ESPN Predicts Who Is On The College Football Playoff Bubble From The G5

The UNLV Rebels' ultimate goal this season is to make the College Football Playoff. However, they have a lot of competition for the spot to represent the G65 in the playoffs. ESPN published its weekly "Bubble Watch" article, covering who they think has the best shot of making the playoffs from the G6. The teams they had listed are Memphis, Navy, North Texas, Old Dominion, South Florida, Tulane, and UNLV.

While they listed all the teams in the mix, they went into more detail about their top teams, which currently are the Memphis Tigers and the Navy Midshipmen. This is what they had to say about the Rebels' toughest competition.

ESPN On The Memphis Tigers

"The undefeated Tigers would lock up the No. 12 seed this week as the fifth-highest projected conference champion. They currently have the best chance in the Group of 5 (34.5%) to reach the playoff, and the best chance to win the American (41.1%). They've won three of their five games on the road, which is more than a lot of other contenders, and they beat a beleaguered Arkansas team 32-31. They're not alone, though. The American conference is leading the race with multiple candidates, as Navy and North Texas are both undefeated and Tulane is hanging around with its lone loss to Ole Miss."

ESPN On The Navy Midshipmen

"The undefeated Midshipmen are again on a roll, but Rice is the only opponent over .500 that they've beaten, and one win was against VMI, an FCS opponent from the Southern Conference. Can Navy sustain its success against more formidable opponents? Last year, Navy was 6-0 before it came crashing back to reality with back-to-back losses to Notre Dame and Rice. According to ESPN Analytics, Navy has just a 12% chance of reaching the conference title game."

First off, we don't agree with this order, because we don't view Navy as the second-most likely team to make the playoffs from this group. However, that isn't all that important after just five weeks. What is important about this group of teams is that, besides the Old Dominion Monarchs, who are in the Sun Belt, every other team is in the American Conference. These teams are going to cannibalize, which should open the door for the Rebels to earn themselves a playoff bid if they can run the table and win the Mountain West Conference.

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