The Group of Five teams played some of their best football this season. Whether it was trying to showcase for an opportunity in next season’s 12-team playoff or battling for the New Year’s Six Bowl this season, it was entertaining. None was more entertaining than the Colorado/Colorado State rivalry renewed after Jay Norvell’s comments that indirectly aimed towards Deion Sanders. Not only that, former lowly teams of the past New Mexico State and UNLV upset Auburn and Vanderbilt. Fresno State played the best out of the entire Group by going undefeated in non-conference play defeating Purdue and Arizona State. Air Force had a chance before Army sent their plane crashing and burning in four straight losses that eventually boot them out of a Mountain West title opportunity. Liberty cleared their schedule and currently stands as the only undefeated Group of Five team. If it wasn’t for the Illinois’s game-winning field goal kick, Toledo would’ve likely stood alongside Liberty as the only undefeated Group of Five teams. Tulane dominated the new look AAC while the AAC newcomer UTSA came out incinerating every AAC opponent before the Green Wave cooled them off. Troy quietly played their best football after losing to Kansas State and JMU, and GJ Kinne impressed again with a new team in Texas State with their first 7-win season in FBS program history.

AAC

SMU finally gets over the hump and meets Tulane down in Louisiana for the conference title game. UTSA gave it their all, but they were unable to overcome the Green Wave and came up short in their first AAC loss of the season in their first season in that conference. Tulane’s expected to repeat for the AAC title, and it’s possible they can pull it off against SMU if they fail to stop the Green Wave too. Memphis had their opportunity but failed to defeat both AAC title contenders. Will Seth Henigan move on to the NFL?

C-USA

Liberty was expected to play for the conference title in their first season in a conference at the FBS level. However, no one expected New Mexico State to make it there. It was supposed to be Western Kentucky, but they failed to live up to their expectations. Quarterback Diego Pavia headlines the Aggies, and man he’s something. If you haven’t watched this kid’s highlights, go check it out. Also, be sure to check out his last bowl season highlight against Bowling Green. He is a dawg! Otherwise, Liberty’s favored to win, but don’t count out Pavia. Elsewhere, Jacksonville State had their best season as the FBS newcomer. When it looked like their season was done after finishing 8-4, they get an additional game in the postseason. Great job, Gamecocks!

MAC

Toledo was expected to return to the MAC championship and are likely to win the whole thing. Their opponent: Miami (OH). The Redhawks are a hard out because of their defense and physical offense in the trenches. It’s just hard to see them outplaying Toledo unless their defense can bog down Toledo quarterback Dequan Finn. His name should be mentioned for the NFL. He’s shown some potential and played so well in the past two seasons. MAC quarterbacks have prospered at the next level, including Ben Roethlisberger (former Miami (OH) quarterback). The Ohio Bobcats had their chance to play for the MAC title again but were unable to get past Miami (OH). Quarterback Nathan Rourke did well this season after returning from last year’s season-ending injury and led the group through November.

MOUNTAIN WEST

Boise State came out ugly during the season. Slow start, quarterback Taylen Green being injured during the season, and ineptitude across the board for a few weeks at a time that led to firing their head coach Andy Avalos on November 12th. And yet, that didn’t stop the Broncos as Taylen Green came back just in time to help finish off the season and play for a conference championship. However, UNLV played their best football since 1979 and are close to hitting their best mark since 1984 when that team won 11 games in the PCAA conference. Once they found their quarterback in Jayden Maiava, they dominated in most of their games with an electric offense. Despite losing to San Jose State that led to a three-way tie between them, San Jose, and Boise, the computers chose Boise and UNLV. Now both collide for the first time in the Mountain West title game. Air Force had their chance, but Army blew up their opportunity. It wasn’t a pretty finish and quarterback Zac Larrier’s injury was a big blow to their offense down the stretch.

SUN BELT

The Sun Belt was something fun this season. Appalachian State found themselves in the conference championship with five straight wins, including an upset over James Madison on the road. Coastal Carolina failed to live up to their expectations with such shaky situations with quarterback Grayson McCall. The East has every team with six wins and hopefully all play in a bowl if they satisfied their criteria to be bowl-eligible with six wins. Troy repeats for a conference championship appearance while Texas State played their best football in program history since joining the FBS. While Arkansas State and Louisiana found their way to six wins, South Alabama won six games but played underwhelmingly than expected after shutting out Big 12 title bound Oklahoma State on the road. And then there’s James Madison that finished with the best record in the conference. Also, they finally become bowl-eligible thanks to the NCAA overturning their ban. Fantastic news for the Dukes! Appalachian State and Troy will meet in the Sun Belt title game.

CONCLUSION

Tulane, Liberty, Toledo, UNLV, James Madison, and Troy stood out as the best teams of the Group of Five. However, the real winner of this entire college football season is James Madison and Jacksonville State. After some time and two appeal rejections from the NCAA, they both get to play in the postseason. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the matchup. I want to tune in for it.