Group of Five New Year’s 6 watch, Week 3: Louisiana facing meteoric rise

Louisiana defeated Iowa State and App State defeated Charlotte. Could the Sun Belt represent the Group of Five in a New Year’s Six bowl?

Welcome back to the watch. We stand on the wall looking for one and only one worthy of representing the brave men of the Group of Five in the New Year’s Six. Remember, New Year’s is coming.

This season, a representative will not come from either the Mountain West or the MAC as they have decided to cancel their seasons. That puts the burden on the American, the Sun Belt and Conference USA.

So far, it’s the Sun Belt that has been most impressive.

Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Coastal Carolina all notched wins against Power Five schools. More specifically, all three schools defeated schools from the Big 12. All three wins were on the road for the Sun Belt as well.

With only one spot to join the watch, the competition is high. The Army would always make sense to be a “Knight of the Watch”, but they might not have enough schedule. Their game against BYU was canceled, and they do not have a Power Five team on their schedule. They’d need a bit of chaos even if they run the table.

SMU did not impress against Texas State and Cincinnati has not played this season. However, they benefit from being in the best Group of Five conference in the country. Expect the New Year’s Six race to be as unpredictable as the season.

Here are this week’s candidates for the New Year’s Six watch: