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If you're inclined to believe the Group of 5 is the Rodney Dangerfield of division one college football, today will only add fuel to the fire.
The Pyramid Scheme Amway Coaches Poll was released today and — surprise surprise — Boise State came in as the only ranked G5 team. Winning the Fiesta Bowl got them the grand national ranking of 24, two spots below the team they beat.
The best news for small-conference teams may be that Texas Christian, a G5 team as recently as 2011, came in at number two. Hard to say a mid-major couldn't cut it in the big-time based on their performance over the last four years.
But it's also hard to find space for non-power schools when 13 of the SEC's 14 teams receive top 25 votes. Can you say overkill?
"Amway" Coaches Poll?? Does this mean they're going to come to my house and leverage my friendship into $90 worth of vitamins and cleaners?
— Lone Nut (@LoneNutVolFan) July 30, 2015
No, but they will put your team in the top 25 for no reason.
Squinting our eyes at the "others receiving votes" section we can find Air Force and Utah State of the Mountain West, Louisiana Tech and Marshall of Conference USA, Central Florida and Cincinnati of the AAC, Big 12 wannabe BYU and Georgia Southern of the Sun Belt.
There is a little bit of sweet irony in the SEC bias:
Georgia Southern received the same number of votes as Florida to be in this year's preseason USA Today/Coaches Poll. #FunBelt
— Roy Philpott (@RoyPhilpott) July 30, 2015
The lack of Sun Belt votes is even sadder when you consider that six of the league's coaches vote in the poll. Not that we condone blatant homerism here at Underdog Dynasty...
Oh yea, pour some out for our lost homies in the MAC. You'll always have Tuesday night guys, you'll always have Tuesday night.
Among the surprises is a lack of any points for East Carolina or Western Kentucky. Also, while the AAC had two teams get votes, both managed only one measly point each. Not great for what's considered the top-tier non-power conference. AAC folks should be extra upset that Memphis received no votes. You heard it here first: the Tigers will be ranked in the top 25 at season's end.
As you probably know, a lot of these preseason polls are based on reputation. That's why struggling Texas is only now seeing itself unranked in the preseason after making it every year since 1998. It's also why Notre Dame came in at an insanely inflated number for the 159th year in a row.
We'll see how the numbers shake down when it really matters