Three AAC East teams remain the only undefeated Group of Five schools heading into October. Who might challenge the trio for the New Year’s Six invitation?
One month of the season is in the books, and only three Group of Five teams are still undefeated entering October. Surprising, or perhaps not so surprising at all, is the fact that all three hail from the American Athletic Conference. That puts the AAC behind only the SEC in terms of the number of member teams still unbeaten through the first five weeks of the 2018 campaign.
All three, though, are locked in the AAC East. Only one will ultimately emerge to play in the AAC championship game, and only one will eventually be in the running for the New Year’s Six spot. A couple of them, in the right circumstances, could even be a player in the race for one of the four College Football Playoff berths.
For now, though, the trio is the class of the Group of Five by a wide margin. If one of UCF, South Florida, and Cincinnati comes out of the other side of the regular season undefeated as the AAC champ, they will most certainly be headed at the very least to one of the New Year’s Six games as the Group of Five representative.
Who has the best chance of swooping in to steal that spot, though, if the AAC East ends up cannibalizing itself and the trio ruins each other’s chances to finish with a perfect season? Keep reading for this week’s breakdown of the Group of Five power rankings and a look at the upcoming opportunities for statements against Power Five competition in Week 6 play.