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We have reached the point in the season where it’s time to think about postseason destinations, as the College Football Playoff Rankings will be released weekly from here on out. While the rankings still don’t mean a whole lot as of now, they officially set the tone for which Group of Five teams will be considered to land the coveted New Year’s Six bid.
November 5️⃣ #CFBPlayoff Selection Committee Rankings:
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 6, 2019
1️⃣6️⃣. Kansas State // @KStateFB
1️⃣7️⃣. Minnesota // @GopherFootball
1️⃣8️⃣. Iowa // @HawkeyeFootball
1️⃣9️⃣. Wake Forest // @WakeFB
2️⃣0️⃣. Cincinnati // @GoBearcatsFB
Cincinnati, representing the American Athletic Conference is in pole position for the NY6 bid as they are the highest ranked G5 team at No. 20. After Cincy, is Memphis at No. 21, Boise State at No. 22, Navy at No. 24 and SMU at No. 25.
The MAC, Conference USA and the Sun Belt failed to get represented in the first CFB Playoff Rankings and it’s fair to say their exclusion from the rankings will continue through the rest of the year.
What this means is that the NY6 bid will likely be awarded to the Mountain West Conference or the AAC. If you want to dig deeper, these rankings make it clear that the AAC is not just the best G5 conference, but that the playoff committee thinks the AAC is better than the ACC. The AAC got four teams ranked compared to the ACC’s two.
With the AAC clearly in position to reach another NY6 bid, don’t forget about Boise State as the Broncos loom. Should the AAC beat each other up, the Broncos could join UCF as a G5 team to reach the NY6 twice.
Considering how bunched up everyone is, this could be the tightest race for the NY6 bid we have seen since the NY6 was introduced in 2014.