When it comes to ranking college football teams, there’s limited room to include Group of Five teams.
You could chalk that up to the lingering after effects of realignment as the power conferences have gobbled up some of the best of the rest.
In the last two years alone, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF (Big 12) and SMU (ACC) have matriculated to the Power Four, while BYU enters its second season in the Big 12 after 12 years as an independent.
It’s called consolidation, folks, and it has diminished the Group of Five.
Below we present the CBS Sports post-spring top 25 where 24 of the 25 teams are members of what now has become the Power Four in the wake of the Pac-12 dissolving.
Not surprisingly, nine of the top 10 are from the dominant leagues of that consolidation: the Big Ten and SEC.
Georgia remains the way-too-early, pre-spring, post-spring and likely preseason No.
As was the case with the pre-spring rankings, right behind the Bulldogs is Ohio State after the Buckeyes enjoyed a monstrous offseason.
There isn’t much room for Group of Five teams when ranking college football teams. It is safe to say that every top-25 prediction from this point forward will be like that. I mean, indefinitely. Since some of the best of the rest have been absorbed by the power conferences, you could attribute that to the residual effects of realignment.
While BYU is entering its second season in the Big 12 after 12 years as an independent, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF (Big 12), and SMU (ACC) have all matriculated to the Power Four in just the last two years alone.
People, this is called consolidation, and it has made the Group of Five smaller.
Here is the CBS Sports post-spring top 25, in which 24 of the 25 teams are now a part of the Power Four after the Pac-12 broke up. The lone exception is Notre Dame, which is independent. It should come as no surprise that the Big Ten and SEC, the two leagues that dominated that consolidation, account for nine of the top 10.
With the expansion of the College Football Playoff field to twelve teams this season, the top-ranked winner of the Group of Five conferences (MAC, Mountain West, Conference USA, AAC, and Sun Belt) will, happily, be assured a spot in the competition.
Although no team from the Group of Five made it into these rankings, we’ve highlighted teams from those conferences below the post-spring top 25 that you should watch as potential candidates to join the fold when the season begins.
Well, not much happened during the second portal window in terms of disruption. The pre-spring top 25 did not move, which is why.
Georgia is still the far too early preseason, postseason, and probably prespring favorite. 1 squad nationwide. Just behind the Bulldogs, as was the case with the pre-spring rankings, is Ohio State, who had an incredible offseason. Nonetheless, there is a new squad in the No. Rank three in the rankings.
Miami and Clemson were the biggest risers. After not being ranked before, Texas A&M was included.
Nonetheless, the wealthy continue to rise in status among the ruling class.
