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Just three unbeaten teams remain among the 138 programs that make up the FBS. Not one is in the Group of 6 conferences.
The final surviving G6 undefeated, James Madison, took its first loss of the season—and its first loss in Sun Belt play since the end of the 2024 campaign—during a Thursday night trip to Boone, N.C., to face Appalachian State. The Mountaineers have struggled to maintain their status as a Sun Belt power in recent years. After winning at least nine games every year between 2015 and ’21, their losing seasons in ’24 and ’25 are their first back-to-back sub-.500 campaigns since 1981 and ’82.
Their results in Year 2 under Dowell Loggains have been inconsistent, but Kidd Brewer Stadium remains a hostile atmosphere for opposing teams, which JMU knows all too well. The Dukes are now 3–9 all time on the road in Boone.
With their first loss under Billy Napier and a weak schedule, can James Madison still find its way to the College Football Playoff? See where the Dukes stand in Sports Illustrated’s latest Group of 6 power rankings after Week 8’s games.
Last week: Lost to Wyoming, 28–14
This week: vs. UConn
Just as Air Force looked like a sneaky threat to crash the party in the Mountain West, it takes one on the nose against the Cowboys. The Falcons may still have a path to the conference title game, though with three teams at one or fewer losses ahead of them in the conference standings, it will be tough sledding to get there. Luckily, none of that impacts the race for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, which Air Force already has a leg up for with a win over Navy.
Last week: Beat Old Dominion, 26–0
Next week: at South Alabama
Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Cumbie began his head coaching tenure with a 11–26 record through three seasons and was on one of the hottest seats in the G6 entering the 2025 season. He bounced back to go 8–5 last season, finishing on a three-game winning streak including an Independence Bowl win over Coastal Carolina, and the Bulldogs are having a quietly strong 2026 season. The two losses came on the road against Power 4 programs (at LSU, 45–14, and at Baylor, 36–19), and the program has been heating up. After tight wins against solid Army and Louisiana teams, Tech has won back-to-back games against Louisiana-Monroe and Old Dominion by a combined score of 50–0 and sits atop the Sun Belt West as the conference’s final team with an undefeated conference record.
Last week: Beat Kennesaw State, 34–6
Next week: vs. Florida International
In 2024, Liberty suffered its first loss of the year in stunning fashion, falling to a struggling Kennesaw State program in its first FBS season, 27–24, giving the Owls their first win at college football’s top level. Last season, the Flames’ rough season came to an end with a double-overtime loss to Kennesaw State, which went on to win the league. On Thursday, Liberty finally flexed its muscle against KSU, outgaining them 402–297 in a dominant victory to reach bowl eligibility and move to 3–0 in CUSA play.
Last week: Beat Navy, 49–39
Next week: vs. FAU (Thursday)
How do you go on the road and beat a service academy with over 500 yards of offense, 363 rushing yards, a 15-minute edge in possession time and just one five-yard penalty in the game? By taking advantage of mistakes and scoring in all three phases. The Midshipmen lost only one of four fumbles, but North Texas’s Zakye Barker returned it for a touchdown. Dalton Carnes housed a punt for a 76-yard score. And Tayven Jackson and Jahiem White were as productive as ever in Neal Brown’s offense. The former threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns, while the latter rushed for 174 yards and two scores.
Last week: Beat East Carolina, 41–34 (OT)
This week: vs. Army
For much of last Thursday night, it appeared that Memphis would take a second straight loss and fall onto the wrong side of the American race. The Tigers trailed by as many as 14 points and were down seven after a Pirates field goal to open the fourth quarter, but quarterback Marcus Stokes came up huge, scoring five total touchdowns including three in the fourth quarter and overtime, and Memphis forced a pair of late turnovers to flip the game.
Last week: Lost to New Mexico, 21–16
This week: vs. UTEP
Through five weeks, North Dakota State looked nearly as dominant in its new FBS home as it was during recent seasons at the FCS level—but after two losses in three weeks to a pair of the Mountain West’s other top teams, it’s clear that the Bison have a way to go to compete for College Football Playoff contention. The losses to UNLV and New Mexico both came on the road in one-score slugfests, but there is very little room for error for a G6 team. The Bison are still playing for a Mountain West championship bid—and a likely rematch against New Mexico if it gets there—which would be a strong accomplishment in its own right.
Last week: Lost to Appalachian State, 34–31 (OT)
This week: vs. Troy (Thursday)
Down goes JMU. In one of the best games of the college football season, the Dukes went blow-for-blow with the Mountaineers on the road, with a late Camden Coleman interception setting up a go-ahead score for App State. Coleman would bounce back, leading an impressive 15-play, 71-yard touchdown drive two possessions later, punching in the game-tying touchdown himself with just three seconds left in the game. It was the team’s other quarterback, JC Evans, who was taken down for an 11-yard loss on the first play of overtime, setting the Dukes well behind the eight-ball, and leading to a missed 47-yard field goal. The Mountaineers played for a field goal and James London converted his 40-yard try for the win.
JMU should still be the favorite in the Sun Belt, but with a weak schedule that doesn’t feature any Power 4 opponents, jumping a good Pac-12 or American squad for the CFP will be very difficult.
Last week: Beat Tulane, 42–19
This week: Bye (at FAU, Nov. 5)
UTSA has transplanted Memphis as the favorite in the American, and while transitive property results are extremely noisy, the back-to-back games the two programs had at Tulane are pretty informative. A week after the Tigers turned the ball over nonstop on the road against the Green Wave in an upset loss, the Roadrunners went to Yulman Stadium and dominated on the ground. UTSA had its own turnover issues with Owen McCown throwing two picks and A’Marion Peterson losing a fumble, but they turned Tulane over six times, while running for 223 yards and six touchdowns. Five different Roadrunners scored on the ground. On the season, the team has 1,479 rushing yards and is averaging a robust 5.1 yards per carry. UTSA’s +7 turnover margin is tied for the ninth-best mark in FBS.
Last week: Beat North Dakota State, 21–16
Next week: at San José State
New Mexico has multiple games in which it has scored over 60 points this season, but Jason Eck’s team specializes at dragging teams into the mud. That was certainly the case against the Bison, a team with a fairly similar defense-first profile. The Lobos attempted just 14 passes on the day, while running the ball 44 times for 187 yards and a pair of scores on offense. On the other side of the ball, they held a strong NDSU rushing attack to just 53 yards (1.9 per carry) and forced Nathan Hayes to try and beat them, something he was not equipped to do, throwing for just 198 yards and two touchdowns, but also two interceptions, one of which was returned for a score by Austin Brawley. New Mexico isn’t quite home free in the Mountain West—a Nov. 14 home date with UNLV and a trip to face a hot Wyoming team the week after could be tricky—but the Lobos will be heavy favorites from here on out, with ESPN’s Football Power Index giving them at least an 83% chance to win each of their final five games. They likely need Boise State to slip up, ideally to a non–Oregon State team, but a 12–1 New Mexico with a conference title and a single, one-touchdown loss at Oklahoma would have a very solid résumé.
Last week: Bye
This week: at Fresno State
Oregon State was on bye over the weekend, some rest after five consecutive wins by an average of more than 32 points per game. Even so, it picked up a big win—a commitment from superstar wide receiver Jesse Legree to return to the Beavers for the 2027 season.
Amid plenty of speculation about a potential offseason transfer to a college football power, Legree appears to dash those concerns, citing his relationship with coach JaMarcus Shephard during an interview with CBS Sports.
“He’s like another father to me,” Legree said. “He always makes sure that I’m good mentally. He always wants to give me tips and tricks because he’s a wide receiver guru as a head coach.
“Really, I just got the opportunity from Coach Shep, and I feel like once the person that gave me the opportunity, I was going to be loyal to them.”
Last week: Beat Washington State, 31–10
This week: vs. Texas State
There was real cause for concern for much of Boise State’s game against Wazzu. The one-win Cougars tied things up at 10 midway through the third quarter, and the Broncos offense hadn’t found much success at all against what should’ve been an overmatched opponent.
And then Dylan Riley did what stars do in the fourth quarter. Boise State took the lead on a Maddux Madsen touchdown pass to Cam Bates, and Riley made quick work of the Wazzu defense on successive drives, scoring on 33- and 72-yard touchdowns to open up what had been a very tight game. He finished with 128 yards, while the Broncos rumbled to 258 yards and 7.0 yards per carry as a team.
PODCAST: Listen to Sports Illustrated’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, hosted by Pat Forde, on Apple and. Watch the show on SI’s college YouTube channel or on SI TV.
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