Group of 6 Power Rankings: A String of Upsets Leads to an Overhauled Top 10

As we’ve outlined over the last few weeks, the current Group of 6 race for the College Football Playoff race is centered on four programs. However, circumstances in this sport can change on a dime, and we saw that transpire in Week 5. Many of the teams that have populated these power rankings over the last few weeks have taken bad losses and have largely fallen out of contention to compete for a playoff spot, replaced by programs that have quietly gone about their business and built solid records entering the meat of conference play.

Four teams continue to make up a clear top tier of CFP contenders out of the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 and Sun Belt, but all it takes is one bad week for a program’s playoff dreams to implode.

First, let’s take a look at the four teams that have fallen out of the rankings from last week, before we get into the new-look top 10.

Dropped out of the Top 10

Western Michigan Broncos (3–2), MAC; Last week: No. 10

Last week: Beat Buffalo, 20–17
Next week: vs. Kent State

We’re casting Western Michigan off on a win, but the Broncos just haven’t been good enough since their should’ve-been-a-win against Michigan. Their game against FCS Monmouth aside, WMU has picked up two narrow wins against two sub-.500 G6 teams in Rice and Buffalo, and got absolutely creamed at home by Boise State.

Tulsa Golden Hurricane (3–2), American; LW: No. 8

Last week: Lost to North Texas, 45–44 (OT)
This week: at Navy

Tulsa and Oklahoma State have gone in very different directions since the Golden Hurricane’s statement win in Week 1. The Cowboys now look like real Big 12 contenders while Tulsa hasn’t put forth a particularly impressive effort in the last month, following up that game with a one-score win against Sam Houston, a blowout against an overmatched FCS squad in East Texas A&M and now back-to-back losses to Arkansas and North Texas. Neither is a shocking result, though Tulsa certainly wanted to be more competitive against the SEC basement-dwelling Razorbacks, but much of the goodwill of Week 1 has been squandered.

UMass Minutemen (4–1), MAC; LW: No. 7

Last week: Lost to Eastern Michigan, 38–14
This week: vs. Miami (Ohio)

UMass is still on pace to have its best season in FBS by far, but in front of a sold-out crowd at McGuirk Alumni Stadium, the team stubbed its toe in a major way, getting blown out by the Eagles in a game that more resembled the last decade-plus of Minutemen football. There are plenty of chances to recover and compete for the MAC title, but this now looks more like a merely competent program—still a huge upgrade—rather than an excellent G6 squad.

South Florida Bulls (4–1), American; LW: No. 5

Last week: Lost to Temple, 17–13
This week: vs. UConn

USF climbed our rankings on the strength of an undefeated record and a solid road win against Army, though getting to 4–0 wasn’t pretty. The Bulls played a tight opener against FIU and squeaked past the Black Knight and struggling MAC program Bowling Green on the road. Saturday’s loss to Temple brings USF back to square one. The Bulls offense ranks 110th in the country in total offense at 344.2 yards per game, a number that tumbles to just 277.5 per game without the blowout win over FCS squad Delaware State. That’s a broken unit.

Top 10 rankings after Week 5

10. UTSA Roadrunners (4–1), American; LW: Unranked

Last week: Beat Rice, 16–14
This week: vs. South Florida (Thursday)

UTSA has handled business so far in 2026, beating every team on its schedule outside of No. 1 Texas, and a 30–6 loss at the Longhorns in a game in which the Roadrunners limited Arch Manning to a 50% completion rate, 161 yards and just five yards per attempt is not a terrible showcase for the defense. It hasn’t always been pretty otherwise, but UTSA won shootouts with very talented Texas State and Colorado State offenses and won a slugfest at Rice. There’s something to be said about teams that can win in multiple ways. And after Brian Hartline implied the Roadrunners pipe crowd noise into the Alamodome, expect a pretty fired-up atmosphere in San Antonio on Thursday night when the Bulls come to town.

9. Toledo Rockets (4–1), MAC; LW: Unranked

Last week: Beat Ball State, 39–24
Next week: vs. Buffalo

Toledo lost longtime coach Jason Candle to UConn during the offseason, but his replacement—former Mercer coach Mike Jacobs—has picked up right where Candle left things, fielding what looks like the MAC’s most complete team through five full weeks. The Rockets played Michigan State tight in Week 1, losing 30–20, beat a pair of American opponents (Temple, 49–48; San Diego State, 41–16) and are now 1–0 in conference with a win over Ball State. It isn’t the most impressive schedule—the Spartans look like a lower-tier Big Ten program, the Aztecs are dealing with a rolling mumps outbreak that has a large chunk of the team sidelined—but you can’t ask for much more from what has been put in front of Toledo so far this season. We’ll learn much more about Jacobs’s team at the end of the month, with a trip to Eastern Michigan followed by a home date against Western Michigan.

8. UNLV Rebels (3–2), Mountain West; LW: Unranked

Last week: Beat Cal, 39–31
This week: vs. North Dakota State

Don’t look now, but UNLV is back in our rankings. An ugly blowout loss to North Texas knocked them out, but the Rebels have followed it up with a blowout win at Akron and a dramatic win over Cal. Yes, the Golden Bears are a mess and were without star quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele for much of the game, but a win over a Power 4 program isn’t something that many teams can boast in our increasingly stratified sport, and UNLV got one. This may be short-lived momentum with North Dakota State coming to Vegas on Saturday, but a win over the undefeated Bison would help get Dan Mullen’s squad back into the conference title mix.

7. Fresno State Bulldogs (4–1), Pac-12; LW: Unranked

Last week: Beat Washington State, 26–6
This week: vs. Boise State

Fresno State took one on the chin at USC to open the season, but have been rock solid in its four-game winning streak since, winning by an average of 24 points per game and allowing just 43 points in that stretch. The offense isn’t flashy, but the Bulldogs defense is among the best in the G6, with a +8 turnover margin (tied for third best in the FBS) and 14 sacks in five games (20th in FBS).

6. Memphis Tigers (4–1), American; LW: No. 6

Last week: Beat Charlotte, 59–8
This week: vs. UAB

After a tricky start to the season, which featured a tough loss at Boise State, Memphis has had it pretty easy the last two weeks, beating FCS squad UT Martin and then drubbing Charlotte, likely the worst team that the FBS has to offer. Things start to tick up again this week as the Tigers welcome in a plucky UAB squad before a trip to Tulane, but this is a very manageable schedule the rest of the way given Army and Navy’s disappointing starts, and South Florida’s lack of offensive punch. With the head-to-head loss to the Broncos, they’ll need some real help to get back into the CFP mix, but Memphis is in great shape to compete for its first conference title since 2019, Mike Norvell’s final season with the program, which would be a serious feather in first-year coach Charles Huff’s cap.

5. Oregon State Beavers (3–2), Pac-12; LW: No. 9

Last week: Beat Colorado State, 56–26
This week: vs. San Diego State

Now that it is not playing Big 12 title contenders, Oregon State looks pretty unstoppable. The Beavers have a top 10 offense at 496.6 yards per game. In their three-game winning streak against Montana, UTEP and Colorado State, they’ve averaged over 536 yards and 47 points per game. Their beatdown of the Rams last weekend was so thorough that CSU’s defensive coordinator got stripped of play-calling duties and quit in the middle of the game. Braden Atkinson (1,848 passing yards, 18 total touchdowns, two interceptions) and Jesse Legree (28 receptions, 741 yards, nine touchdowns) were virtual unknowns entering the season and have emerged as one of college football’s most dangerous pitch-and-catch duos, regardless of conference.

4. New Mexico Lobos (4–1), Mountain West; LW: No. 4

Last week: Beat UTEP, 61–7
Next week: Bye (at Hawai‘i, Oct. 17)

And here we enter the top tier, once again. New Mexico is now the highest-rated G6 team by SP+ at No. 25, nestled between ACC contender SMU and a talented-but-flawed Michigan squad. They boast a solid offense, even after losing their starting quarterback for the year, and a top-25 defense—and the more traditional metrics prove it. The Lobos are allowing just 10.6 points and 255.6 points per game, the No. 4 and No. 14 marks in the FBS. The winner of the Oct. 17 game between New Mexico and North Dakota State might prove to be Boise State’s top competition for the G6 playoff bid.

3. North Dakota State Bison (4–0), Mountain West; LW: No. 3

Last week: Beat Wyoming, 28–0
This week: at UNLV

NDSU won the inaugural “Battle of the Basins” against new semi-local conference foe Wyoming, and did it in style, pitching its second shutout of the season (and first against an FBS foe). The Bison have outscored their first five opponents this season 168–49. They jumped all over the Cowboys, with an interception on the first play from scrimmage that set up the first of two Nathan Hayes touchdowns on the ground.

North Dakota State now enters the most critical stretch of the season, with a trip to the talented-if-inconsistent Rebels this Saturday and a trip down to their prime rival atop the Mountain West, New Mexico, on Oct. 24, with a home game against Nevada in between. If they enter Halloween weekend at 7–0, they will be a heavy favorite in their last four games, and could make things very interesting in playoff voting.

2. James Madison Dukes (5–0), Sun Belt; LW: No. 2

Last week: Beat Marshall, 45–17
This week: at Georgia Southern

James Madison’s sputtering Week 1 offense feels like a completely different season. The Thundering Herd are far from a great opponent, but the Dukes put forth an impressively balanced offensive effort. Quarterback Camden Coleman gets better by the week since stepping in for the injured JC Evans, and threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns without an interception or sack against Marshall. JMU paired it with 310 yards on the ground, with 206 and two touchdowns coming from George Pettaway, a career high for the fifth-year back. The defense had some issues, allowing 309 yards and a number of big plays through the air, but the Herd never truly challenged after the early second quarter.

The Dukes are up to 30th in ESPN’s SP+ efficiency metric, the second-best ranking of any G6 program.

1. Boise State Broncos (4–1), Pac-12; LW: No. 1

Last week: Beat Utah State, 37–18
This week: at Fresno State

It was business as usual for Boise State, which rolled against Utah State for its first-ever win in the new-look Pac-12. The Broncos didn’t run the ball with quite the same dominance as they’ve become accustomed to, though most teams would sign for 185 yards and two touchdowns. The win over the Aggies did set off some alarm bells in that department however, as dynamic running back Dylan Riley left in the fourth quarter with an injury. He returned on the next drive but did not touch the ball, and Boise State went with Harry Stewart III and Juelz Goff to kill clock on its final drive of the game. The team was already without RB2 Sire Gaines (234 yards, two touchdowns in three games) once again, as he recovers from a wrist injury suffered against South Dakota.

It’s unclear whether their competition in the Pac-12 could slow down the Broncos, but injuries certainly might. Saturday’s road game at Fresno State (4–1) pits Boise against one of its chief rivals to win the Pac-12.

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