Not one but two teams out of the Group of Six conferences made the College Football Playoff last year. And the G6 has plenty of teams this season that hope to accomplish that feat in 2026.
Here’s a look at the annual HERO Sports Preseason G6 Media Poll. Journalists that cover teams in every G6 conference, as well as nationally-focused media members, are included.
Group of Six College Football Rankings
1. Boise State (16 first-place votes)
2. UNLV
3. Navy (one first-place vote)
4. New Mexico
5. Memphis (one first-place vote)
6. James Madison (one first-place vote)
7. UTSA (one first-place vote)
8. San Diego State
9. East Carolina
10. Army
11. Tulane
12. Fresno State
13. Hawaii
14. South Florida
15. North Dakota State
16. Western Michigan
17. Texas State
18. Miami (Ohio)
19. Air Force
20. Troy
21. Old Dominion
22. Washington State
23. Western Kentucky
24. Jacksonville State
25. Marshall
RV: Liberty, Toledo, Delaware, Louisiana, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, UConn, Southern Miss, Colorado State, Ohio, Utah State, Central Michigan, Temple, Oregon State, Tulsa, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern.
HERO Sports Group of Six Top 25 Media Poll Voters
Thomas Ashworth, AL.com
Josh Boutwell, Troy Messenger
Michael Calabrese, Action Network/New York Post
Bennett Conlin, Baltimore Sun/JMU Sports News
Ron Counts, HERO Sports
The G5 Hive
Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman
Catie Harper, Daily News-Record
Dom Izzo, WDAY
The Herd Bros
Greg Luca, San Antonio Express-News
Colton McWilliams, San Marcos Record
Robert Munoz, HERO Sports
Jeff Nations, Bowling Green Daily News
Marc Narducci, HERO Sports
Colton Pool, HERO Sports
Cam Robertson, Athens Messenger
Ty Scheiner, Mike Farrell Sports
Brett Vito, Denton Record-Chronicle
Seth Woolcock, FantasyPros/BettingPros
