Group of five teams making noise through Week 3
Fair or not, the Football Bowl Subdivision as it’s currently structured has built-in advantages for the power conferences. But schools from the so-call group-of-five leagues as well as independents are still making noise in this young season.
Houston has received the most attention, of course, thanks to their fairly high starting rank and splashy Week 1 win against Oklahoma. But 11 other non-power conference teams have yet to taste defeat in 2016, including three other members of the Cougars’ American Athletic Conference.
Three of those — Navy, San Diego State and Toledo — have this week off. Two others, Western Michigan of the Mid-American Conference and Georgia Southern of the Sun Belt, will play each other in what might be the sneaky-good game of Week 4. The Broncos, who host the contest, are 2-0 against the Big Ten this season. But the Eagles claim a win against South Alabama, which came just a week after the Jaguars earned a victory in SEC territory at Mississippi State.
Here are the other six of the undefeated who are in action this weekend in order of importance of their upcoming games.
South Florida
The Bulls have a huge chance to take down a power-five opponent on their home field as they host Florida State, a result that would at least be on par with Houston’s earlier accomplishment. It’s a dangerous game for the Seminoles, who are still smarting from their humbling loss at Louisville.
Boise State
The Broncos have one win against a Pac-12 opponent (Washington State). They’ll try to grab another on Saturday, but this one will be on the road at Oregon State.
Air Force
The Falcons have played but twice and face a key Mountain West road test at Utah State. They open the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series a week later against Navy.
Memphis
The Tigers’ program is clearly in a better place than Kansas, but the ease with which they dispatched the Jayhawks was impressive nevertheless, particularly with a new coach. The Mike Norvell era should continue with a third win against defensively challenged Bowling Green. It’s the next game against Ole Miss that might make things even more interesting.
Central Michigan
The Chippewas are on the road, but they have a good chance to run their record to 4-0 at winless Virginia.
Army
The Black Knights’ 3-0 start has been eye-opening for many reasons. Perhaps their most notable achievement so far is they are just one of three FBS teams that has yet to commit a turnover. They should make it four wins in a row this Saturday at 0-2 Buffalo.
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