The Underdogs Poll is a weekly ranking of college football's top non-power FBS teams. Voters come from SB Nation sites Bull Run, Hustle Belt, Miner Rush, Mountain West Connection, The UConn Blog, Underdog Dynasty, Vanquish The Foe, and Voodoo Five.
The Underdogs Poll, Week 10: Colorado State, Boise State pushing for No. 1
With only a handful of weeks to go, and weeknight football upon us, the top of the poll is getting awfully crowded.
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A week of close calls amongst the Underdogs makes for a nerve-wracking race to the finish line.
Overall, most of the poll is the same, a rarity around these parts. But while seven of the top 10 checked back in at the same spots, the difference between those top four shrunk, drastically. ECU has been on top of this poll since Week 7, and had been lapping at the heels of BYU for weeks before that. However, a week after a less-than-ideal performance against South Florida, the Pirates played it a little too cool in a 10-point win over a bad UConn team.
That’s led to the likes of Marshall (which also struggled, but remained undefeated), Colorado State, and Boise State each pushing the Pirates closer to the edge of their own planks.
| RANK | TEAM | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ECU (10) | 263 | 1 |
| 2 | Marshall (6) | 254 | 2 |
| 3 | Colorado State (2) | 252 | 3 |
| 4 | Boise State (1) | 233 | 4 |
| 5 | UCF | 178 | 5 |
| 6 | Georgia Southern | 149 | 6 |
| 7 | Air Force | 118 | 10 |
| 8 | NIU | 117 | 7 |
| 9 | Memphis | 111 | 9 |
| 10 | Utah State | 110 | 11 |
| 11 | Nevada | 109 | 12 |
| 12 | BYU | 96 | 8 |
| 13 | Houston | 49 | 15 |
| 14 | Middle Tennessee | 40 | 16 |
| 15 | Toledo | 34 | 17 |
| Dropped out: Temple, Arkansas State | Others receiving votes: Louisiana Tech (31), Navy (28), Arkansas State (22), SDSU (20), Cincinnati (14), UL Lafayette (14), Temple (10), UTSA (10), UAB (5), Bowling Green (4), UTEP (4), South Alabama (4), WKU (1) | |||
With only a handful of weeks to go, the only matchup we have left between the top five is in the final week of the season, when ECU and UCF square off on a Thursday night. Boise State already has the head-to-head win over Colorado State, but will likely need style points to leapfrog the Rams if both win out.
Still, the most interesting team to watch, in this pollster’s opinion, is Marshall. With each win, voters forgive the Herd for their weak schedule a little bit more. In the end, that just may be enough to allow them to stand atop the mountain when the race is over.
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