The field of legitimate contenders for the automatic New Year’s Six position is winnowing down. Here are the Group of Five Power Rankings after Week 11.
With just a fortnight left in the regular season, only nine Group of Five teams can still boast a record with two or fewer losses this season. Every other team among the mid-major FBS teams is clinging to a rope.
The College Football Playoff selection committee, though, loves four of those nine. UCF, one of four undefeated teams left and the school with the longest active winning streak in the FBS, is up one spot to No. 11. And in the final three spots of their Top 25 this week, the committee picked Utah State, Cincinnati, and Boise State to fill those positions.
Could one of the teams with three or more losses still win the lottery ticket into a New Year’s Six bowl game? The automatic berth is designed to reward the top Group of Five conference champion. So, technically, there is still hope for teams like Florida International, Houston, or San Diego State despite the losses they have already incurred.
That, however, would require all five conferences to finish with a surprise champion. More likely, then, is that the College Football Playoff selection committee is going to reward one of the teams with better winning percentages.
Who might that be, though? Last year’s New Year’s Six recipient, UCF, is at the head of the list as they approach the completion of a second straight undefeated regular season. Behind them, teams continue to rise and fall as they sustain losses or pull off upsets.
Keeping the championship stipulation in mind, let’s look closer at the top 10 in this week’s Group of Five Power Rankings.