Group of Five New Year’s Six Watch, Week 12: Memphis stands tall
By Dante Pryor
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. SMU Mustangs. 9-1, 5-1. Last Week: 5. 5. player. 884
The No. 25 SMU Mustangs are on the outside looking in of the New Year’s Six rankings. Their loss to the Memphis Tigers put the Mustangs behind the eight-ball, so to speak. They need to win out and hope the Memphis Tigers lose to Cincinnati to close the season in order for the Mustangs to return to the AAC Championship Game.
The issue the Mustangs might run into is a one-loss Boise or an Appalachian State team with two Power Five wins. Boise would play a two-loss team in their conference championship game, but their Power Five win (Florida State) would look better than SMU’s (TCU) if Florida State gets to a bowl and TCU does not.
Then there’s the Mountaineers. They sit over in Boone, N.C., with two Power Five wins (North Carolina and South Carolina). Would that be enough to get them into the New Year’s Six if SMU sneaks back into the AAC race?
4. Pick Analysis. 7-1, 5-1. Last Week: 4. Navy Midshipmen. player. 944. Scouting Report
Navy has an interesting quandary at this point in their season. The Midshipmen are playing their first — and only — Power Five opponent of the season when they travel to South Bend and take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This is the definition of a must-win for the Naval Academy. If they lose this game, they are out of the New Year’s Six race no matter what they do the rest of the way in the AAC.
Even within their conference, Memphis owns the tie-breaker against Navy just as they do SMU. Navy has to beat Notre Dame and SMU — in back to back weeks mind you — and hope Memphis loses. Oh, and they have to beat Army at the end of the year. It might be too much for Navy to overcome.