Who’s No. 1 in our 2022 preseason Group of Five football power rankings?

The first Group of Five power rankings are here. Which teams from the American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, C-USA, and MAC make the Week 0 list?

Teams from the Group of Five had unprecedented success during the 2021 college football season. Cincinnati became the first team from the American Athletic Conference, Mountain West, Sun Belt, Conference USA or Mid-American Conference to make it to the College Football Playoff.

College football realignment was also felt at the Group of Five level, with Cincinnati, Houston and UCF receiving (and accepting) invitations to join the Big 12.

With some of those milestones out of the way, we can get back to focusing on football and how things will shape out for the Group of Five during the 2022 college football season.

I’ve cobbled together an initial power rankings list for the Group of Five ahead of Week 0, when we’ll see a number of teams play the first games of the new season.

Here’s how many teams from each conference made the initial rankings:

• American Athletic Conference: 5
• Mountain West: 5
• Sun Belt: 5
• C-USA: 3
• MAC: 2

Let’s dive into our list and see where each team is ranked.