.

Non-P5 Top 35 teams in the Final AP Poll since the P5/G5 split

2013: 5 teams (not including #15 Louisville, which moved to P5 in 2014)

2014: 5 teams

2015: 9 teams

2016: 8 teams

2017: 8 teams

2018: 9 teams

2019: 12 teams

2020 (to date): 12 teams

...................................................................................................


2013:

#10 UCF
#27 Fresno St.
#28 N. Illinois
#29 Marshall
#35 Cincinnati

2014:

#16 Boise St.
#23 Marshall
#25 Memphis
#29 Air Force
#32 Utah State

........................2013-2014 AVERAGE: 5.0 NON-P5 TEAMS IN FINAL AP TOP 35......................

2015:

#8 Houston
#18 Navy
#26 WKU
#27 SDSU
#28 Toledo
#31 Temple
#32 Marshall
#34 App. St.
#35 Boise St.

2016:

#18 WMU
#19 USF
#25 SDSU
#29 WKU
#30 Boise St.
#31 Air Force
#33 Temple
#34 Tulsa

2017:

#7 UCF
#21 USF
#22 Boise St.
#24 Memphis
#27 Troy
#29 FAU
#30 Fresno St.
#31 Army

.........................2015-2017 AVERAGE: 8.3 NON-P5 TEAMS IN FINAL AP TOP 35......................


2018:

#12 UCF
#18 Fresno St.
#20 Army
#21 Utah St.
#23 Cincinnati
#24 Boise St.
#28 App St.
#34 UAB
#35 Georgia Southern

2019:

#17 Memphis
#18 App St.
#20 Navy
#21 Cincinnati
#22 Boise St.
#23 Air Force
#24 UCF
#27 FAU
#29 Louisiana
#32 SDSU
#33 SMU
#34 Louisiana Tech

.........................2018-2019 AVERAGE: 10.5 NON-P5 TEAMS IN FINAL AP TOP 35......................


2020 (to date):

#7 Cincinnati
#8 BYU
#14 Coastal Carolina
#15 Marshall
#20 Louisiana
#22 Tulsa
#25 Liberty
#27 Buffalo
#28 Nevada
#32 Boise St.
#33 San Jose St.
#34 SMU
#35 UCF

With factors like injuries you can always say "every team's got them", but IMO there's a good bit of variability in how the pandemic has helped teams. Some are affected a lot, some not much.

I also think the talent gap between the G5 and the non-elite P5 teams has shrunk.

UCF and Cincinnati should not be included for 2013 because they counted as AQ (as part of the Big East contract) in the last year of the BCS.

One of the biggest factors in this is the continued improvement and increased awareness of the talent in the Sun Belt over time.

(11-27-2020 09:08 PM)whittx Wrote:  One of the biggest factors in this is the continued improvement and increased awareness of the talent in the Sun Belt over time.

If the sole focus of that statement is on the 2020 season in particular, it is roughly the equivalent of an uncontested three point shot.

The only rankings that matter are the CFP.

The rest are worthless.

weird year.

Also the AP rankings are much higher than computer for G5, as their SoS is much lower than P5. There is a tendency to reward a good record over actual power. The NFL draft shows things going the opposite direction, with more and more of the top rounds of the draft dominated by the P5.

And next year #s will return to normal.