With all of the conference realignment that transpired over the offseason, the Power Five became the Power Four, and the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC became super conferences. This, of course, was at the expense of the Pac-12, whose dissolution became one of realignment’s great tragedies.
Currently, the Pac-12 is just the “Pac-2” with Oregon State and Washington State. But the conference rebounded by announcing the additions of Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State from the Mountain West; Gonzaga will join in 2026 for other sports. Since they may not be done adding programs, it looks as though the Pac-12 will emerge from the realignment rubble with a healthy new conference.
For this season, however, I ask: what should we do with Washington State?
The Cougars are in the midst of a fantastic season, sitting with a 7-1 record and their only loss being to Boise State. Armed with an exciting quarterback, John Mateer, and a manageable November schedule, the Cougars could end up with an 11-1 record when all is said and done.
Because the College Football Playoff selection committee effectively views Washington State and Oregon State as independents rather than power-conference teams (at least for the next two years), the Cougars are in no-man’s land. But they’ve been excellent against what is basically a Mountain West schedule. In the spirit of celebrating a team during a season that didn’t start with much reason to celebrate, I’ve ranked the Cougars relative to how they’ve performed against other Group of Five programs.
Group of Five rankings remain important. Though these conferences get a significantly lower financial guarantee from the new 12-team CFP, they are on a more equitable field when it comes to the competition: The four highest ranked conference champions get byes, and the five highest ranked champs get auto-bids, but nothing is to say that the supposed “Power Four” are guaranteed those four byes or four of those five spots; if a Group of Five team were to outrank, hypothetically, the Big 12 champion, it would get a bye and home game. And with those spots comes financial windfalls based on success in the tournament.
What are the season outlooks for the best Group of Five teams? Use Caesars promo code to view the latest odds and get in the game.
Group of Five Power Rankings
Dropped out: Liberty, ULM
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