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Five players including Darrynton Evans from Appalachian State, JoJo Ward from Hawai’i, Xavier Jones from SMU, Chandler Kryst from Coastal Carolina, and Matt Araiza from San Diego State have been selected as the College Sports Journal All-Stars for the week ending Sept. 9, 2019 from the NCAA Division I FBS Group of Five schools. The.
Here are the Top 25 FBS Group of Five (G5) rankings based on the Sagarin rankings for the week ending Sept. 7th, 2019. UCF remains the top ranked team this week as the Knights were the top team last week. CSJ will show weekly rankings from the Sagarin rankings throughout the season and will have.
Just like in Week 1, Week 2 had its share of highlights and upsets with the Group of Five. The biggest suprise had to go to BYU defeating Tennessee in overtime for the second G5 win over the SEC school . I will go through my Top 5 G5 games with a mixture of P5.
As sprinters, Darrynton Evans and Jalen Virgil would make a fine start to building a successful track relay team.
And at Kidd Brewer Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Appalachian State needed all of that speed and more to hold off upset-minded Charlotte, 56-41 in a non-conference football game.
There are a number of Power 5 match-ups this week for the Group of Five but it is two G5 vs. G5 match-ups that I have most of my attention towards this week. The two games I am watching closely are Florida Atlantic hosting current CSJ Sagarin G5 Top ranked UCF and then the battle.
This Friday, one game stood out but a second game came to light that a week ago looked like a walkover type game in the Group of Five. The highlight game Friday for sure is Marshall visiting Boise State. But the second game came to light with the typically low ranked Rice played a 11-win.
Here are the Top 25 FBS Group of Five (G5) rankings based on the Sagarin rankings for the week ending Sept. 2nd, 2019.UCF remains the top ranked team this week as the Knights were the preseason top team. CSJ will show weekly rankings from the Sagarin rankings throughout the season and will have a final.
Five players including Dan Ellington from Georgia State, Mike Glass III from Eastern Michigan, Bryce Huff from Memphis, Alijah Halliburton from Wyoming, and Brandon Talton from Nevada have been selected as the College Sports Journal All-Stars for the week ending Sept. 2, 2019 from the NCAA Division I FBS Group of Five schools. The honorees.
Week 1 had its share of highlights and upsets with the Group of Five. The biggest suprise had to go to Georgia State defeating the SEC’s Tennessee. I will go through my Top 5 G5 wins over Power Five schools this week and add in a couple of great G5 vs. G5 match-ups in this.
Eliah Drinkwitz wasn’t shy about savoring the benefits of his first victory as a college football head coach following Appalachian State’s hard-fought, 42-7 win over former Southern Conference rival and Football Championship Subdivision squad East Tennessee State Saturday afternoon before a home-opening crowd of 25,147 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
College football season is once again upon us! Fans can rejoice as the wait is over for college football in Colorado, but how will each team shake out? Below is a season preview for what we can expect from each team and ranked.
We had our appetizers of college football this past Thursday and Friday but Saturday comes the main feast of action as we start the 2019 season. In this article, I will go through the teams at least I felt had a chance to finish strong in their respective Group of Five conference as they go.
Friday typically only has a game or two in all of college football but on this opening weekend, there are two great Mountain West versus Power Five match-ups with Utah State visiting the ACC’s Wake Forest and the Rocky Mountain Showdown with Colorado State paying the Pac-12’s Colorado. Game 1 of the Night: Utah State.
The FBS Group of Five starts with a couple of heavy weights playing some Power Five squads that will go a long way towards which G5 team will be playing in a New Year’s Six Bowl game. This will be a preview of the two heavy hitter games that I will have my eyes on.
UCF picked up right where it left off in 2017 in Coach Heupel’s first year at the helm by storming through the regular season, extending its nation-leading win streak to 25 games. The streak included a pair of come-from-behind wins over Memphis (twice) and Temple, to claim the program’s second consecutive AAC championship
Cincinnati kicked off the season with a six-game win streak until an overtime loss to Temple snapped the hot start. But the Bearcats picked right back up by winning four of their final five games (with the other loss at UCF) and qualified for a first bowl game in three seasons.
The Bulldogs won their third MWC championship since joining the league in 2012. Fresno State lost 24-17 to Boise State on the road during the regular season but the Bulldogs avenged their loss to the Broncos in the conference title game, earning a 19-16 win in overtime.
The Tigers were 4-4 following back-to-back losses to UCF and Missouri. It was the worst start by a Memphis team since 2013. The team responded by winning its remaining four regular-season games, securing the Tigers’ second consecutive appearance in the AAC Championship Game against UCF.
The Broncos fell short of winning their second Mountain West title in three years when they lost 19-16 in overtime to Fresno State in the MW title game and was the last official game as Boise State’s trip to the First Responder Bowl against Boston College resulted in a game cancellation due to lightning in the first quarter with the Broncos trailing 7-0 for a 10-3 overall (7-1 MWC) finish.
The Mountain West Conference was ranked as the top Group of Five conference last year with Boise State and Fresno State definitely the class of the league the last two seasons. The Broncos and Bulldogs have met in the MW Championship game the past two years.
FAU went just 5-7 (3-5 C-USA) that ended poorly with closed with painful losses to North Texas and Charlotte by three points apiece. This was a year after Coach Lane Kiffin led the Owls to a bowl victory during his debut campaign in Boca Raton in 2017.
Arizona Wildcats Location: Tuscon, AZ Coach: Kevin Sumlin (5-7@Ariz., 91-50 overall) 1st Season Stadium: Arizona Stadium (Capacity: 55,675) CSJ Projections: 9th: Pac 12 (5th: South) 2nd: Arizona 53rd: FBS 53rd: Division I 2018 In A Sentence: The first year of the Kevin Sumlin era was one of inconsistency. With some great wins (44-15 over Oregon).
Below are the Top 25 Group of Five (G5) preseason rankings based on the Sagarin rankings for the 2019 season. CSJ will show weekly rankings from the Sagarin rankings throughout the season and will have a final ranking after the national championship game in January. Sagarin rankings provide the only rankings that actually ranks all.
Arizona at Hawai’i When: Saturday, August 24th 10:30 PM EDT Where: Aloha Stadium, Halawa, Hawaii (50,000) How to Watch: CBS Sports Network, CBS Sports.com (subscription required) Arizona Wildcats See the 2019 CSJ Arizona team preview here. The Coach Kevin Sumlin era did not get off to a good start in Tucson last year. A 5-7.
The Mountaineers almost pulled off amajor upset in the opening week but lost 45-38 in overtime at Top 10 Penn State in the opening week and rode the momentum into a Sun Belt Conference championship by winning the inaugural Sun Belt title game over Louisiana. The Mountaineers then blew out Middle Tennessee 45-13 in the New Orleans Bowl to finish 11-2 overall (7-1 SBC) but one loss was Coach Scott Satterfield departing for the same job at Louisville.
The Red Wolves finished the second half of the schedule strongly, but a 47-43 midseason loss to Louisiana-Lafayette denied them a chance to play for the first-ever Sun Belt championship game and finished with a 16-13 loss to Nevada in the Arizona Bowl to go 8-5 overall (5-3 SBC).
The Aztecs were 6-1 through their first seven games, including wins over ranked Arizona State and Boise State but SDSU lost their final three Mountain West games before losing 27-0 to Ohio in the Frisco Bowl to finish 7-6 overall (4-4 MWC)
Army lost two of its first four games but the Black Knights rolled off eight straight wins, including the third straight in its long-standing rivalry with Navy. Army capped the season in style with a win in its school-record third consecutive bowl game–a blowout win over Houston in the Arm Forces Bowl.
Houston opened last season by winning seven of its first eight games, the program’s best start since winning 10 straight to open the 2015 season. Injuries and miscues on the defensive side caught up with the Cougars after this and lost four of their final five games, including an embarrassing 70-14 setback to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl in what would be Major Applewhite’s last season as the head coach–finishing 8-5 overall (5-3 AAC).
BYU relied on a stingy defense and much-improved offense to win seven games last season, including a win over Western Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to finish 7-6 overall.
Ohio won three of its first five games, with losses coming to nonconference foes Virginia and Cincinnati.
After winning the MAC in 2017, Toledo had injuries and inconsistent play, especially on the defensive side of the football, led to to the team struggling early in 2018.
Temple dropped its first two games but went on to win eight of their final 10 regular-season games, including an upset of a nationally ranked Cincinnati team in overtime.
Late-season setbacks against Southern Miss and Western Kentucky prevented Louisiana Tech from contending for a Conference USA title, but the Bulldogs bounced back with a 31-14 win over Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl to finish 8-5 overall (5-3 C-USA).
Marshall has had back-to-back bowl winning seasons, going 8-5 in 2017 and 9-4 in 2018 and the Herd enjoyed the season finale,where the Marshall defense sparked a 38-20 win over USF in the Gasparilla Bowl.
The Aggies entered their late season matchup against division rival Boise State last season on a 10-game win streak. However, Utah State lost and missed out on a chance to play in its first MWC Championship Game since 2013 but ended the season with a and easy win over North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl to finish 11-2 overall (7-1 MWC) in the end of of the Coach Matt Wells era, who departed for the Texas Tech head coaching job.
Georgia Southern closed the year on a high note when K Tyler Bass hit a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Georgia Southern to a dramatic 23-21 victory over Eastern Michigan in the Camellia Bowl to finish 10-3 overall.
Air Force mildly exceeded expectations, finishing fourth in MW Mountain Division after failing to deliver consecutive wins all season to finish 5-7 overall (3-5 MW)–its second straight five win season.
Tulane has turned a corner under coach Willie Fritz after the Green Wave finished off their first winning season in five years(7-6, 5-3 AAC) and the program’s first bowl win (over Louisiana in the Cure Bowl) in more than 16 years.
FIU recorded a school-record nine (9-4 overall, wins in 2018, building on the surprising success of Coach Butch Davis’ debut season leading the Panthers. There was some frustration, as the Panthers lost to rival FAU and Marshall to end the season, but FIU soon rebounded to defeat Toledo in the Bahamas Bowl.
There were a lot of “firsts” for the Razorbacks that Arkansas fans would rather forget in Year One of Chad Morris’ rebuild of the Razorbacks. First season with double-digit losses. First ever loss to North Texas, a thorough 44-17 beatdown at home. First season with only 2 wins since 1952.
A very up and down year in Jeff Brohm’s second season at West Lafayette featured the good (their upset win over Iowa, their season-ending win over Indiana to get bowl eligible), the bad (home losses to Eastern Michigan and Missouri in back-to-back weeks at home), and the ugly (a 63-14 Music City Bowl thrashing by Auburn).
The Buffs’ have not returned to the dominance they showed in their 2016 season. Since then the records have been disappointing, despite churning out NFL talent left and right. Phillip Lindsay, Chidobe Awuzie, Ahkello Witherspoon, and Juwann Winfree are among the talent CU has produced recently.
Football seasons aren’t supposed to end on an “incomplete”, but that’s how the season of the 7-5 Eagles ended when play was suspended thanks to deteriorating weather conditions in the First Responders Bowl. It obscured a surprising 7-5 record, with solid wins over Miami (FL) and Virginia Tech to become bowl eligible.
Southern Miss finished being bowl eligible by finishing last season with a 6-5 overall record (5-3 C-USA) but were not selected despite ending the 2018 campaign winning three of its final four games.
After a three-year run that produced 31 wins, a Sun Belt title and several high-profile upsets including a 10-3 (7-1 SBC) and Dollar General Bowl win over Buffalo, Coach Neal Brown left Troy for the Big 12’s West Virginia.
It was bad. After two wins against teams they were expected to beat, Indiana State and Western Kentucky, the Cardinals would lose all of their remaining games, causing the firing of head coach Bobby Petrino near the end of last season.
The Bulls began 2018 with seven straight wins to equal a program record but the wheels came off in the second half of the season with USF finishing with six straight losses including a Gasarilla Bowl loss to Marshall to finish 7-6 overall (3-5 AAC).
Western Michigan looked to have a promising season in Coach Lester’s second year but dropped four of its final five games including a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl loss to BYU to finish 7-6 overall (6-2 MAC).
After an 4-3 start, interim head coach Matt Canada was not offered the full time position at Maryland, and Mike Locksley, who worked under Nick Saban at Alabama, took over a program who went 1-4 in their last five games to crash out of bowl eligibility.
