It hardly seems like we should already be at the quarter pole of the college football season, but here we sit. A majority of the G5 has played four games with some wild exceptions like Central Florida due to weather issues. We have been able to see multiple non-conference matchups, a few interesting conference games, and just about anything you can think of in between.
I would love to say that this is a banner year for the G5 and we are going to see multiple teams crash the gates of the Power Five party. Sadly, that is not the case. While the top of the G5 is strong, there are too many middling teams that have yet to show that spark that gets them national interest.
First, let’s look at the G5 versus P5 yearly battle and how the little guys have fared so far by conference. Also, a look at a few of the biggest G5 wins so far.
- AAC: 4-9 (.308)
- MAC: 4-14 (.222)
- MWC: 3-16 (.158)
- CUSA: 2-15 (.118)
- Sun Belt: 0-9 (.000)
- Independents: 0-2 (.000)
- Overall: 13-65 (.167)
Wins of Note: San Diego State over Stanford, NIU over Nebraska, MTSU over Syracuse, EMU over Rutgers, CMU over Kansas, UTSA over Baylor, San Diego State over Arizona State, Memphis over UCLA, UCF over Maryland.
Next, the non-conference G5 versus G5 matchups by conferences.
- AAC: 11-2 (.846)
- MWC: 4-3 (.571)
- CUSA: 8-9 (.471)
- MAC: 6-7 (.462)
- Sun Belt: 5-9 (.357)
- Independents: 1-5 (.167)
- Overall: 35-35 (.500)
Games of Note: Toledo over Tulsa, UNLV over Idaho, NMSU over New Mexico, New Mexico over Tulsa.
Finally, the dreaded G5 versus FCS matchups by conference.
- Independents: 1-0 (1.000)
- MAC: 10-1 (.909)
- CUSA: 9-1 (.900)
- AAC: 7-1 (.875)
- MWC: 9-2 (.818)
- Sun Belt: 7-3 (.700)
- Overall: 42-8 (.840)
Losses of Note: Tennessee State over Georgia State, James Madison over East Carolina, New Hampshire over Georgia Southern, South Dakota over BGSU, Howard over UNLV.
What have we learned?
Clearly, the AAC is the best bet for upsetting the P5, tying for the most wins while doing so in five fewer games. That shows just how good the top of the ACC is this season. Conference USA gets the bad luck award in getting only two wins in 17 chances. Despite that ugly number, they had multiple chances to upset P5 programs (i.e. Louisiana Tech versus South Carolina).
Again, the AAC rules when it comes to G5/G5 games. The only losses they suffered came with Tulsa on the field versus New Mexico and Toledo. Both games came down to the final moments of the game. The MWC has played only seven games versus other G5 competition. It is not surprising due to a conference schedule that starts so early in the season. In contrast, multiple teams in the MAC have completed their non-conference slate with the MAC playing a G5-high 17 matchups of this caliber.
In what is becoming a less and less rare occurrence, every G5 conference has at least one blemish versus the FCS. The Sun Belt with Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, and Georgia State have the most losses to FCS competition, but the pair of losses by Charlotte (NC A&T) and Nevada (Idaho State) may be the worst. Just remember, the Idaho State team that dominated Nevada lost 51-13 to Utah State in the previous week.
Upcoming non-conference games:
September 29:
- BYU at Utah State
September 30
- Marshall at Cincinnati
- Rice at Pitt
- UTEP at Army
- South Alabama at Louisiana Tech
- CMU at Boston College
- Miami at Notre Dame
- Ohio at UMass
- EMU at Kentucky
- NIU at San Diego State
- Texas State at Wyoming
- NMSU at Arkansas
- Troy at LSU
October 6:
- Boise State at BYU
October 7:
- Army at Rice
- Air Force at Navy
October 14:
- Tulane at FIU
- EMU at Army
October 21:
- BYU at East Carolina
- Temple at Army
- Idaho at Missouri
- Georgia Southern at UMass
October 28:
- Austin Peay at UCF
- Missouri at UConn
- SJSU at BYU
- Appalachian State at UMass
November 4:
- Southern Miss at Tennessee
- WKU at Vanderbilt
- BYU at Fresno State
- Army at Air Force
- UMass at Mississippi State
November 10:
- BYU at UNLV
November 11:
- New Mexico at Texas A&M
- ULL at Ole Miss
- Duke at Army
- Maine at UMass
November 18:
- Navy at Notre Dame
- Boston College at UConn
- Army at North Texas
- UAB at Florida
- ULM at Auburn
- UMass at BYU
November 25:
- BYU at Hawaii
December 2:
- UMass at FIU
December 9:
- Army vs. Navy
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