Welcome back to 18Stripes and your one stop shop for everything you need to know about the Group of 5. While Week 0 was a fairly quiet week, I still have a fair amount to say about the games and the format of the column. 

As I mentioned last week, the format for this column is going to be different for the first month of the season. Instead of blindly trying to get a top ten for the first couple of weeks, I am going to tier the teams by where their season seems to be headed. 

Last week, I looked at the Group of 5 teams per conference, but this week will have a slight tweak. I will attempt to tier all of the Group of 5 teams in one go. The below graphic has the teams put into what tier I think they should be based on expectations (and some Week 0 results). They are put alphabetically by conference, with independents first.

The Week 1 Group of 5 Tier List

Once we have more games to talk about next week, I’ll dive more into these tiers. For now, let’s talk about some of the games we have going on from this past Saturday.

Week 0 Review

The big game over the weekend in terms of potential movement on this tier list was Florida Atlantic knocking off Charlotte 43-13. The Owls controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Owls finished with 1.94 OL yards per play (per Game on Paper), and K’Nosi Perry finally showed glimpses of the potential he had at Miami, having an efficient day through the air to add to the ground game. The 49ers out of conference schedule does them no favors, with Maryland, Georgia State, and South Carolina. While they avoid UTSA this season, their margin for error to make a bowl is now super slim. 

UConn sure looked good there for a bit huh? The Huskies under new coach Jim Mora Jr. hung around with the defending Mountain West Champion Utah State Aggies, ultimately falling 31-20. After running out to a 14-0 lead, the Huskies failed to adjust to the Aggies offensive attack, allowing 24 unanswered points before the half. The Aggies then kept UConn at bay, never letting them within a score the rest of the way. I am intrigued to see if UConn can continue this across eleven more games or if this was more week 1 rust Utah State’s part. 

Finally, in the first game of the afternoon, Western Kentucky fought biblical rain and Austin Peay to a 38-27 win. The decline from Patriots backup Bailey Zappe to Austin Reed was a tad steeper than anticipated, but the Hilltoppers still pulled out a victory. Much like last season, the defense is going to be the problem for this team, especially when they face more dynamic offenses. 

Week 1 Preview

Headliners

Unlike most seasons, we have some really good Group of 5 vs Group of 5 matchups to start the year. The headliner this week is the AP ranked Houston Cougars heading to the Alamodome to take on the defending C-USA champs UTSA. A win for the Roadrunners puts them firmly in the New Year’s Six tier. With other opponents such as Texas and Army to bolster their non-conference schedule. Houston will likely use this game as a barometer to see if they can challenge Cincinnati for the American title. 

Before Army can showdown with UTSA, they will have their own battle at hand as they go down to South Carolina to take on Coastal. It is a clash of styles as the old version of the triple option, led by Jeff Monken, takes on the newer version of the triple option, led by Jamey Caldwell. Coastal needs to prove itself here, as its next toughest non-conference game is going to Virginia in November.

I’m not sure if this is a trendy sleeper pick, but I think App State can and will knock off North Carolina in Boone. I said this in the 18S Writers’ Room earlier this week, but why is North Carolina scheduling a trip to Boone? Why would you subject yourself to that? While the Tar Heels looked good this past Saturday, I think the App State offense and atmosphere will be enough to get past the Tar Heels.

Finally, in the biggest non-conference game of the year, and maybe the season, Cincinnati takes a trip to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas. Cincinnati lost a ton on both sides of the ball, and the Arky crowd is bound to be rocking for the young offense. It’ll tell a lot about this Cincinnati team in how they defend themselves in their first year post CFP.

Interesting Power 5 Games

In terms of interesting Power 5 games, they fall into two buckets. The first, and less interesting one, are games where I’m intrigued about the G5 team in how they perform. This week it includes:

1. Central Michigan @ Oklahoma State
2. Colorado State @ Michigan
3. Memphis @ Miss State
4. Kent State @ Washington

I’m not sure any of these teams can win their games (maybe Memphis pulls out another upset against the Bulldogs), but I’m curious about how these teams perform. Central Michigan can put themselves firmly on the map if they can handle Oklahoma State. Colorado State under its new regime has an interesting first test. Kent State has a similar situation, except the roles are reversed in Seattle.

The other is what I like to call the “West Coast Special.” San Diego State opens its new stadium against Arizona. Being here locally, the images of the stadium look really cool so I’m excited to see how it looks on TV. The other is ironically a barometer game for both teams. Boise State takes a trip to Corvallis for a game against the Beavers. If the Broncos are going to regain their footing in the Mountain West, they should probably win this game with relative ease. 

Top Teams Roundup

Only a handful of non-FCS games left on the slate. North Texas, fresh off of their win in El Paso, head home to take on the new look SMU team. I think SMU will win this, but if North Texas keeps it close, I think it bodes well for their C-USA chances down the line. BYU goes to South Florida in a tune up for the Cougars as they prepare for their daunting schedule. Finally future C-USA member Liberty takes on former C-USA member Southern Miss. Here are the FCS-G5 matchups to monitor if things get a little hairy after three quarters:

1. SC State @ UCF
2. Long Island University @ Toledo
3. Eastern Illinois @ Northern Illinois
4. Alabama A&M @ UAB
5. Cal Poly @ Fresno State
6. Northern Iowa @ Air Force
7. SE Louisiana @ Louisiana

That’s all that I have this week. Happy Game Week to all and enjoy all the action!