Group of 5 college football power rankings, Week 1: Utah State concerned?

After an exciting Week 0, we look at how the Group of Five landscape has shifted before Week 1 of college football kicks off on Sept. 1.

Week 1 of the college football season is finally here and we have a new batch of Group of Five rankings to get things started.

After nearly a dozen games were played in Week 0, there’s been a slight shift in my power rankings.

Despite each winning their opening games, Utah State and Western Kentucky have dropped a few spots because they struggled against such inferior opponents.

There’s at least one team from each Group of Five conference — American Athletic, Sun Belt, Mountain West, Conference USA, and MAC — in these Week 1 rankings.

Let’s take a look at the best Group of Five teams in college football heading into Week 1.

Note: All Week 1 games are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 3 unless otherwise noted.

Troy Head Coach Jon Sumrall heads back to Oxford in Week 1 to take on Ole Miss, where he served as the linebackers coach back in 2018.

Will his defense be up to the task to slow down Lane Kiffin’s potent offense?

Troy heads to Mississippi to take on Ole Miss during Week 1. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

The Hilltoppers slide back to No. 19 in my rankings after starting off No. 16 in my preseason Group of Five power rankings. Although they defeated Austin Peay 38-27, they had to use a 17-point fourth quarter to fend off the Governors, a small school from the FCS.

Western Kentucky is still trying to figure out how to replace one of the all-time great college football seasons from Bailey Zappe, who’s now with the NFL’s New England Patriots.

WKU heads to Hawaii to take on the Warriors at 11:59 p.m. ET for a late kickoff for those of us on the mainland.