A frontrunner fell from the ranks in Week 9, leaving only one undefeated Group of Five team in the New Year’s Six race. How do the top mid-majors stack up?
Another one bit the dust in Week 9, as South Florida fell at home to Houston in an interdivisional American Athletic Conference showdown. Now there is just one Group of Five team left with a perfect record entering November. As a result, there is a lot of uncertainty this week as teams continue to jockey for a spot in one of the New Year’s Six bowl games.
For most teams, there are only four or five chances left to make a compelling case for the College Football Playoff selection committee. Two teams from the Group of Five currently sit in the committee’s first CFP Top 25. We could see at least one or two more fluctuate in and out as the weather cools and the stretch drive heats up.
But a high ranking isn’t the benchmark for whether a team manages to snag that lucrative spot in a postseason headliner. Even teams with less favorable records still have a shot, thanks to the fact that the primary consideration is winning a conference title.
With that in mind, we saw some teams that looked dead in the water emerge back into the race this week. Behind the frontrunner are a slew of hopefuls waiting in the wings to see if their chance might still come this season. Where does everyone rank in the mid-major hierarchy heading into the final month of the season? Read ahead to learn more about the top 10 in this week’s Group of Five Power Rankings.