College Football 2019: Group of Five New Year’s Six watch for Week 8
By Dante Pryor
The Mountaineers join the ranks of the watch after not being ranked the week prior. They had the longest road to the gate playing in the smallest of the Group of Five conferences — the Sun Belt. They do, however, own a Power Five win against North Carolina.
The Mountaineers — or the Mountain as they like to be called — also have the opportunity to have another Power Five win when they take on the South Carolina Gamecocks in early November.
App State, however, can’t get ahead of themselves. They have tricky spot in their schedule. They take on South Alabama on Saturday Oct. 26 and then Georgia Southern on the following Thursday night. Short week games are always tricky especially taking on a unique offense like Georgia Southern. The Mountaineers must be on guard for that short week. Survive with a South Carolina upset all but ensures a New Year’s Six bid.
Good on Tulane for staying on the watch as long as they have. They are one of the surprise teams on the watch. The Green Wave decimated the UConn Huskies — as everyone else has — and are ready to prove if they really belong. They have a quarterback who completes less than 60 percent of his passes, but they have speed all over their offense.
In addition, their defense hasn’t been bad, either. What Tulane has going for it is its schedule. The Green Wave play Memphis, Temple, UCF, and most importantly SMU. Win out and the Green Wave will likely play the No. 21 Cincinnati Bearcats for the American title. Win the American and they will have a heck of an argument.
Scouting Report. 6-0. SMU Mustangs. player. Pick Analysis. Last Week: 3. 3. 884
SMU was off this week and resume their schedule the Temple Owls this weekend. This is a big game for both teams. Although the Owls have a not so good loss to the Buffalo Bulls, they technically have two Power Five wins — if you call Georgia Tech a Power Five team.
SMU just doesn’t have that much meat on the bone. It won’t get to the New Year’s Six without going undefeated. Following Temple, the Mustangs get two other crucial games against Memphis and Tulane. If they want to take Sonny Dykes’ spread to the New Year’s Six, it’s all in front of them. They must run the table, however — one loss and they’re done.