferences, WMU would undoubtedly get the benefit of the doubt from the head-to-head win.