Not all Group of Five teams are created equal. Here are five schools that could upset Power Five opponents in Week 1 action.
The beauty of college football is that it often provides a setting to watch smaller schools play big games. Taking on and beating powerhouse schools can open the door for mid-majors to reach the Top 25 and bolster their case to play in major bowl games. As a result, Power Five programs must always be on alert against Group of Five teams lest they suffer an upset.
In 2017, Group of Five teams have added incentive to build their resumes against bigger opponents. In the College Football Playoff era, teams from the American Athletic Conference, Mountain West, Conference USA, MAC, and Sun Belt now have an automatic access point into one of the New Year’s Six bowl games.
Since the top Group of Five conference champion started getting an invitation automatically, it was no longer enough just to go undefeated in the regular season. Instead, with a selection committee ranking the teams to determine Playoff berths and New Year’s Six invitations, it is even more imperative to win statement games over Power Five opponents.
Entering the new year, we’ve already seen one Group of Five takedown after Colorado State knocked off Oregon State on the opening Saturday of the season. As we enter the first full week of games, the Rams head off this week’s upset alert list as they have the chance to take down another Pac-12 school. Click ahead to read more about five of the biggest Group of Five upset threats taking on Power Five challengers in Week 1.
(All betting lines courtesy of Sportsbook Review.)