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 14: Colorado State is No. 1, for now
Hold on to your bones, puppy dogs, we’re down to the final week of the regular season and the drama with this poll is just getting started.
It’s official: The reign of the Mountain folk has begun. Colorado State still trails Marshall in first place votes, but the Rams have supplanted the Thundering Herd atop our poll.
| RANK | TEAM | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado State (7) | 244 | 2 |
| 2 | Marshall (9) | 243 | 1 |
| 3 | Boise State (1) | 227 | 3 |
| 4 | Utah State | 181 | 4 |
| 5 | NIU | 164 | 6 |
| 6 | Memphis | 163 | 7 |
| 7 | ECU | 121 | 4 |
| 8 | Cincinnati | 117 | 10 |
| 9 | Air Force | 112 | 5 |
| 10 | UCF | 108 | 12 |
| 11 | Georgia Southern | 108 | 9 |
| 12 | BYU | 72 | 14 |
| 13 | WMU | 63 | 16 |
| 14 | Louisiana Tech | 27 | 11 |
| 15 | Toledo | 27 | 18 |
| Dropped out: Nevada, UL Lafayette | Others receiving votes: Navy (14), BGSU (13), Rice (12), Nevada (9), UL Lafayette (8), Houston (3), WKU (2), Arkansas State (1) | |||
Here's what we said about Marshall a week ago.
"At this point, anything less than spectacular performances by Rakeem Cato and co. in these next few weeks could result in a backwards slide, even if they go 12-0."
After narrowly getting out of UAB with that undefeated record intact, the Herd have now slipped. It’s fair to note that Marshall still did what they were supposed to: win. It may not have been as pretty as it’s previous 10 wins, but their record remains unblemished. Nonetheless, after three weeks of being back on top of our poll, the Herd have fallen from the throne with only one regular season game to go.
While the MWC is currently holding down that top spot, one of its best teams, Air Force, toppled down the poll this week to No. 9 after slipping up and falling on the road at SDSU. There’s still hope for the service academy of the West to redeem itself. The Falcons host No. 1 Colorado State Friday at 3:30 p.m. EST.
In fact, with this being rivalry week/the final week of the season, plenty of teams get one last shot to improve their standings before bowl season. Some of the key matchups you should be paying attention to this Friday while you’re recovering from your turkey coma:
| Away team | Home team | Day | Time (ET) | Channel |
| No. 5 NIU | No. 13 WMU | Friday, 11/28 | 11 a.m. | ESPNU |
| WKU | No. 2 Marshall | Friday, 11/28 | Noon | FS1 |
| No. 4 Utah State | No. 3 Boise State | Saturday, 11/29 | 10:15 p.m. | ESPN2 |
A Boise win would put them in the Mountain West Championship game, giving them a chance to leapfrog Colorado State. NIU is looking to get back to its fifth straight MAC championship game, but has to get through a WMU team some feel is the best in the MAC. Then we have Marshall’s quest to finish the regular season 12-0 against a WKU team that has had its share of ups and downs.
I smell #TeamChaos on the horizon. Tune in this weekend to see what kind of carnage it wrecks on the Underdogs Poll.
See More:
