Who’s The Next Group of Five Contender?
UTSA Roadrunners
The easiest choice for 2023, UTSA takes a step up from Conference USA into the AAC. The Roadrunners return star quarterback Frank Harris and an elite offense to San Antonio, leading what could be the best team in program history into one of the most important seasons in program history.
UTSA has a solid head coach in Jeff Traylor, who doesn’t appear to be going anywhere for the foreseeable future after signing a contract extension that runs through 2031 a couple of years ago.
The Roadrunners had 24/7 Sports’ 59th-ranked recruiting class in 2023, which is pretty solid for a Group of Five program. It’s a class that should set up UTSA pretty nicely for a few years. The biggest question UTSA will face going forward is replacing Frank Harris.
SMU Mustangs
SMU is the definition of a “sleeping giant” in the college football world.
In the heart of Dallas, there’s no shortage of top recruits surrounding the Mustangs. But still, the dark cloud of the Pony Express era continues to hang over the heads of SMU football.
They’ll be a contender this year for a big-time bowl in the AAC. The Mustangs face Oklahoma and TCU this year and miss both UTSA and Tulane on the schedule.
But how do the moves of Texas and Houston affect SMU? Both programs upgraded – Texas to the SEC and Houston to the Big 12 – so it’s possible SMU is hurt by these moves in recruiting, especially the Houston move. Houston will have a slight upper hand on SMU with the ability to claim Power Five status. How long will Houston have that advantage? To be determined.
Rhett Lashlee leads the Mustangs into his second year and like any second-year coach, it’s not clear yet if he’s “the guy.” Best case, he is and can use his offensive skill to build the Mustangs into the power they were and eventually a Power Five conference. Worst case, SMU should be looked at as a top job in the Group of Five at a place where winning is very doable.
App State Mountaineers
Appalachian State is no stranger to success. It’s been 17 years (17?!) since the upset of Michigan at The Big House and the Mountaineers are still using that win as an example of what the program can be.
Since returning to the FBS level in 2014, App State’s worst record is 6-6. They’ve won ten games five times in those nine seasons. Not even Notre Dame has had that consistent level of success in that time period. In fact, App State’s 86 wins are more than Notre Dame (85.) It’s also more than Oregon (78) and even those Michigan Wolverines (79) that they upset all those years ago.
So what’s missing? A New Year’s Six berth.
All of that consistency has to be rewarded at some point, right? Unfortunately, the Sun Belt isn’t the AAC, but it’s also not the punching bag it used to be. Marshall is usually a quality team, and FCS power James Madison got off to a hot start in their FBS debut with an 8-3 record that led to being ranked. Troy bounced back last year with their first conference title in many years. There will be some good competition in this conference.
And the non-conference schedule? Well, App State took North Carolina to the limit last year and upset Texas A&M. North Carolina returns to the schedule this year. In future years, Clemson, NC State and South Carolina will appear. All Shawn Clark has to do is keep the momentum going and the Mountaineers will be in the first big-time bowl game in program history.