Four teams still have a realistic shot at the American Conference championship game with two weeks left, but a coach on the outside looking in — Temple’s K.C. Keeler — put it best when talking about the league’s college football playoff possibilities.

In his words, American should produce the default representative in the bracket almost every year because its top teams simply play at a higher level than the contenders in the other Group of 5 conferences. Boise State of the Mountain West was an outlier last season, clearly earning its spot in the inaugural 12-team field with a nasty defense and Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty at running back.

This year, the American owns half of the Group of 5’s 10 wins against Power 4 opponents. In Keeler’s view, Tulane, North Texas, Navy and East

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