A month into the 2024 college football season, we’re not only learning which teams will be the most formidable this year but also which conferences are the strongest.
With Group of Five members battling for one automatic College Football Playoff bid, overall conference strength could be a crucial tiebreaker.
Here are our mid-major conference power rankings entering Week 5.
Note: To determine the rankings, we used ESPN’s Football Power Index and Brian Fremeau’s Fremeau Efficiency Index to find the average rank for each Group of Five conference.
1. Sun Belt
FPI: 90.920 • FEI: 90.786 | AVG: 90.857
Top CFP candidate: James Madison Dukes (3-0)
James Madison’s 70-50 Week 4 win over North Carolina (3-1) gave the SBC its signature win this season. While the Dukes are at the top of the conference, the Sun Belt’s depth propels it over more top-heavy conferences.
Nine Sun Belt members rank in the top 100 of ESPN’s FPI, the most of any Group of Five conference.
South Alabama (2-2, 1-0 in Sun Belt) scored 87 points two weeks ago against FCS Northwestern State and plays No. 14 LSU (3-1, 1-0 in SEC), which has struggled defensively, in Week 5. Texas State (2-1) only lost by three, 31-28, to Arizona State (3-1, 0-1 in Big 12) in Week 3.
Georgia State (2-1) defeated Vanderbilt (2-2, 0-1 in SEC) 36-32 one week before the Commodores took No. 11 Missouri (4-0, 1-0 in SEC) to double overtime.
2. Mountain West
FPI: 94.750 • FEI: 89.583 | AVG: 92.167
Top CFP candidate: UNLV Rebels (3-0)
UNLV might be undefeated, but it suffered a major loss this week. Quarterback Matthew Sluka quit the team, alleging he didn’t receive the money promised to him upon transferring to the university from FCS Holy Cross. Backup running back Michael Allen also announced his departure. During UNLV’s undefeated start, the former NC State running back had 19 carries for 108 yards.
Should the Rebels fall to Fresno State (3-1, 1-0 in Mountain West) this weekend, Boise State (2-1) could be the league’s most likely CFP representative. It plays Washington State (4-0) on Saturday, three weeks after narrowly losing to No. 8 Oregon (3-0) on the road, 37-34, on a last-second field goal.
With UNLV and Boise State, the MWC is the only G5 conference to have two FPI top 50 teams, but teams including Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State and Wyoming bog down the conference in the rankings.
3. American
FPI: 95.286 • FEI: 96.357 | AVG: 95.821
Top CFP candidates: Army (3-0, 2-0 in AAC); Navy (3-0, 2-0 in AAC)
The two service academies are the last remaining AAC undefeated teams. Navy had an impressive 56-44 win against Memphis (3-1, 0-1 in AAC) in Week 4 after the Tigers beat Florida State (1-3, 1-2 in ACC) on the road.
Army has wins over Florida Atlantic (1-3), Rice (1-3) and FCS Lehigh (3-1), but both programs have games against No. 16 Notre Dame (3-1) that could boost their resumes.
Memphis and Tulane (2-2) rank as the top AAC teams, per ESPN’s FPI. The Green Wave lost on the road at No. 21 Oklahoma (3-1, 0-1 in SEC) and at home against No. 23 Kansas State (3-1, 0-1 in Big 12), while the Tigers have the American’s best out-of-conference win.
Both programs have time to emerge as the top in the AAC by the end of the season, but they need help to finish as the best G5 option for the CFP.
4. Mid-American
FPI: 104.833 • FEI: 105.917 | AVG: 105.375
Top CFP candidate: Northern Illinois (2-1, 0-1 in MAC)
The MAC got whacked in Week 4. Northern Illinois, coming off a bye following a 16-14 win at Notre Dame, lost 23-20 in overtime to Buffalo (3-1, 1-0 in MAC), which fell 38-0 at Missouri earlier this season.
Toledo, fresh off a 41-17 romp at Mississippi State (1-3, 0-1 in SEC), lost 26-21 on the road at Western Kentucky (3-1, 1-0 in CUSA), the same Hilltoppers who were blown out 63-0 at Alabama (3-0) in Week 2.
The bottom of the conference is as bad as it gets. Kent State (0-4) lost to No. 5 Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 in SEC) and No. 9 Penn State (3-0) by a combined score of 127-0. The Golden Flashes have an average margin of defeat of 41 points per game this season, the worst in FBS. Fellow MAC member Akron (1-3) has the second-worst average margin of defeat (27.5 points per game) in 2024, including losses to power conference members No. 3 Ohio State (3-0), Rutgers (3-0) and South Carolina (3-1, 1-1 in SEC) by a combined score of 151-30.
5. Conference USA
FPI: 114 • FEI: 108.4 | AVG: 111.2
Top CFP candidate: Liberty Flames (4-0)
Don’t be shocked if Liberty runs the table again. The Flames are in college football’s weakest conference, which could help them waltz to another undefeated regular season.
Only three Conference USA teams (Liberty, Western Kentucky, Sam Houston State) have a winning record. The rest of the conference is a combined 5-21.
A season ago, Liberty was a controversial pick for the G5’s bid in a New Year’s Six bowl, making the game over more qualified teams because of its undefeated record against a weak schedule. It lost to Oregon, 45-6, in the Fiesta Bowl.
Per ESPN’s FPI, the Flames’ strength of schedule is the weakest in the country, and their remaining schedule isn’t much more challenging, ranking 130th out of 134 FBS programs.
