Group of Five: 2017 college football Week 3 power rankings

One front-runner tumbles, while several teams step up to fill the void. Here are the 10 best Group of Five programs heading into Week 3.

Week 2 offered the opportunity for Group of Five teams to make critical statements as they try to separate themselves from one another in the race for a New Year’s Six bowl game. Some seized the opportunity, others fell completely flat, and then there was the case of Boise State.

The Broncos survived the loss of starting quarterback Brett Rypien to a head injury to take a 31-10 lead on No. 20 Washington State in the last game of Week 2. Bryan Harsin‘s team then allowed 21 unanswered points as the Cougars forced overtime. Trading field goals and then touchdowns in the first two extra periods, it seemed like #Pac12AfterDark might just last until the sun returned.

But after taking down Washington State last year, Boise State could not find the endzone in the third overtime. Last year’s runner-up in the Pac-12 North bolstered its resume by taking down one of the Group of Five frontrunners. Pollsters, though, were less impressed as they dropped the Cougars one spot in the AP Top 25.

As a result of the close loss, Boise State won’t fall completely out of the Group of Five Power Rankings this week. They find themselves in a tie at the bottom of the race, though, and this week we actually have 11 teams on the list. Click ahead to see who else joins the Broncos on the list as we rank the top contenders for a New Year’s Six bowl heading into Week 3.