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, Underdog Dynasty, Vanquish The Foe, and Voodoo Five.
2014 Underdogs Poll, week 12: The Mountain West is taking over
America’s toughest non-power conference is having little problem upholding its reputation.
Let’s start with the obvious: Marshall. The Thundering Herd returned to action in Week 11 with a bang, throttling Southern Miss, 63-17. That was good enough to earn them an extra first place vote this week and a narrow cushion on the plethora of Mountain West contenders.
| RANK | TEAM | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marshall (9) | 219 | 1 |
| 2 | Colorado State (6) | 208 | 2 |
| 3 | Boise State | 195 | 3 |
| 4 | ECU | 161 | 4 |
| 5 | Georgia Southern | 159 | 5 |
| 6 | Utah State | 127 | 6 |
| 7 | Nevada | 120 | 7 |
| 8 | NIU | 104 | 8 |
| 9 | Air Force | 90 | 9 |
| 10 | Memphis | 86 | 9 |
| 11 | Louisiana Tech | 65 | 14 |
| 12 | UCF | 63 | 12 |
| 13 | BYU | 46 | 13 |
| 14 | Toledo | 44 | 17 |
| 15 | Cincinnati | 28 | 16 |
| Dropped Out: Houston, Temple | Others Receiving Votes: Arkansas State (22), UL Lafayette (22), Rice (14), WMU (10), BGSU (8), Houston (7), Temple (2) | |||
How about that Mountain West? Five teams in the top nine. Four of those from the Mountain Division. Oh, and over the course of these final few weeks, they will all clash with at least one other ranked MWC foe. If we had a Underdogs playoff, right now the MWC would have two in from the same division.
At a certain point, the overall caliber of the conference kicks in to help teams out. Case in point: Boise State’s struggles with New Mexico. The Broncos did have some issues with the bottom team in the Mountain Division, but when the top of the division is that deep, it’s not too much of a stretch to think that even the MWC’s worst teams are as good as your average Underdog.
But enough of the MWC, because we’ve got plenty of opportunities this week to see these teams test one another, starting with Toledo vs. NIU in some Tuesday night MACtion. Grab your remotes, settle in and get ready for some good old-fashioned Underdogs carnage, because this time next week, we should have some casualties.
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