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Our Five: The best Group of Five teams in 2018

Nick Bromberg
College football and motorsports writer
Utah State quarterback Jordan Love leads the highest-scoring offense in college football. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
Utah State quarterback Jordan Love leads the highest-scoring offense in college football. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

With the top 25 in college football a mess outside of the top 10, four Group of Five teams made an appearance in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings. So we figured this week was a good time to give some teams outside of the mainstream in college football some love.

Here are five of the best Group of Five teams in 2018. While teams like Boise State and Cincinnati made appearances in the top 25 this week, there are other Group of Five teams having impressive seasons as well.

Previously on Our Five: Worst divisions, surprises from first CFP rankings, best players not to win the Heisman, underrated teams, disappointing teams, coaches on the hot seat, biggest upsets, surprise undefeated teams, turnover celebrations, traditions

5. Buffalo

The Bulls are 9-1 for the first time in program history. It’s not an easy 9-1 either. Buffalo beat Temple, a team that gave UCF a game and beat Houston last week. The Bulls clinch the MAC East with a win Wednesday night against Ohio and that Temple win gets them the edge over Cincinnati for this spot. The Bearcats lost to the Owls.

Quarterback Tyree Jackson has thrown for nearly 2,338 yards and 24 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. Running backs Kevin Marks and Jaret Patterson have combined for over 1,300 rushing yards and 18 scores.

4. UAB

If we’re ranking the success stories of Group of Five teams, UAB is No. 1 and it’s not even close. The Blazers are 9-1 just two seasons after the program wasn’t playing. UAB was dormant in 2015 and 2016 and the team is now a win away from a 10-win season.

Running back Spencer Brown has scored 14 touchdowns while defenders Chris Woolbright, Jamell Garcia-Williams and Tre’ Crawford have combined for over 31 tackles for loss.

UAB has won seven-straight games and clinched Conference USA’s West division with a win over Southern Miss on Saturday. It’ll be fun to see how the Blazers hang with Texas A&M this week.

3. Army

Army doesn’t really fit in the Group of Five conversation as an independent. But since Air Force and Navy are both members of non-Power Five conferences, Army fits in the parameters of this discussion.

The Black Knights’ option attack is humming once again in 2018 despite the departure of quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw. Kelvin Hopkins has rushed for 698 yards and nine touchdowns as running back Darnell Woolfolk has 734 yards and 11 scores. The defense has capitalized on Army’s ball domination as teams are averaging just over 50 plays and 300 yards per game.

With games against Colgate and Navy remaining on the schedule, Army’s got a great chance to finish the season 10-2.

2. Utah State

Quarterback Jordan Love has emerged as a star in 2018 as Utah State is 9-1. The Aggies have won nine straight games after a seven-point loss to Michigan State in Week 1.

Love is completing two-thirds of his passes, averaging nearly nine yards an attempt and has thrown 24 touchdowns and four interceptions. He’s also scored six rushing touchdowns.

Add in 22 rushing touchdowns from running backs Darwin Thompson and Gerold Bright and you have an offense that has scored 51 points per game, best in college football. A matchup with Boise State on Nov. 24 will be for the Mountain West title.

1. UCF

To be the king you’ve got to beat the king. And no one has been able to beat UCF since the start of the 2017 season. McKenzie Milton continues to be fantastic as the Knights’ offense continues to make up for the team’s defensive downgrade from 2017 to 2018.

Despite being 9-0 in 2018, UCF is just No. 11 in the College Football Playoff rankings because of the lack of schedule strength in the American Conference. So the best the Knights will be able to do (again) is the Peach or Fiesta Bowl. UCF is favored by 7.5 points against Cincinnati in a nationally televised ABC game this Saturday. It’s a chance for a statement win for the Knights … but that statement won’t be nearly enough for playoff contention.

Honorable Mention

Boise State: Yeah, the Broncos are ranked in the top 25 and beat Fresno State in Week 11. But Boise State is supposed to be good! The Broncos also got swamped by a mediocre Oklahoma State team earlier in the season.

Cincinnati: The Bearcats are 9-1 and have a chance to be considered legit contenders for the New Year’s Six bowl spot with a win on Saturday at UCF. Imagine if it was Cincy — a team that no one expected to contend in the AAC — that ended UCF’s win streak?

Fresno State: Fresno State will still win the Mountain West’s West division with a win over San Diego State. That could set up a matchup with Boise State or Utah State in the conference title game.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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