Group of Five: Week 10 Access Bowl Power Rankings

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Oct 29, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Cougars quarterback Greg Ward Jr. (1) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Central Florida Knights at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

Given the circumstances, Houston became almost mathematically eliminated from contending for the AAC title this season during their bye week. But since last year’s top Group of Five team still has a slim chance of taking the AAC West, they remain in the power rankings for another week. First and foremost, the Cougars cannot lose again. They must win out against Tulane and Memphis in conference as well as taking down Lamar Jackson and Louisville at home on November 17 to have any chance of returning to a New Year’s Six bowl.

Then they need this exact sequence to happen:

Tulsa defeats Navy in Week 11
Navy loses to East Carolina in Week 12 OR to SMU in Week 13
Tulsa loses to UCF in Week 12 OR to Cincinnati in Week 13

In this situation Navy would have three conference losses, eliminating them from the discussion. Then the tiebreaker would revert to head-to-head result, which went in favor of the Cougars last month. Should they reach the AAC title game, the College Football Playoff committee would be presented with a team that beat both Oklahoma and Louisville and won its conference despite long odds.

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