The evidence is fairly clear that the answer is NO.

I was curious, so, using my own ranking system, I looked over the past 5 seasons, to find out how consistently some G5 schools were at finishing the season within the top 40% (1-52) of NCAA. I chose that as a good barometer for determining some degree of success.

First, here is the breakdown of numbers of G5 schools among the top 52 in each of the past 5 seasons with top 25 in red:

2018 (11) 4
2017 (11) 2
2016 (16) 2
2015 (11) 2
2014 (13) 4

Here are the schools that finished among the top 52 at least 3 times in the 5 year period (top 25 finishes in red):

Boise State 5 (1)
Memphis 4 (1)
Navy 4
UCF 3 (2)
Houston 3 (1)
Appalachian State 3
San Diego State 3
Toledo 3
BYU 3

That's a very short list, and the ONLY conference not represented is C-USA.

I do not know what the goal is at Rice - is it occasionally reaching the top 52? I think that is at least feasible. Trying to reach that mark on a consistent basis would seem to be unrealistic, considering the academic restrictions at Rice, as well as our being a member of C-USA. Top 25? Laughable.

10 schools made 2 appearances, and 9 appeared just once.

Therefore, 37 schools (57% of G5), including Rice, NEVER finished among the top 52 ONE TIME over a 5-year period.

Dont you mean G5 schools?

(09-25-2019 08:32 PM)65Woodowl Wrote:  Dont you mean G5 schools?

I think you are right.

(09-25-2019 10:50 PM)TFW Wrote:  

(09-25-2019 08:32 PM)65Woodowl Wrote:  Dont you mean G5 schools?

I think you are right.

Yes. My goof

(09-26-2019 01:30 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  

(09-25-2019 10:50 PM)TFW Wrote:  

(09-25-2019 08:32 PM)65Woodowl Wrote:  Dont you mean G5 schools?

I think you are right.

Yes. My goof

FIFY

Hmm. I wonder how this would have changed if you did this exercise ten years ago, when TCU and Utah regularly joined Boise in the conversation of top G5 programs. (You can throw in Cincinnati, too--while the Big East was a BCS automatic qualifier, its descendant conference is solidly G5.)

Shark sure does look jumped. I can still remember how the music used to make me cry...

Well look at this another way, I see fourteen top 25 finishes by G5 schools. UCF doubled up, but I would be happy to see us claim a top25 spot, even if it’s just once every five years. That ends up earning a NYD bowl for somebody every year, too.