Powerless Five: What top dogs have fallen beneath the Underdogs in week six?

The debate over the best Group of Five team rages on week after week, so it’s hard to say which team is the best. But on even any top ten list, the Power Five teams listed below are worse than all of them.

Check out last weeks ranking here, and remember a conference is only as good as its weakest link.

5. Purdue Boilermakers

Eagle eye viewers will notice the Boilermakers sinking to the bottom of the glass, as they hover near the bottom of the Big Ten West.

Currently 1-4 on the season, Purdue has enjoyed losses to Nevada in week one, and their sole win was against Vandy in week two. With a full slate of Big Ten games ahead of them, a lot of Boilermaker fans might be wishing for a few more non-conference games instead.

4. Tennessee Volunteers

It’s difficult to tell if the Volunteers are improving, as losses in the last two weeks were both to teams ranked in the top ten. But prior to that, losses to Georgia State and BYU put the Volunteers clearly in the bottom five this week.

Where Purdue can claim a win against a Power Five team (even if it’s Vanderbilt), the Vols lone win so far came against FCS UT-Chattanooga. Grim.

3. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The transitive property is a slippery slope in college football, but the Yellow Jackets did indeed drop this past weeks game to UNC, the same UNC team that lost to Appalachian State.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel though, as next week sees Ga Tech head to Duke, who at least having a winning record going into week seven. The Jackets will need all the help they can get, as they’re the only ACC team to not crack triple digits yet on points scored on the season.

2. Vanderbilt Commodores

A week after beating a MAC team by a scant six points, the Commodores fell to middle-of-the-pack Ole Miss, 31-6.

Last place on the football field is nothing new for this squad, despite some recent success during the James Franklin years. On this list, however, last place eludes them for another week, however hard they may try.

1. (TIE) Northwestern Wildcats / Rutgers Scarlet Knights

How can one realistically decide? The Wildcats lone win came against a last-place UNLV squad out of the Mountain West, and Rutgers is currently being propped up by an interim coach, as they are currently 0-3 in conference play, having been outscored 130-7 in those games.

You’d be hard pressed to find a team in the Group of Five that’s worse, and our sole regret before another week of chaos, is that the Wildcats and Scarlet Knights don’t actually meet this season. A real pity, too, as it’s entirely possible these teams might have a lock on this position for the rest of the season.