ESPN listed the Tigers in the “Group of Six contenders” tier in its new tiers list on Friday. 15 teams are listed in the contenders team, including four teams from the American Conference.
Army, Buffalo, ECU, Fresno State, Memphis, Miami (OH), New Mexico, Ohio, Old Dominion, Texas State, Troy, Tulane, UConn, Washington State, Western Kentucky and Western Michigan are all listed in the “Group of 6 contenders.”
Notably, Boise State and UNLV aren’t included in the tier. The Tigers will play both in the non-conference slate, including a week zero game against the Rebels in Las Vegas.
The “Group of Six contenders” isn’t the highest tier for the Group of Six teams. “Tier 9: So you’re saying there’s a chance,” includes nine G6 teams that ESPN believes could make the College Football Playoff.
Boise State, James Madison, Navy, North Dakota State, San Diego State, Toledo, South Florida, UNLV and UTSA are all included in Tier 9. This means that ESPN views the Tigers outside of at least the top three in the American Conference and top nine G6 programs.
Memphis will play four of the teams in Tier 9 this season, including UNLV and Boise State during the first three weeks of the season. Later in the season, the Tigers will play USF and the Midshipmen in back-to-back games, but they will have an off week between the games.
The list is labeled as a ranking, but the teams aren’t ranked. It’s hard to tell how far behind ESPN views Memphis from those teams in the top G6 tier.
The predictions for the Tigers have been all over the place this offseason, and they have been predicted to finish anywhere from the top of the conference to sixth in the league.
Memphis hired Charles Huff in December after Ryan Silverfield left the program to take the job at Arkansas. Huff brought in a brand new coaching staff and more than 70 new players to the roster.
The Tigers will have talent, and multiple players have been included on preseason lists and All-Conference teams, but the biggest question is if the roster will mesh. The key to the formula could be all the transfers that followed Huff from Southern Miss.
Huff had similar success taking players from Marshall to Hattiesburg, and he brought nearly 20 players with him to Memphis from his team last year.
The Tigers will need a quick start with two massive non-conference opportunities on the road early in the season.
Huff’s team will begin the season in week zero against UNLV on August 29.