As part of the new College Football Playoff, every season at least one school from the Group of Five conferences will be chosen by the selection committee for a spot in one of the New Year's Six bowls (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, Cotton, Peach). Every Monday here on CBS Sports, in our new Group of Five Power Rankings, I'll let you know how I would rank the best Group of Five teams if I were the selection committee.
I'll judge each team just like the committee will be, considering everything from their record to their resume, plus how they're playing at the time.
Now, it's important to remember that BYU is not eligible for the Group of Five automatic berth as an Independent. So you will not see them in these rankings, which is a shame for BYU, because they might be No. 1 right now if they qualified.
| RANK | TEAM |
 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Temple (2-0) -- American: The AAC has three teams that could easily be at the top of this list right now, and as you'll see, it currently holds the top three spots. I have to give Temple the edge right now simply based on its resume. All the teams on this list have an impressive win under their belts, but Temple has two. The Owls have beaten both Penn State and Cincinnati. Penn State just looks good on a resume, and Cincinnati was a team you'd expect to see on this list right now. |
| 2 |  |
Houston (2-0) -- American: Tom Herman has things humming in a hurry down in H-town, doesn't he? While a win over Tennessee Tech isn't going to move the needle, this weekend's 34-31 win over Louisville on the road certainly will. Of course, one win over the Cardinals isn't enough to overcome Temple right now because, well, Louisville is 0-2 on the season. It's probably in Houston's best interest for the Cardinals to start winning some games. |
| 3 |  |
Memphis (2-0) -- American: The Tigers have outscored opponents 118-30 through its first two games, and Justin Fuente's team appears to be sustaining the momentum it built last season. I just can't put them ahead of Houston yet because, even if they are blowing out opponents, wins over Missouri State and a bad Kansas team just aren't better than Houston's Louisville win yet. |
| 4 |  |
Boise State (1-1) -- Mountain West: Fresh off a loss against BYU thanks to another edition of Tanner Magic, the Broncos did at least pick up a win against Washington in Week 1. Plus, you know, it's still Boise State. It has a history and a brand name, which probably shouldn't mean anything when judging a team based on the accomplishments of the current season, but it does. So even coming off a loss, Boise State is still very much in the picture. |
| 5 |  |
Western Kentucky (2-0) -- Conference USA: The one thing truly working against WKU right now is its conference. We saw what the committee thought of Marshall last season as the Herd was rumbling through C-USA, and the Hilltoppers will probably find themselves in the same position this year. Oh, and Marshall just lost to Ohio over the weekend, which means a win over Marshall wouldn't do much for WKU's cred, either. |
Under consideration: Air Force (2-0), Bowling Green (1-1), Northern Illinois (2-0), Ohio (2-0), Toledo (1-0)
