Group of Five Power Rankings, Week 13: Can anyone catch UCF?

(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
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UCF remains locked into the pole position of the Group of Five Power Rankings. Can anyone take down the Knights and open the New Year’s Six to competitors?

Only two more games this season stand between UCF and a second consecutive New Year’s Six appearance. It would mark the third time in six years that the Knights have played in a major bowl game, dating back to the final year of the BCS.

But the Knights long for more than just another token appearance in one of the non-semifinal bowl games. With a winning streak now sitting at 23 games and counting, the College Football Playoff selection committee opted to move UCF past Ohio State into No. 9 in their latest Top 25 rankings on Tuesday night. But will enough chaos happen on Thanksgiving weekend and championship weekend to get the Knights into the top four?

That is the biggest question in the national picture, from the Group of Five angle. But we have seen teams falter in the past, at that final hurdle, especially back in the BCS era. UCF still has to play their War on I-4 rivalry game on Black Friday, and then the American Athletic Conference championship game on December 1 against the winner of this weekend’s Houston-Memphis tilt. Either one could result in an upset and the end of the long winning streak.

Losing to South Florida wouldn’t kill the New Year’s Six dream, as UCF still basically just needs to win the American Athletic Conference to ensure their trip to one of the major bowls. But it would destroy any longshot dream of making one of the two grand-prize games this year.

If UCF does falter at the final hurdle, who is next in line to pick up the mantle and represent the Group of Five in a major bowl game? Keep reading for the current hierarchy of the next nine teams behind the Knights in the Week 13 Group of Five Power Rankings.