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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.
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.
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.
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).
In Coach Dykes first season for the Mustangs, SMU finished just 5–7 overall (4–4 (AAC) after losing its last two games of the season to finish in fourth place in the West Division. The Mustangs missed out on a bowl bid after Dykes coached the team during their bowl game in 2017.
In just its second season since its revival as program, the Blazers won eleven games (11-3, 7-1 C-USA) and a C-USA Championship over Middle Tennessee State in 2018, as well as the Baca Raton Bowl over Northern Illinois.
Last year started off very well at 6-1 before Hawaii dropped four in a row. The only loss in that seven-game stretch was a seven-point loss to Army.
Buffalo went from 10 losses in 2016 to 10 wins in 2018–finishing 10-2 in the regular season (7-1 MAC) and winning the MAC East before falling to Northern Illinois in the MAC title game. The Bulls also lost to Troy in the Dollar General Bowl to finish on a two game losing streak.
The Ragin’ Cajuns averaged 32 points and 424 yards per game in Coach Billy Napier’s first season in Lafayette and finished 7-5 in the regular season with a bid to the first ever Sun Belt Conference title game (loss to Appalachian State) and a Cure Bowl bid (loss to Tulane).
Nevada played a very hot and cold 2018. When playing the lower tier conference opponents the games were stunted offensively. On the flip side, it was a slug fest of offensive will powers when playing the mid tier conference opponents.
UNT finished the season 9–4 (5–3 C-USA) play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the West Division and were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they lost to Utah State.
The Blue Raiders won their first division title and came within a late score of the C-USA championship to UAB but were blown out by Appalachian State in the New Orleans Bowal to finish 8-6 overall, 7-1 C-USA.
After a 2-6 start against a brutal schedule, the Cowboys made a quarterback change and found its identity, rallying for four straight wins to finish bowl eligle at 6-6 (though they were one of four elgible teams to not get a bid).
The Golden Hurricane finished its season with its second straight losing record with a 3-9 mark (2-6 AAC) and the three wins were against lower teams (FCS Central Arkansas, UConn, and SMU).
It was another disappointing year for the Midshipmen with a 3-10 record and their third consecutive loss to archrival Navy. It’s their worst record since 2002, and one of their wins came against an FCS team (Lehigh) that went 3-8.
The Redhawks were again inconsistent–much like the full Coach Martin tenure. Miami finished 6-6 overall (6-2 MAC) but just missed out on a bowl game bid as one of the four teams that were bowl eligible but failed to get the call.
After a 6-7 2017 season, WKU dropped to 3-9 in 2018, losing nine of its first 10 games of the season but closed out the year with two consecutive wins but those were not enough to save Coach Mike Sanford’s job. Sanford finished his two year tenure with a 9-16 overall mark and just 6-10 in C-USA play.
The bowl year of 2017 seemed like a distant memory as the Rams crashed to a 3-9 season. Losses to FCS Illinois State, Hawai’i and a 43-19 loss to in-state rival Colorado were some of the lowlights.
The Golden Flashes are one of four programs to have existed in the FBS prior to the 2010s and has not won a bowl game and last year Kent State finished just 2-10 (1-7 MAC) in Coach Sean Lewis’ first year at the helm.
After an off-season suspension on allegations that he physically assaulted players last year, Coach Bob Davie remained on the job but finished with his second straight 3-9 season (1-7 MWC).
The Cardinals finished 4-8 overall (3-5 MAC) which doubled the win total over Coach Neu’s team in 2017.
After three years of improvement in the win column, UNLV suffered a major QB injury and the Rebels dipped to just 4-8 overall (2-6 MWC).
ULM was bowl-eligible (6-6 overall, 4-4 SBC) in 2018 but became one of four such teams to miss a bowl after a late rivalry loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in its season finale.
Charlotte finished 5-7 overall (4-4 C-USA) and was an improved football team in 2018 to set school records for wins at the FBS level and in C-USA play but did not improve enough to save coach Brad Lambert’s job. Lambert, the only coach the 49ers have had in their program’s six years of existence, ended his 49er run with a record of 22-48.
The Pirates finished just 3-9 overall (1-7 AAC) and finished with their third straight losing season. Coach Scottie Montgomery was fired and finished his ECU career 9-26 with a 4-20 AAC record.
In Coach Turner Gill’s final year before retiring and in its first season as a full, yet transitional FBS squad, Liberty finished with a 6-6 overall record.
The Panthers dipped to just 2-10 overall (1-8 SBC) after going bowling following the 2017 season–and six of those losses were decided by three possessions or more.
The Monarchs started the season at just 1-6 (although the one win was over the ACC’s Virginia Tech) but rallied to a 3-2 end to finish the season at 4-8 overall (2-6 C-USA) and its second straight losing season.
Coach Everett Withers finished his third and final season in San Marcos having never won more than three games per year–including finishing just 3-9 overall in 2018 and 7-28 in his full tenure.
The old joke “there’s nowhere, but up to go” is painfully true for the Spartans. Coach Brent Brennan is an accomplished coach who has helped produce many NFL names, but simply struggles to produce wins at SJSU.
UTSA finished dead last in the nation in total offense – averaging just 247 yards per game – and scoring a mere 14 points per outing–yet still finished with a 3-9 overall record (2-6 CUSA).
Last season was incredibly disappointing for all associated with CMU as the Chippewas posted just a 1-win season (1-11 overll & 0-8 MAC) that cost Coach John Bonamego his job.
After a 4-8 season in 2017, first year head coach Steve Campbell replaced the Jaguar program’s first head coach, Joey Jones and went down to 3-9 (2-6 Sun Belt) in his first season at South Alabama.
The Zips were bitten hard by the injury bug in 2018 to finish just 4-8 overall (2-6 MAC) and let long time Coach Terry Bowden go following the season.
Coach Joe Moglia, 69, returned to the team a little over a year ago from a five-month medical sabbatical that was taken to treat a condition that was causing inflammation in and damage to his lungs to led the team to a 5-7 (2-7 Sun Belt) record.
