In recapping last week, we must discuss the Wyoming Cowboys yet again. For the third time this season, Craig Bohl’s bunch won a thrilling game in Laramie, holding on to a 24-3 halftime lead to take down No. 24 Fresno State 24-19, handing the Bulldogs their first loss of the season. Elsewhere, Western Kentucky solidified itself as a contender in Conference USA with a road win over Louisiana Tech, UTSA won a 49-34 barnburner over Temple, Louisiana took a pivotal Sun Belt game against Texas State, and Boise State came back from down 27-7 to save its season against San José State.

We are now six weeks into the season, and a handful of conference leaders will be tested mightily this weekend. Tulane, James Madison, Air Force and Liberty will have to play some of their toughest games of the year, meaning that conference title implications are scattered across the Group of Five landscape on Saturday.

Buckle up, because the races in the American, Sun Belt, Mountain West and C-USA will all be much clearer by this time next week.

Also, be sure to check out our weekly piece highlighting the top players at the Group of Five level in the season-long race for the Colt Brennan Award.

Tulane (4-1, 1-0) at Memphis (4-1, 1-0)

7:00 ET | ESPN

MyBookie Odds: Tulane -3

Last Matchup: Tulane 38-28 in 2022

NY6 Impact: High

Stars To Watch: Michael Pratt (QB, Tulane), Blake Watson (RB, Memphis)

What’s On The Line: Reigning American champion Tulane would love nothing more than to send veteran signal-caller Michael Pratt out with back-to-back rings, and in a much different conference than last season, the Green Wave are well-positioned to do so.

Willie Fritz’ bunch has successfully carried over its momentum from the 11-win Cotton Bowl season of 2022. Outside of a hard-fought loss to then-No. 20 Ole Miss, Tulane has looked overwhelmingly impressive in all of its games thus far. The Green Wave. 20-pieced a solid South Alabama team to open the season and handled UAB and Southern Miss. Makhi Hughes has filled in nicely for the departed Tyjae Spears at running back, and the Tulane defense has played great football in all of its wins. The Green Wave currently top my Group of Five power rankings, and thus are spearheading the race for the New Year’s Six auto-bid yet again.

However, Tulane’s biggest challenger for the American crown may be Memphis, which is used to competing for the conference title. After all, the Tigers appeared in the championship game from 2017-19, winning the American in that final season. 

Much like those teams, Memphis is led by a veteran quarterback and a productive running back. Seth Henigan is a junior who starred as a low-interception, high efficiency quarterback in his first two seasons. But, after throwing only eight interceptions apiece in ‘21 and ‘22, Henigan has already tossed five this year. It’s safe to assume that the veteran quarterback will right the ship, and he has Old Dominion transfer running back Blake Watson — a bruising back with great burst at the line of scrimmage — to help him do that. The defense has largely held serve throughout this season, and Memphis’ only loss of the season came in a close game against Missouri with a win over Boise State to boot.

With both of these teams fresh off of bye weeks coming into this game, we should expect some high-quality American football at the Liberty Bowl. The Tigers could certainly pull off the upset, but it is just too difficult to pick against Pratt in this stage of his career.

Score Prediction: Tulane 38, Memphis 28

Georgia Southern (4-1, 1-0) at James Madison (5-0, 2-0)

12:00 PM ET | ESPN2

MyBookie Odds: JMU -3.5

Last Matchup: GSU 45-38 in 2022

NY6 Impact: Moderate

Stars To Watch: Davis Brin (QB, GSU), Jordan McCloud (QB, JMU)

What’s On The Line: Just like everybody thought, Georgia Southern and James Madison are the top two teams in the Sun Belt.

No, not really. Clay Helton’s upstart Eagles have stunned the conference by taking down UAB, Ball State and Coastal Carolina en route to a 4-1 start to the season. The lone loss came in a mostly back-and-forth game against Wisconsin in Madison, a game in which star quarterback Davis Brin did not look like himself. He tossed a whopping five interceptions in that outing, but he has only thrown two in GSU’s other four games. Brin has taken over well for the departed Kyle Vantrease, leading another potent passing attack in Statesboro. If he plays like he did in Georgia Southern’s wins, then the Eagles will have a great shot to leave with a victory. If we see the Wisconsin version of Brin, then GSU will be humbled in Harrisonburg.

That is because James Madison currently resides as the best team in this league. After taking down the likes of Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State last season and finishing with one of the Sun Belt’s best records yet not being allowed to compete in the title game, the Dukes are back to do literally the exact same thing. They still can’t play for the Sun Belt crown due to NCAA transition rules, so the legendary Curt Cignetti and his team are making sure the conference fears them yet again. Star quarterback Jordan McCloud started his career at South Florida and transferred to Arizona before finding his home in Harrisonburg. The dynamic athlete has accounted for over 1,200 total yards and 13 touchdowns to just three interceptions. McCloud and sophomore running back Kaelon Black (73 carries, 365 yards) make the JMU offense go, although the defense has shown signs of weakness against Virginia and Utah State. 

Another game in which both teams are coming off of bye weeks, I’m going to stick with the Dukes, whose bandwagon I jumped on long ago.

Score Prediction: James Madison 27, Georgia Southern 24

Wyoming (5-1, 2-0) at Air Force (5-0, 3-0)

7:00 PM ET | CBS Sports Network

MyBookie Odds: AF -10

Last Matchup: Wyoming 17-14 in 2022

NY6 Impact: High

Stars To Watch: Aaron Peasley (QB, Wyoming), Zac Larrier (QB, Air Force)

What’s On The Line: We will be treated to even more top-tier Mountain West football this weekend.

The cardiac Cowboys of Wyoming are fresh off a thrilling 24-19 win against Fresno State in which they held on to a 24-3 halftime lead. Craig Bohl’s bunch remains squarely in the hunt for the MW title, but this is merely the middle of a three-game stretch of games against other conference contenders. The team identity of run-first offense and hard-nosed defense has won the day for Bohl and Wyoming plenty of times before, but Air Force knows how to play that game as well.

The Falcons have had to slightly adjust their triple option offense due to rule changes, but this team still leads the nation in rushing yards per game (329.8), and the quartet of fullback (yes, a fullback!) Emmanuel Michel, running backs John Lee Eldridge and Owen Burk and quarterback Zac Larrier is tough to contain. Michel is your bellcow, Eldridge averages 9.0 yards per carry, Burk is a reliable depth piece and Larrier has stepped in to masterfully run the offense in his first season as starter. That Falcons rushing attack exposed San Diego State’s normally stout defense for 49 points two weeks ago, and the offense has scored 39 or more points in every game except for the odd 13-3 win over Sam Houston. Coming off a bye week, Air Force will be well-rested and ready to play in what will be one of the more physical games of this college football season, if last year’s meeting suggests anything.

Get your hard hats and lunch pails and call up the old school Big Ten, because they’d love to watch this game. Don’t expect a ton of points, but do expect Air Force to narrowly take down the Cowboys in similar fashion to how Wyoming broke the Falcons’ hearts last season.

Score Prediction: Air Force 20, Wyoming 13

And I have to also shout out undefeated Liberty going on the road to take on Jacksonville State. The Flames are sitting pretty atop the C-USA but could be knocked off their perch by an upstart 5-1 (3-0) JSU squad that is finding surprising success in its first season as an FBS member. 

And now, six weeks into the season, we update the NY6 power rankings:

1. Tulane
2. Air Force
3. James Madison
4. Wyoming
5. Memphis
6. Liberty
7. Georgia Southern
8. Toledo
9. Fresno State
10. Troy