College Sports Journal 2022 Group of Five Preseason Rankings

Rather than do a Top 25 this year, I thought I would rank all 66 (yes, 66 as James Madison is added this year) schools that make up the Group of Five FBS leagues. The Group of Five will remain as the five leagues it has had in the recent past of he American Athletic Conference (AAC), Conference USA, Mid-American Conference (MAC), Mountain West Conference (MWC), and the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). It also includes the FBS independent schools outside of Notre Dame.

While the leagues will remain the same, the schools in each league will be changing. The realignment that started in July 2021 with Oklahoma and Texas leaving the Power Five’s Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference had many trickle effects down to the G5 leagues and it hits the G5 already starting this season. Of course, the Big 10 within the past month taking USC and UCLA likely will see more conference shuffling like was seen a year ago of the course of the football season. But as we sit in July 2022, here is a look at the five G5 leagues and how they sit currently and what we know will happen going into the 2023 season:

American Athletic Conference

Joining: Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB, UTEP

Leaving: UCF, Cincinnati, Houston

Moving day will be July 1, 2023. That’s when the three departing teams head to the Big 12 and the six incoming teams join from Conference USA. The league will remain the same 11 schools it had last year for the 2022 season.

Sun Belt Conference

Joining: James Madison, Marshall, Old Dominion, Southern Miss

Leaving: Little Rock, UT-Arlington

All of these changes took place this current summer of 2022. Little Rock (Ohio Valley) and UT-Arlington (Western Athletic Conference), the conference’s two non-football playing members, will depart.

Conference USA

Joining: Jacksonville State (FCS), Liberty, New Mexico State, Sam Houston (FCS)

Leaving: Charlotte, FAU, Marshall, North Texas, Old Dominion, Rice, Southern Miss, UAB, UTEP

Conference USA will experience the biggest changes with 9 schools leaving and 4 joining. Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss have departed for the Sun Belt this summer of 2022 and the other six will leave for the AAC in 2023. The four newcomers are expected to join in 2023.

Independents

Joining: None

Leaving: BYU, Liberty, New Mexico State

The Independent ranks will be down by three schools starting in 2023. BYU will move to the Big 12, while Liberty and New Mexico State will join Conference USA. Army, Connecticut, and Massachusetts will remain as independent schools in 2023.

Mid-American & Mountain West Conferences

Joining: None

Leaving: None

Both the MAC and Mountain West had no member changes as of yet due to conference realignment. Both leagues will have the same line-ups in 2022 as 2021.

Maps of the Group of Five Leagues for the 2022 Season

Now to getting to on-the-field rankings after going through what the changes will be for this season by leagues.

Cincinnati was the biggest story in the Group of Five last season as the Bearcats finished the season undefeated and were in invited to the College Football Playoff (something that G5 fans thought might never happen). The Bearcats were the #4 seed in the playoff and played Alabama in the Cotton Bowl semifinal game. While Cincinnati lost to the Crimson Tide, it showed that the best of the G5 should belong in a FBS playoff.

That Bearcat team must replace QB Desmond Ridder, who was the AAC Offensive Player of the Year and was amongst nine NFL draft selections this past spring. However, Eastern Michigan transfer Ben Bryant and highly touted Evan Prater give the offense two capable quarterbacks to replace Ridder. Also, Cincinnati returns all five starters along the offensive line. An elite defense (16.9 points a game allowed in ’21) returns just four starters.

Coach Luke Fickell’s team might seem like it is bound to go down this year with the amount of talent it lost but has many capable players waiting and is my pick to be the top G5 team again this fall.

The team I think that will battle the Bearcats for G5 supremacy is AAC league mate Houston. The Cougars met the Bearcats in the AAC title game last year and gave Cincinnati all it could handle as they trailed by just a single point at the half. Cincinnati would use a strong second half to claim a 35-20 victory.

Houston though is a team with now the experience it needs not only to unseat Cincinnati in the AAC but could also reign supreme in the G5 and get to a New Year’s Six bowl bid or even a bid to the CFP.

With quarterback Clayton Tune and receiver Nathaniel Dell returning in 2022, coach Dana Holgorsen’s squad will have a chance to replicate last year’s success. The Cougars should have one of the conference’s top offenses, and the defense brings back six starters from a unit that limited teams to 20.4 points a game last season.

BYU makes it the top three that will eventually be leaving the G5 starting next season. These Cougars will join Cincinnati and Houston in the Big 12, along with UCF next season. BYU will try to make a run in its last independent season. The Cougars defeated six of seven P5 programs on its schedule in 2021. This includes going 5–0 against the Pac-12, as well as a 26–17 win Pac-12 champion and rival Utah. It put together a second straight outstanding season marred only by a 31–28 upset loss to UAB in the Independence Bowl. The Cougars have gone 21–4 the past two seasons.

While BYU was rebuilding a year ago, this year’s team will have 18 of the 22 starters back on offense and defense. The offense will be headed by quarterback Jaren Hall but will have to go through some more P5 schools to get to double digit wins again. The Cougars will play Oregon, Baylor, Notre Dame and Arkansas but could again push the two AAC teams ahead of them for G5 supremacy in its last year before being in the Big 12.

Boise State is my number four team and looks to be the team to beat in the Mountain West but will face top competition in #6 San Diego State, #7 Utah State, and #8 Fresno State. UAB is my number five team and looks to win Conference USA for its last ride before joining the AAC in 2023. Appalachian State is my number nine team will look to win the Sun Belt again after falling the last two seasons. UCF out of the AAC rounds out my top 10 this preseason.

Here is a look at the full list of all Group of Five teams in my preseason rankings.

Rank	School	Conference
1	Cincinnati	AAC
2	Houston	AAC
3	BYU	Indep.
4	Boise State	MWC
5	UAB	C-USA
6	San Diego State	MWC
7	Utah State	MWC
8	Fresno State	MWC
9	Appalachian State	Sun Belt
10	UCF	AAC
11	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt
12	SMU	AAC
13	Air Force	MWC
14	Toledo	MAC
15	Tulane	AAC
16	Army West Point	Indep.
17	Northern Illinois	MAC
18	Western Kentucky	C-USA
19	Georgia State	Sun Belt
20	Liberty	Indep.
21	Central Michigan	MAC
22	Nevada	MWC
23	UTSA	C-USA
24	Marshall	Sun Belt
25	Louisiana	Sun Belt
26	East Carolina	AAC
27	Memphis	AAC
28	Troy	Sun Belt
29	Tulsa	AAC
30	South Florida	AAC
31	Old Dominion	Sun Belt
32	Miami (OH)	MAC
33	James Madison	Sun Belt
34	Western Michigan	MAC
35	UTEP	C-USA
36	Southern Miss	Sun Belt
37	Florida Atlantic	C-USA
38	Colorado State	MWC
39	Navy	AAC
40	Kent State	MAC
41	Buffalo	MAC
42	South Alabama	Sun Belt
43	Ohio	MAC
44	Bowling Green	MAC
45	Texas State	Sun Belt
46	North Texas	C-USA
47	Middle Tennessee State	C-USA
48	San Jose State	MWC
49	Charlotte	C-USA
50	Eastern Michigan	MAC
51	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt
52	Wyoming	MWC
53	Louisiana Tech	C-USA
54	UNLV	MWC
55	Ball State	MAC
56	New Mexico	MWC
57	Rice	C-USA
58	Arkansas State	Sun Belt
59	Louisiana-Monroe	Sun Belt
60	Akron	MAC
61	Temple	AAC
62	Hawai’i	MWC
63	Connecticut	Indep.
64	New Mexico State	Indep.
65	Massachusetts	Indep.
66	Florida International	C-USA