Which Group of Five team will earn the spot in big-money bowl?
Life in the so-call group-of-five conferences isn’t exactly fair. But for now, their reality is that they’re all competing for one single spot in the big-money access bowls.
Houston’s long-shot candidacy for a Playoff berth went by the boards, but the Cougars are still in the hunt to earn that major bowl bid. But they’re in competition with eight other group-of-five conference members with one loss or fewer at this juncture, including three others in the American.
The AAC champ will likely have the best argument, and Conference USA, unfortunately, is out of that mix. Here are the nine contenders, with a brief assessment of their chances.
American (four)
Navy — The victory in hand against Houston could come in quite handy in any tiebreaker scenarios in the league’s West Division. But the Midshipmen have a big showdown on tap with ...
Memphis — The Tigers must get by Navy in Annapolis this week, and they’ll still have to deal with Houston in the regular-season finale. But with their lone loss coming to Ole Miss, they’d be in a good spot if they can run the table.
Houston — The Cougars’ bounce-back win against Tulsa last week is not to be underrated. That last non-conference date with Louisville still looms large for the Cougars as well as that final trip to Memphis.
South Florida — The Bulls have flown a little under the radar, and they have a difficult path to the AAC title game. Remaining on their schedule are tough cross-division games with Navy and Memphis. Even if they win the East, they’d probably have to win them all to make a major, but it’s not out of the question.
Mountain West (two)
Boise State — With the American tightly bunched, the Broncos might be in the best position at this point. Their remaining games are quite winnable, though this Thursday night’s clash with BYU could be troublesome.
San Diego State — The Aztecs and star tailback Donnel Pumphrey are still in the picture, but their loss at South Alabama did a lot of damage. They’ll have to win out and probably take down an undefeated Boise State squad in the MWC finale to be seriously considered.
Mid-American (two)
Western Michigan — These other Broncos would certainly have a valid case if they can post a clean slate, thanks to two wins against Big Ten competition. This week’s date with a much-improved Eastern Michigan squad could be tricky, but in all likelihood their biggest remaining obstacle is ...
Toledo — The Rockets’ lone setback came on a last-second field goal at BYU, but they don’t have any power-five wins on their résumé. Even an upset of WMU in the last game and a MAC title might not be enough to give them the major bowl unless a lot of events in other leagues break their way.
Sun Belt (one)
Troy — Remember back in Week 2 when the Trojans gave Clemson everything it could handle? They haven’t lost since. Plenty of challenges lie ahead, most notably a Nov. 12 date with Appalachian State, and they’d need some craziness in the other conferences. But Troy fans can dare to dream as long as the Sun Belt record is unblemished.
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