Midseason Group of 5 Power Rankings
The American Athletic Conference (AAC) dominates our first Group of 5 Power Rankings of the 2019 college football season,
placing six teams in the top-10, and another just missing out. The Mountain West is the only other conference with multiple teams in the top-10, including the team in the top spot. Conference USA (C-USA) and the Sun Belt Conference each place one team in the top-10, while the Mid-American Conference (MAC) is shut out of our initial rankings.
The highest ranked conference champion out of the Group of 5 schools will play in the Cotton Bowl against a Power 5 opponent at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on December 28th.
BREAKDOWN BY CONFERENCE:
AMERICAN (AAC) - 6
MOUNTAIN WEST - 2
CONFERENCE USA - 1
SUB BELT - 1
Mid-American (MAC) - 0
Boise State Freshman Running Back George Holani had 3 total touchdowns in the Broncos 59-37 win over Hawaii. (Photo:©Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman)
1. #14 Boise State Broncos (6-0)
CURRENT STANDING: 1st place - Mountain West (Mountain)
The undefeated Boise State Broncos are the class of the Group of 5 contenders at the midway point of the 2019 season.
A convincing 59-37 win at home against a high-octane Hawaii squad put a stamp on a first half of the season worth celebrating. A record crowd of almost 37,000 fans saw the Broncos sprint to a big halftime lead that had swelled to 45-14 midway through the 3rd quarter. Freshman Running Back George Holani rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown and added 2 receiving touchdowns for the surging Broncos. An injury to true freshman starting QB Hank Bachmeier was the only negative to come from Boise State’s sixth win of the season.
With a season-opening win at Florida State on its resume, Boise State looks primed for a special season. Their toughest remaining test might be this weekend, when the Broncos head to Provo to face a BYU team with wins against two Power 5 opponents (USC, Tennessee). Boise State will be favored in every game the rest of the season, and look like the best bet to run the table straight to a date against a top-ranked Power 5 opponent in the Cotton Bowl.
SMU Sophomore Judah Bell (#13) lifts the Iron Skillet after the Mustangs 41-38 win at TCU. (Photo:©Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
2. #19 SMU Mustangs (6-0)
CURRENT STANDING: 1st place - AMERICAN (West)
The Southern Methodist football team opened its season with 3 straight wins against lower-tier competition before a 41-38 Week 4 win at TCU in the Battle for the Iron Skillet put the Mustangs on the national radar. TCU had defeated SMU in 11 of the past 12 matchups heading into the 2019 battle.
The undefeated Mustangs followed up that performance with a convincing 48-21 win on the road at South Florida and a 43-37 overtime victory in a thriller against Tulsa on October 5th. SMU did not play over the weekend.
Junior quarterback Shane Buechele leads the way for the SMU offense. He has accounted for 14 total touchdowns through the first 6 games for the Mustangs. SMU faces perhaps its toughest test yet as the Mustangs welcome the Temple Owls to Dallas this Saturday. Temple (5-1) has wins over Maryland, Georgia Tech, and Memphis to its credit this season. The Owls are tied with Cincinnati for first place in the AAC East division.
Cincinnati Senior Linebacker Bryan Wright leads the Bearcats onto the field before a 35-13 victory over Miami (OH) on September 14th. (Photo:©Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports)
3. #21 CINCINNATI BEARCATS (5-1)
CURRENT STANDING: 1st place - AMERICAN (East)
The Cincinnati Bearcats have an impressive resume that features home victories over UCLA and UCF and a road win at Houston. The lone blip on the radar for Cincinnati is a Week 2 blowout loss on the road against the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes. No Group of 5 contender would be favored against Ohio State on any field, let alone in Columbus, so that loss has little influence on the Bearcats standing in these power rankings.
Quarterback Desmond Ridder led the way on offense for Cincinnati it its 38-23 win at Houston. The sophomore signal-caller threw for 263 yards and 3 touchdowns, and rushed for 50 yards and another score.
Cincinnati will be heavy favorites in its next 4 contests (vs. Tulsa, at ECU, vs. UConn, at USF) before two massive AAC showdowns at home against Temple and on the road at Memphis to end the regular season. Expect the Bearcats to be in the thick of things come conference championship time.
(Photo:©Allison Lee Isley/Winston-Salem Journal)
4. #24 APPALACHIAN STATE MOUNTAINEERS (5-0)
CURRENT STANDING: 1st place - Sun Belt (Group A)
(Photo:©Lou Rabito/Philadelphia Inquirer)
5. TEMPLE OWLS (5-1)
CURRENT STANDING: 1st place - American (East)
(Photo:©Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
6. SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS (5-1)
CURRENT STANDING: 1st place - Mountain West (West)
7. MEMPHIS TIGERS (5-1)
CURRENT STANDING: 4th place - American (West)
8. TULANE GREEN WAVE (5-1)
CURRENT STANDING: 2nd place - American (West)
Navy Senior Quarterback Malcolm Perry rushed for 218 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Midshipmen in a 45-17 win at Tulsa. (Photo:©Stephen Pingry/Index-Journal)
9. NAVY MIDSHIPMEN (4-1)
CURRENT STANDING: 3rd place - American (West)
It is rare to find a college football team as dedicated to the run as the Navy Midshipmen. They amassed 423 yards of total offense in their 45-17 win on the road at Tulsa (2-4) over the weekend. Of those 423 yards, only 35 came through the air. That’s right, Navy rushed for the other 388 yards, proving that a high-octane offense does not have to rely on the passing game to be effective.
Senior quarterback Malcolm Perry led the ground attack for the Midshipmen with 218 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Navy welcomes South Florida (3-3) to Annapolis this Saturday before a big AAC-West matchup with Tulane (5-1) on October 26th.
Louisiana Tech Senior Quarterback J’Mar Smith passed for 3 touchdowns in a 69-21 blowout victory over UMass. (Photo:©Tom Morris/LATechSportsPix.com)
10. LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS (5-1)
CURRENT STANDING: 1st place - Conference USA (West)
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs can run the football. They rushed for 385 yards in a convincing 69-21 victory over an outclassed UMass Minutemen (1-6) team over the weekend.
Junior Running Back Justin Henderson led the way, rushing for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns. More than half of that came on a 74-yard house call on the Bulldogs second possession of the game. Senior quarterback J’Mar Smith finished the game with 3 touchdowns on 16-of-28 passing for 239 yards. Louisiana Tech will host Southern Miss (4-2) this Saturday.