Group of Five: UCF, Boise State headline 2018 preseason power rankings

Last year, only a pair of losses against UCF separated Memphis from a shot at finishing as the top Group of Five team in the country. The Tigers knocked off UCLA at home in a wild shootout between senior quarterbacks Riley Ferguson and Josh Rosen. Ferguson threw for 398 yards and six touchdowns against the Bruins defense.

Ferguson is gone now, though, leaving the Tigers offense to redshirt sophomore David Moore. Memphis has dealt with losing a quarterback before, as Ferguson took over for Paxton Lynch under center for the Tigers. Moore has a pair of steady running backs in Tony Pollard and Patrick Taylor Jr. to help take some heat off the passing game. As he develops, Moore should keep Memphis in AAC West contention.

What will really be critical to whether Memphis fails or succeeds in the AAC race is whether or not the defense can improve. Last year the Tigers gave up an average of more than 465 yards and 32 points per game. Often bailed out by a high-scoring offense, Memphis won five of the seven games in which the defense gave up 30 or more points. They can’t count on that happening again this year.

Last year only UCF proved capable of outscoring the Tigers in a shootout. This year, Memphis is banking on experience to remain relevant in the Group of Five battle for the automatic New Year’s Six invitation. An October visit to Missouri provides an opportunity to take down a Power Five team, and this year UCF has to come to the Liberty Bowl.