There are plenty of potential cinderella teams in college football and these Group of Five programs could make a run at a New Year’s Six bowl in 2017.
It’s a tough life for a Group of Five school. To end up in one of college football’s premier New Year’s Six bowls, they have to not only be one of the best non-Power Five teams, they also have to have a schedule that allows them to finish with a gaudy record. The latter point is why a team like Temple — arguably the best Group of Five school in 2016 — couldn’t make the cut despite winning the AAC, with out-of-conference losses to Penn State and Army staining their resume.
It’s also why schools like Houston and San Diego State don’t make this list, despite both having very promising squads. Even if the Cougars or Aztecs make it to the top of their conferences, they have one too many potential pitfalls on their schedules to be a sure-fire bet this early.
Without further ado, here are the five Group of Five schools with both the talent and the schedule to find themselves in the mid-major promised land in 2017.
5. Boise State
It’s very tempting to write off the Broncos due to their schedule, which is about as hard as it can get for a Mountain West school. Boise State has to travel to both Washington State, a likely preseason AP Top 25 team, along with a BYU squad that won nine games last season, in their non-conference slate.
In conference play, they get Colorado State and San Diego State — likely the MWC’s two other best teams — both on the road. It’s a brutal slate, and one that the Broncos aren’t likely to get through unscathed.
Still, the schedule might be just difficult enough that the Broncos could pick up a loss or two and still be in solid shape. A Mountain West title, even with an 11-2 record, might be enough for Boise to leap ahead of, say, a one-loss MAC or Conference USA champ. It’ll be hard, but if anyone can do it, it’s Brett Rypien and a powerful Broncos offense.