Tulsa completed another improbable comeback, Cincinnati and UCF produced a thrilling matchup and Coastal Carolina earned a huge win over Appalachian State to all but lock up a spot in the Sun Belt Championship Game. The MAC hit its halfway point, every other conference is more than halfway done, and we are less than a month from conference championships. Click here to view our week-by-week rankings this year, and here are this week’s rankings:

#1. Cincinnati Bearcats (last week: 1)

The Bearcats earned a difficult, back and forth win over UCF this week to move to 8-0 and all but lock up a spot in the American championship game. Desmond Ridder was 21-32 for 338 yards and two touchdowns. Add in his 57 rushing yards (with two more touchdowns on the ground) and he had more yards of total offense (395) than UCF (359). Cincy’s third down struggles (5-14 to the Knights’ 11-19) nearly cost them this game, but outgaining UCF by 123 yards ended up being just enough for the 36-33 victory. Cincinnati travels to Temple this week for what should be an easier matchup.

#2. BYU Cougars (2)

BYU crushed Northern Alabama, as they should have, 66-14. Zach Wilson threw just 16 passes, completing 10 for 212 yards and four touchdowns. Tyler Allgeier ran 13 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns, the defense produced three takeaways, and BYU cruised in the way you would expect a top-10 team to handle an FCS opponent. Reports of Washington attempting to schedule a game against BYU this week and the Cougars shooting it down is interesting, as a win over the Huskies surely would have boosted BYU’s chances of getting into the College Football Playoff that they appear to be on the outside looking in at the moment. We’ll get more clarity on that when the first playoff rankings come out on Tuesday, and BYU won’t play again until they host San Diego State on Dec. 12.

#3. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (3)

A huge win over Appalachian State, the first in program history for the Chanticleers, and Coastal Carolina is one win away from a matchup with Louisiana in the Sun Belt Championship Game. Grayson McCall was 12-21 for 200 yards and two touchdowns, adding a 62-yard touchdown on the ground to go with it. The defense forced Zac Thomas into three interceptions, the last of which was a 38-yard pick-six by D’Jordan Strong with 1:20 remaining that gave Coastal a two-score lead and basically ended the game. To be fair, the pick-six came on a 4th-and-20 from App State’s 9-yard line, so even an incomplete pass likely would have sealed the win. CCU now heads to Texas State, who comes into the matchup at just 2-9, where a win would secure Coastal’s first-ever Sun Belt title game appearance.

#4. Marshall Thundering Herd (4)

Marshall had its game against Charlotte postponed due to issues with the coronavirus in the 49ers program. With previously postponed games against Rice and FIU still needing to be made up, it’s unclear if that matchup against Charlotte will be played. Marshall has this Saturday open, but Charlotte has games scheduled for Dec. 1 and 5, and adding a game this Saturday would make it three games in eight days for the 49ers, and that’s just not doable. That means that most likely Marshall needs one win in its final two games to secure its spot in the Conference-USA Championship Game.

#5. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7)

Tulsa has made back-to-back wild comebacks over SMU and Tulane to get to 5-1 on the year, 5-0 in conference, and be in the driver’s seat to get to the American conference championship game. After being tied at 0 at halftime, Tulsa surrendered 14 points in the third quarter and was still looking to avoid a shutout going into the fourth quarter. They put together two touchdown drives to tie the game at 14 with 3:16 to play, then Tulane drove and scored with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter and Tulsa needed a touchdown to force overtime. With six seconds left, the Golden Hurricane still needed 37 yards for that touchdown, and their hail mary was pulled in by JuanCarlos Santana with no time on the clock to force overtime. After trading field goals in the first overtime, a 96-yard pick-six by Zaven Collins provided a walk-off win for Tulsa. They travel to Houston this week.

#6. Boise State Broncos (6)

#7. Liberty Flames (5)

#8. Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (8)

#9. SMU Mustangs (10)

#10. Nevada Wolfpack (14)

#11. UCF Knights (9)

#12. Western Michigan Broncos (On the Bubble)

#13. San Jose State Spartans (12)

#14. Florida Atlantic Owls (15)

#15. Buffalo Bulls (OTB)

Dropped Out:

Appalachian State (11), Central Michigan (13)

On the Bubble:

Army, Appalachian State, Kent State, Memphis, Central Michigan

Conference Races

American Athletic Conference

With Cincinnati and Tulsa continuing to win, it is becoming more and more unlikely for anyone else to be participating in the AAC championship game. ESPN’s Football Power Index likes Cincinnati easily over any team with a chance at playing in the title game. FPI still likes UCF, but the Knights taking their third loss this week eliminated them from contention. FPI likes Houston the best out of the bunch of teams currently at 3-2.

FPI odds to win conference:

Cincinnati: 80.6%

Tulsa: 17.4%

Houston: 1.5%

Conference-USA

Marshall is still the heavy favorite in the East division and overall, while the West division is a mess as the CUSA has had massive COVID-19 issues leaving some teams having played three games while others have played six. The leaders in the West are UTSA at 4-2 and UAB at 2-1. FPI likes UAB better but views Marshall as easily the best team in the conference.

FPI odds to win conference (division):

Marshall: 73.5% (91.5%)

UAB: 18.7% (69.3%)

Florida Atlantic: 5.0% (8.4%)

UTSA: 2.0% (21.0%)

Mid-American Conference

Western Michigan beating Central Michigan vaulted them to having the best odds in the conference, while Kent State and Buffalo squaring off this week will provide clarity in the East Division. FPI likes Buffalo and Western Michigan as the best two teams in the conference. Only four teams (all at 0-3) are eliminated, but only three teams have a greater than 3% chance at making the championship game.

FPI odds to win conference (division):

Western Michigan: 47.3% (93.7%)

Buffalo: 41.3% (74.7%)

Kent State: 8.9% (23.7%)

Mountain West Conference

Three teams currently stand undefeated in the Mountain West, which will be placing the two teams with the best winning percentage in the championship game at season’s end rather than using divisions. FPI likes Boise State best, with San Jose State and Nevada neck-and-neck. San Jose State faces a challenge Nevada doesn’t have to deal with: playing Boise State in the regular season.

FPI odds to win conference:

Boise State: 58.5%

San Jose State: 18.7%

Nevada: 17.3%

Fresno State: 5.3%

Sun Belt Conference

Louisiana has already clinched a spot in the championship game, and with the win over Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina has just about wrapped up a spot to join them. Appalachian State still has slim odds, and Troy is not yet eliminated either, though the Trojans would need an unbelievable set of events to make it to the title game.

FPI odds to win conference (division):

Coastal Carolina: 62.3% (98.8%)

Louisiana: 37.1% (100%)

Stats and info from ESPN and College Football at Sports-Reference.com