Group of Five New Year’s Six Watch, Week 15: Who has the best argument?
By Dante Pryor
Best wins
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Louisiana
Loss
- Georgia Southern
Championship game opponent
- Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
Why they are in
The Appalachian State Mountaineers are the only team in the New Year’s Six watch that can lay claim to having two Power Five wins. They have bragging rights in the Carolinas with wins over the North Carolina Tar Heels and the South Carolina Gamecocks. Save the one hiccup against Georgia Southern, the Mountaineers have laid waste to the rest of the Sun Belt.
What keeps them out
App State’s argument would be stronger if they hadn’t lost a conference game. The Sun Belt is the lowest rated conference in the NCAA. A loss against UNC or South Carolina might have been better than their Georgia Southern loss. Playing a team they’ve defeated in Louisiana doesn’t help their cause either. They’ll need help getting in; that means both Boise and Memphis losing their conference championship games.