Week 4 of each college football season usually signals the beginning of conference play, where Group of Five teams transition past their warm-up games and payout games and head to the ones that really count. There are still some out of conference matchups, but the payout games — where there are mismatches and a payment afterwards — are mostly wrapped up for the year.
Let's take a good look at the G5's top games this weekend, with staff picks below:
THE TOP FIVE GAMES
NOTE: All game times are Eastern, with national TV indicated.
1. Western Kentucky at Troy, 12 PM, ESPNU —
2. Appalachian St. at Wyoming, 7 PM, CBSSN —
3. Memphis vs. Missouri, 7:30PM, ESPNU —
4. James Madison at Utah State, 8 PM, none —
5. Liberty at Florida International, 6:30 PM, ESPN+ —
THE NEXT FIVE
| 6 | Georgia Southern at Ball State, 2 pm |
| 7 | Rice at USF, 4 pm |
| 8 | Southern Miss at Arkansas State, 7 p.m. |
| 9 | New Mexico State at Hawaii, 12 a.m. |
| 10 | 23 UTSA at 11 Tennessee, 4 pm |
NOTE: All games Saturday unless noted.
Wyoming QB Andrew Peasley is expecting big things in 2023 (PHOTO CREDIT: Troy Babbitt/Wyoming Athletics)
THE FANBUZZ STAFF PICKS
LAST WEEK'S WINNER: Anthony Nachreiner won the week with an 8-2 record in Week 3. Overall, Taylor Tilley is leading the season overall at 26-11.
THE COMPETITORS: BMAC - G5 Editor Brian McLaughlin (all conferences); Jamie Malloy (MAC); Julie Miller (AAC & C-USA); Jay Moffitt (AAC & C-USA); NACH - Anthony Nachreiner (Mtn. West); Jordan Ramos (MAC); Taylor Tilley (Sun Belt)
| MATCHUP | BMAC | JAMIE | JULIE | JAY | NACH | JORDAN | TAYLOR |
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| WKU at Troy | TROY | TROY | WKU | WKU | WKU | WKU | TROY |
| App St. at Wyoming | WYO | WYO | APP | WYO | APP | APP | APP |
| Memphis vs. Missouri | MIZZ | MIZZ | MEMP | MEMP | MIZZ | MIZZ | MIZZ |
| J. Madison at Utah St | JMU | JMU | UTAH | UTAH | JMU | JMU | JMU |
| Liberty at FIU | LIB | LIB | LIB | LIB | LIB | LIB | LIB |
| Ga South at Ball St | GS | GS | BALL | GS | GS | GS | GS |
| Rice at USF | USF | USF | RICE | RICE | USF | RICE | RICE |
| So Miss at Arkansas St | SM | AST | SM | SM | SM | SM | SM |
| New Mex St at Hawaii | HAW | HAW | NMST | NMST | NMST | NMST | HAW |
| UTSA at Tennessee | TN | TN | UTSA | TN | TN | TN | TN |
| LAST WEEK | 7-3 | 4-6 | 6-4 | 3-7 | 8-2 | 5-5 | 4-6 |
| SEASON | 25-12 | 19-18 | 23-14 | 23-14 | 24-13 | 19-18 | 26-11 |
(*) - Denotes conference matchup
