Group of Five: Week 8 Access Bowl Power Rankings

Navy at once benefits and is hurt by the chaos swirling all around them in the AAC. By beating Memphis, though, the Midshipmen provided themselves a two-game cushion in the AAC West standings. Will Worth finished with over 200 rushing yards and three scores and completed three of his four passes for another 85 yards and two passing touchdowns. The defense held the Memphis running game in check. Yet there is still a full half-season to be played by Ken Niumatalolo’s team after the East Carolina game was rescheduled in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

Next week the Midshipmen face South Florida on Friday night with a chance to eliminate the Bulls from the AAC East race. Navy hosts Notre Dame on November 5 and plays Army in Philadelphia on December 10 in a pair of non-conference rivalry games. In between the showdowns against the Fighting Irish and the Black Knights, Navy takes on Tulsa at home before a road swing against East Carolina and SMU. The Midshipmen can lose a conference game and still finish atop the AAC West. Should they win the league, the only thing hurting Navy’s Group of Five case is the odd loss to a now-reeling Air Force team at the beginning of October.