Group of 6 College Football Power Rankings: Can Anyone Catch Boise State?

After Western Michigan fell a single, bonus second short of upsetting Michigan at The Big House, fans circled Sept. 26—the day in which Boise State would head to Kalamazoo in a showdown of Group of 6 powers. Both sets of Broncos were coming off of near-wins against Big Ten powers, with Boise State suffering a more conventional close loss at Oregon.

That hotly anticipated game was played on Saturday, and it was not nearly the showcase that Western Michigan hoped it would be. Boise State was dominant in a 32–7 road win, further staking its claim as the G6’s best team—and the favorite to make the College Football Playoff.

That race is far from over, though. A small handful of other teams have claims to that top G6 spot, with plenty of football yet to be played. Each Thursday, Sports Illustrated is ranking the top 10 Group of 6 programs, with an eye on the automatic CFP bid that remains up for grabs. No teams have completely dropped from last week’s top 10, but only three programs stayed in the same place from a week ago.

10. Western Michigan Broncos (2–2), MAC; LW: No. 5

Last week: Lost to Boise State, 32–7
Next week: at Buffalo

Western Michigan followed its controversial near-upset of Michigan with a solid performance against FCS Monmouth, and then a tight one-touchdown win at Rice. The diminishing returns really struck in Week 4, a home game against Boise State that could’ve made WMU’s status as one of the elite G6 programs official. Instead, they were thoroughly outclassed by the Broncos in blue, getting outgained 377–233 while completing just 3.8 yards per pass. Lance Taylor’s team can still win the MAC for the second consecutive season and finish a pretty special campaign, but plenty will have to go right for them to get back into the CFP discussion. And while plenty have celebrated Iowa’s Hail Mary win over Michigan as a karmic strike on the Broncos’ behalf, it isn’t really a positive that their one-point loss to the Wolverines has been devalued.

9. Oregon State Beavers (2–2), Pac-12; LW: No. 10

Last week: Beat UTEP, 33–7
This week: at Colorado State

Oregon State evened its record with a road win at UTEP, and looks incredibly dangerous moving forward into Pac-12 play. Quarterback Braden Atkinson, a somewhat surprising offseason quarterback battle winner, has been one of the G6’s most impressive signal callers, with 1,421 yards, 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. Wide receiver Jesse Legree is putting up monster numbers, with 585 yards and six touchdowns, and a whopping 25.4 yards per reception. They’ll need some help from a running game that is averaging under four yards per carry, though that number has ticked upwards in their last two games after the run game struggled in the Beavers’ competitive losses to Houston and Texas Tech. The fact that hung in those two games—the first two under first-year coach JaMarcus Shephard—is a very good sign.

8. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (3–1), American; LW: No. 2

Last week: Lost to Arkansas, 34–6
This week: vs. North Texas

Saturday’s blowout loss to Arkansas has taken a bit of the shine off of the start of Tulsa’s season. The Razorbacks may be the SEC’s worst team, with a fan base in revolt just a few games into a new coach’s tenure, but they are still an SEC team with a huge talent edge, and that loss shouldn’t totally outshine a win over Oklahoma State that has aged very well. It also came without starting quarterback Baylor Hayes, who is set to return for Thursday’s game against North Texas. With Hayes out, backup Dexter Williams II averaged just 5.5 yards per attempt against Arkansas and the Golden Hurricane put up just 241 yards of offense. The Mean Green are allowing 377 yards and over 30 points per game, a good opportunity for Tulsa to get back on track.

7. UMass Minutemen (4–0), MAC; LW: No. 8

Last week: Beat Sacramento State, 35–6
This week: vs. Eastern Michigan

UMass’s schedule post-Rutgers has been about as easy as it gets, but the Minutemen keep winning—and convincingly. A program that would’ve never even flirted with a win against a Big Ten opponent and regularly struggled to beat FCS and fellow MAC teams is now 4–0 against them. Now, UMass is a 6.5-point favorite against Eastern Michigan, which was less convincing in its own win against the Hornets than the Minutemen’s last weekend. Games against Miami (Ohio) and a November trip to Toledo will dictate exactly how high the ceiling is for Joe Harasymiak’s team after going 0–12 a year ago, but 10-plus wins is absolutely not out of the question.

6. Memphis Tigers (3–1), American; LW: No. 6

Last week: Bye
This week: at Charlotte

Memphis sticks in the middle of our list after a bye. The Tigers make their debut in American Conference play on Saturday at Charlotte, one of the worst teams in all of FBS. It should serve as a warmup for a relatively tough conference run, including trips to Tulane, South Florida and Navy and home dates with ECU and Army. Memphis should be favored in most of its games moving forward; it’s on Charles Huff’s Tigers to take advantage and get themselves back in the conversation for top G6 team.

5. South Florida Bulls (4–0), American; LW: No. 9

Last week: Beat Bowling Green, 14–6
This week: vs. Temple

USF takes a jump forward on the strength of a 4–0 record, one of just four teams among the G6 ranks that remains undefeated entering October. There is a big gulf between the Bulls and the top four teams on our list however, and their result against the Falcons helps inform it. The good: South Florida is now 2–0 in road games, including a dramatic win at Army, a team expected to be among the best in the American Conference. The bad: The Bulls have also struggled with the FIU’s and Bowling Greens of the world and don’t have a dominant win other than a 59–17 victory against Delaware State. The offense has shown signs of life though quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. has been very inconsistent. If USF can get him dialed in, they have a chance to win arguably the best G6 conference, but 7 for 11 for 52 yards with six sacks—his statline against the Falcons—won’t cut it.

4. New Mexico Lobos (3–1), Mountain West; LW: No. 7

Last week: Beat New Mexico State, 42–18
Next week: vs. UTEP

New Mexico just keeps handling business. After a narrow one-touchdown defeat to Oklahoma, the Lobos put it on New Mexico State to win the Rio Grande Rivalry, and they did it in true UNM fashion: 253 rushing yards, mistake-free football from Toa Fa’avae (the only QB to appear in the game this week), and a disruptive defensive performance. The Aggies actually managed to put up 400 yards of offense, but the Lobos defense put the clamps down in the third quarter, forcing an interception, fumble and turnover on downs, all of which led to New Mexico touchdowns.

3. North Dakota State Bison (4–0), Mountain West; LW: No. 3

Last week: Bye
This week: vs. Wyoming

NDSU was off last week, ahead of a game against newly minted rival Wyoming. The Bison are 18.5-point favorites in the inaugural “Battle of the Basins.” It’s hard to imagine a better start for the program at the FBS level. At 4–0, they’re the last remaining undefeated team in the Mountain West and if they hold serve and score a win over fellow contender New Mexico in a few weeks, they’ll have a very strong argument for the top spot.

2. James Madison Dukes (4–0), Sun Belt; LW: No. 4

Last week: Beat Old Dominion, 46–20
This week: vs. Marshall

It was hard to know what to make of James Madison entering the season. On one hand, the Dukes are clearly a machine down in the Sun Belt. They haven’t finished lower than third in their conference or won fewer than eight games (COVID-19 season aside when they went 7–1) since 2014, almost a decade before they jumped to FBS. On the other hand, the Billy Napier hire was far different than the model by which they hired rising stars who had paid their dues and won big at lower levels in Curt Cignetti and Bob Chesney. But Napier did bring Sun Belt experience dating back to his successful stint at Louisiana, and after a Week 1 slog against Liberty, JMU has looked about as good as it was under its previous two coaches. The Dukes are the highest-rated G6 team by ESPN’s SP+ at No. 37, nine full spots ahead of North Dakota State.

1. Boise State Broncos (3–1), Pac-12; LW: No. 1

Last week: Beat Western Michigan, 32–7
This week: vs. Utah State

Boise State rebounded from an underwhelming performance in a win over South Dakota to absolutely blast Western Michigan, one of the other top Group of 6 playoff contenders. The Broncos don’t have a singular superstar through which the offense is humming, but the 2026 model isn’t that far afield from the Ashton Jeanty-led squad from two seasons ago. Maddux Madsen continues to play solid, mostly mistake-free football under center while the two-headed monster of Dylan Riley (90 carries, 592 yards, three touchdowns) and Sire Gaines (45/234/2) put up huge numbers on the ground. The combo has 826 rushing yards through four games, just 19 behind Jeanty’s four-game start two years ago.

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