Rankings: After Season-Long Absence, Group Of 5 Teams Piling In To Top 25

November 11, 2018 by Dave Congrove

Several teams from Group Of 5 conferences are racking up some impressive won-loss records and making a last-minute push to be the team to secure the lone guaranteed spot in a New Year's 6 bowl.

UCF, 9-0 and on a 22-game winning streak, still leads that bunch with a No. 10 ranking. But Utah State (9-1) has been closing the gap and now ranks just 2 spots behind the Knights. Last week, UCF was 9th and the Aggies were 14th.

Boise State rose more dramatically, leaping from 23rd to 17th with the win over Fresno State. However, the Broncos still trail the Bulldogs who sport a similar 8-2 record and are ranked 15th.

UAB makes it first appearance in the Top 25, shooting up six spots to 22nd after securing the Conference USA division title. The Blazers are 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the conference. In fact, UAB is one of 9 teams in the nation to still own an unblemished record in conference play. The others are Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, UCF, Utah State, Buffalo, Troy and Northern Illinois. Of that group, Buffalo also enters the Top 25 at No. 23.

The computer's Final Four this week remains - in order - Clemson, Alabama, Notre Dame and Michigan. They are still followed - in the same order as last week - by Oklahoma, Ohio State, Georgia and West Virginia.

The only movement in the top 10 saw Washington State and UCF trade places at Nos. 9 and 10 with the Cougars ticking upward.

Other than the Sun Belt, every conference has at least 1 team in this week's Top 25 with ACC, Big 12 and SEC tied for the most representatives with 4 apiece. They are followed by the Big Ten, Mountain West and PAC-12 with 3 schools each.  The American, Conference USA and MAC have 1 member, while Notre Dame is the lone Independent.

The highest-ranked team in the Sun Belt is Appalachian State (7-2) at No. 31.

View the full Top 130.