Week Four Underdogs Poll

What is the Underdogs Poll? Every week, writers and editors from SB Nation's Group of Five blogs -- Bull Run, The Daily Stampede, Down the Drive, Hustle Belt, Miner Rush, Mountain West Connection, The UConn Blog, Underdog Dynasty, and Vanquish the Foe -- put their heads together to determine the best of the best, week in and week out, from the teams we cover. The poll is hosted by Mountain West Connection. You can find their take on this week's poll at this link.

The top three of this week’s Group of Five poll remain the same, and if we want to upset the applecart that is the Power Five then this is how it darn well better remain until season’s end. Meanwhile, movement everywhere else from the 4-spot down still makes for some exciting speculation as some new faces show up this week.

Nationally ranked Houston, Boise State and San Diego State— the only Underdog teams ranked in the AP Poll— take up their familiar places, as the MAC jumps up to take the 4th and 5th slots with undefeated Western Michigan and Toledo, respectively.

South Florida dropped two spots to #6 after their 20-point loss to Florida State, and are followed closely by the debuting Memphis Tigers, who are 3-0 heading into this weeks games against Ole Miss. Both of these teams have put up plenty of points this season, but Ole Miss played Bama for all four quarters, so we’ll see how long the Tigers can stick around the poll.

Speaking of quick departures, Navy and Air Force play each other this week, and are #8 and #9 so either way, somebody’s moving up.

Two weeks ago, the Troy Trojans didn’t garner a single vote after their near-miss against Clemson, and still didn’t garner attention the next week after scratching out USM. This week sees them debut at #13 after winning in convincing style against New Mexico State, which just goes to prove what we’ve always said, New Mexico State is a better school than Clemson.

FCS debut NDSU drops a spot due to their bye week and also strength of schedule, an affliction we’re worried will affect them in the AP Poll as well. After beating Iowa two weeks ago, they should make short work of Illinois State (2-2), but anything less than a 70-point victory might see them slip out of the Top 15.

Underdogs of the Week

Riley Ferguson, QB, Memphis - 20/27 for 359 yards in their utter ground-scorching devastation of Bowling Green.

Ito Smith, RB, Southern Miss - 16 carries for 108 yards in their win against UTEP.

Ryan Higgins, QB, Louisiana Tech - 36/59 yards for 504 yards in a loss to Middle Tennessee. How do you throw for that many yards and lose? You play against Middle Tennessee.

Brandon Silvers, QB, and Jordan Chunn, RB, Troy - Silvers threw for 246 yards and two TDs, and Chunn ran 15 times for 64 yards as they pounded out their 52-6 win against New Mexico State.

Tyler Rogers, QB, New Mexico State - 29/54, for 445 yards in a 52-6 loss against Troy. Dude is a madman. Look for more big yardage this weekend against UL-Lafayette.

Games to Watch This Week

Navy @ Air Force: 2:30 p.m. CST (CBSSN) - Two undefeated service academies beat up on each other to get a leg up on their conference. The line is Air Force -7, and the last one standing is the only undefeated service academy.

Memphis @ (16) Ole Miss: 6:00 p.m. CST (ESPN2) - Arguably the 2nd best team in the American travels to the team that came this close to taking out Bama. Remember the part where Memphis scored 77 points last week? Half as many points will do here.

UTEP @ Louisiana Tech: 6:00 p.m. (CUSA.tv) - Two underrated 1-3 teams try to rebuild their season and climb back to the top of their divisions. UTEP has done well under new leadership and the Bulldogs fought hard last week before eventually falling to Middle Tennessee. Expect fireworks this week as we find out which team wants it more.