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There was a lot of shifting in the bottom of the poll this week, but the top three-- as we've discussed ad nauseam here, the only real teams with a shot at nabbing the G5 New Year's Day bowl bid-- held steady. Marshall dispatched their hardest foe of the year thus far, Rice, with ease, while Boise State rallied to beat San Diego State and Colorado State had the week off. Good luck picking between the three! The final SB Nation tally lists them in the same order that we do, for what it's worth.
| Rank | Team | Points | Last Week |
| 1 | Marshall Thundering Herd | 29 | 1 |
| 2 | Colorado State Rams | 28 | 2 |
| 3 | Boise State Broncos | 27 | 3 |
| 4 | Air Force Falcons | 24 | 5 |
| 5 (tie) | Northern Illinois Huskies | 20 | 7 |
| 5 (tie) | Memphis Tigers | 20 | 9 |
| 7 | Utah State Aggies | 17 | 9 |
| 8 | Cincinnati Bearcats | 16 | 11 |
| 9 (tie) | East Carolina Pirates | 13 | 4 |
| 9 (tie) | C. Florida Knights | 13 | 14 |
| 11 | Louisiana Tech Bulldogs | 10 | 13 |
| 12 | Nevada Wolfpack | 9 | 8 |
| 13 | BYU Cougars | 5 | NR |
| 14 | Georgia Southern Eagles | 4 | 5 |
| 15 | Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns | 3 | 15 |
Dropped Out: Toledo
Receiving Votes: Bowling Green (1), Navy (1)
- Here's what Andrew and I said about the Marshall-CSU-Boise race this week:
Andrew: The top of this is really hard to judge, basically because I don't really know how good Marshall is. I have a generally idea how good CSU and Boise are, because they've played quality opponents. I think Marshall is about as good as Colorado State and Boise State, but since they are beating (and blowing out) subpar teams, who really knows?
I think Marshall has a higher ceiling than CSU and Boise, but a lower floor. For me, CSU and Boise are probably between 20-35 nationally, whereas Marshall could be anywhere from 15-40.
Part of me wants to rate Marshall No. 1 in this poll, just to see Marshall play a good school, because I want to know how good they are. That may be unfair to Colorado State and Boise though, who have losses and wins better than anyone on Marshall's schedule.
Me: It's literally a coin flip. I could talk myself into any of the three. I'm keeping Marshall as my #1 for now, because I think they're playing better than any other G5 team at the moment, but Colorado State undoubtedly has the best resume, but Boise beat Colorado State. Hopefully one of them will lose and help sort this thing out, although I think they're all very nice teams and don't really want any of them to lose.
- There really aren't many big-time Group of Five matchups this weekend. Actually, there aren't many big-time matchups at all. If there was ever a weekend to get some yard work done or go on a roadtrip, it's this one.