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

Head coach Sonny Dykes has left SMU to become the head coach at TCU in the Big 12. But, he’s replaced with first-time head coach Rhett Lashlee, who’s been a career offensive coordinator with recent stops at Auburn, UConn, SMU, and Miami.

To help him get things kicked off, he’ll enjoy the returning Tanner Mordecai, who had one of the best statistical seasons of any quarterback in all college football last season. Mordecai will be able to learn a lot from Lashlee, who was a former quarterback himself at Arkansas in the early 2000s.

Expectations are high in Dallas, where SMU has won seven or more games for the past three consecutive seasons.

Boise State has not done well in the covid-era of college football. In the last 20 years, they’ve had an incredible 15 seasons in which they’ve won 10 or more games. They’ve come up well short of that the last two consecutive seasons, posting records of 5-2 and 7-5.

There’s a ton of pressure on head coach Andy Avalos to right the ship in year two of his tenure after posting a seven-win season in 2021.

He’ll have a little bit of continuity with starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier and top rusher George Holani returning in 2022. But this defense is going to have to step up and improve on the 365.6 yards they gave up to opposing teams last season.

The Broncos have a fairly light non-conference schedule (Oregon State, New Mexico, UT Martin, UTEP), so they should have an opportunity to start off undefeated before hitting their conference schedule against San Diego State on Sept. 30.

The Aztecs are a tough team to place in my preseason power rankings. Excluding the 2020 season, they’ve finished with seven wins or more in each of the last 11 seasons. But, entering 2022, they’ve got transfer quarterback Braxton Burmeister leading the offense and they’ll have a new starter at running back.

The Aztecs get a lot of credit for having a very tough non-conference schedule this season. They’ll face Arizona in the Sept. 3 opener, No. 7 Utah, and Toledo – a team projected to the best team out of the MAC this year — all within the first month of the season.

They’ll be well-coached, well tested and have a really good shot at competing for the Mountain West championship depending on how they perform during the early slate.

Blake Anderson looks to build on an outstanding 11-win season that saw Utah State end the season ranked No. 24 in the AP 25.

The Aggies have lost star wideout Deven Thompkins, who finished his career with the third-most receiving yards in team history, but retain quarterback Logan Bonner. The former Arkansas State quarterback finished with 3,628 passing yards and 36 passing touchdowns in his first year with the Aggies, setting single-season team records.

Bonner should be able to rely on returning running back Calvin Tyler Jr. to help offset a revamped receiving unit. Justin McGriff is the top returning pass-catcher from last year (35 catches, six touchdowns).

Bonner returns to Logan, Utah, for his sixth college football season (second at Utah State) when the Aggies host UConn and their new head coach Jim Mora Jr. on Aug. 27 at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

Appalachian State is my top-ranked team from the Sun Belt in my initial rankings. Head coach Shawn Clark returns to Boone, N.C., for his fourth season armed with a career record of 20-7. He’s built a brand of quality, balanced football and doesn’t have a lot of roster churn.

He’s projected to have another terrific team in 2022 and it starts with returning quarterback Chase Brice and backfield tandem Nate Noel (1,128 rushing yards) and Camerun Peoples (14 touchdowns).

A really tough early schedule vs. North Carolina, at No. 6 Texas A&M, and vs. Troy will give us a clear indication if the Mountaineers are going to be disruptors this season and vault themselves into the elite tier of Group of Five teams.