NCAAF · 1 year ago

Power Ranking College Football’s 9 FBS Conferences: SEC or B1G on Top?

TJ Inman

Host · Writer

9. Conference USA
Conference USA has been raided year after year and the toll has been taken. Liberty entered the season as the conference’s flag-bearer but the Flames are clearly a step below the team they were in 2023. Even if they go unbeaten, it is hard to see Liberty getting the nod for the College Football Playoff because of how weak their schedule is.

Sam Houston actually looks like the conference’s best team but they were taken to the wire by Jacksonville State and lost by 31 points to an average UCF team. The bottom four teams in this league are woeful, with each team having surrendered more than 160 points in just five games.
1. Southeastern Conference
The SEC takes the top spot in the conference power rankings. The league has nine teams in the top 25 and five teams in the top ten. Texas is the top team in the country and leads the way with Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Georgia right behind them. Texas A&M is also 3-0 in the league and 5-1 overall and they help bolster the strong “middle class” of the league. If you go team by team and matchup the Big Ten with the SEC, the top couple of teams would be debatable but the next several matchups would heavily favor the SEC. That would include hypothetical matchups like Alabama versus Penn State, Ole Miss versus Indiana, Tennessee versus Washington, Texas A&M versus Nebraska and LSU versus Michigan. Until proven otherwise, the SEC remains the top dog.

SEC Title Odds: Texas (+150), Alabama (+410), Georgia (+410), Ole Miss (+750), Texas A&M (+750)

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2. Big Ten
The Big Ten is a very clear number two in the rankings, anchored by a trio of top-five teams at the top: Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State. Michigan and USC both dropping their second games of the season certainly hurts the second-tier of the league but unbeaten Indiana sits atop the league at 3-0 in the Big Ten and 6-0 overall. Which teams do you trust beyond those unbeaten squads at the top?

Washington is 4-2 and is settling into things under Jedd Fisch. Nebraska and Illinois are both rock-solid but the struggles of newcomers USC and UCLA prevent the Big Ten from challenging the SEC for the top spot. In addition, Purdue is likely the worst power conference team in the country and they serve as an albatross, weighing the league down just a bit.

Big Ten Championship Game Odds: Ohio State (-115), Oregon (+230), Penn State (+450)

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3. Atlantic Coast Conference
The real battle begins at number three in these rankings, as the top two are well-established. The ACC takes the third spot, beating out the Big 12 thanks to the surges of SMU, Pittsburgh and Clemson. Miami has established itself as the top team in the league and, importantly, remained unbeaten to keep an ACC team inside the top ten. The Hurricanes need to sharpen their defense, though, as the Clemson Tigers have looked outstanding since the opening week blowout loss to Georgia. SMU won at Louisville to signal they will be a factor in the race for the ACC Championship Game and the Pitt Panthers are a surprising 5-0 with wins over both Big 12 teams West Virginia and Cincinnati.

Georgia Tech, Virginia, Cal, Syracuse and Duke have been better than expected to boost the league’s depth but Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and North Carolina have flopped. Of course, the biggest issue hurting the league’s strength is the total failure of the Florida State Seminoles. The ‘Noles sit at 1-5 and their absence from the title picture lowers the ACC’s ceiling.

ACC Championship Game Title Odds: Miami +145, Clemson +170, SMU +480, Louisville +1600

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4. Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 is chaotic and a whole lot of fun but is the league actually any good? That’s not a rhetorical question. The answer: the Big 12 is not as good as the SEC, Big Ten or ACC and the league is hurt by Utah’s inability to establish itself as a bona fide top ten team. The Big 12 has no top-ten teams with Iowa State topping the rankings for the league at 11^th right now. The Cyclones and the BYU Cougars are the only unbeaten teams right now and Iowa State barely got by a mediocre Iowa squad that is destined for a middle-of-the-road finish in the Big Ten.

The West Virginia Mountaineers are a good example of why the league should be considered the fourth of the “power four.” WVU is 2-0 in the Big 12 but they have losses to Pitt (ACC) and in blowout fashion to Penn State (Big Ten). Does this league have any team capable of winning a game in the College Football Playoff? It currently does not appear so.

Big 12 Championship Game Title Odds: Iowa State (+280), Utah (+450), Kansas State (+500)
5. American Athletic Conference
There is an argument to be made for a few different leagues when trying to name the top “Group of Five” conference but the most compelling case belongs to the American Athletic Conference. Army and Navy are both 5-0 and each has been dominant thus far in every game. Those two schools topping the conference is a surprise but advanced analytics suggest both the Midshipmen and Black Knights are legitimately good teams and their starts are not fluky.

Tulane has a pair of close losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma plus two dominant league wins. Schools like Memphis, North Texas and Charlotte have fun offenses that would give poor power conference teams a lot of trouble. The AAC is not particularly deep but Army, Navy and Tulane are a good trio at the top.
6. Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West is next and this league could definitely jump up to number five if things break right. Boise State is the marquee program and running back Ashton Jeanty is unquestionably the biggest star in the entire Group of Five. The Broncos are a prime contender for the G5 College Football Playoff spot after narrowly missing an upset win at Oregon. If they can run the table, they will very likely grab the 12 seed in the playoff bracket.

San Jose State is a quality squad at 4-1 and UNLV is now 4-1 after losing a heartbreaker to Syracuse. If the Rebels had knocked off the Orange last week, the Mountain West likely grabs the top Group of Five conference label. There are some dreadful teams dragging down this league: Air Force, New Mexico and Utah State are really struggling.
7. Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt is a very fun league and it’s one of the last conferences that still make geographic sense. It would be accurate to call this a down year for the league, though. Traditional league powers Appalachian State and Troy are at the bottom of the standings and App State’s defense is historically bad. Louisiana Monroe is 4-1 but they are even on point differential which suggests regression is coming for the Warhawks. James Madison looked like a potential playoff contender after blasting North Carolina but the Tar Heels look like an ACC cellar-dweller and JMU responded by losing to UL Monroe. The Sun Belt is balanced and should be good to follow, but there is no playoff contender in this league.
8. Mid-American Conference
The Mid-America Conference (MAC) got a huge early-season win as Northern Illinois won at Notre Dame but the league has been unable to follow up with any other real successes. The Huskies are only 3-2 and have disappeared from the national conversation. Toledo is probably the best team in the league but their win over Mississippi State is dampened by the Bulldogs being a historically bad SEC team. Even if Toledo goes 11-1, the Rockets are not a playoff contender and the MAC has three teams among the nation’s absolute worst in Ball State, Kent State and Akron.
9. Conference USA
Conference USA has been raided year after year and the toll has been taken. Liberty entered the season as the conference’s flag-bearer but the Flames are clearly a step below the team they were in 2023. Even if they go unbeaten, it is hard to see Liberty getting the nod for the College Football Playoff because of how weak their schedule is.

Sam Houston actually looks like the conference’s best team but they were taken to the wire by Jacksonville State and lost by 31 points to an average UCF team. The bottom four teams in this league are woeful, with each team having surrendered more than 160 points in just five games.
1. Southeastern Conference
The SEC takes the top spot in the conference power rankings. The league has nine teams in the top 25 and five teams in the top ten. Texas is the top team in the country and leads the way with Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Georgia right behind them. Texas A&M is also 3-0 in the league and 5-1 overall and they help bolster the strong “middle class” of the league. If you go team by team and matchup the Big Ten with the SEC, the top couple of teams would be debatable but the next several matchups would heavily favor the SEC. That would include hypothetical matchups like Alabama versus Penn State, Ole Miss versus Indiana, Tennessee versus Washington, Texas A&M versus Nebraska and LSU versus Michigan. Until proven otherwise, the SEC remains the top dog.

SEC Title Odds: Texas (+150), Alabama (+410), Georgia (+410), Ole Miss (+750), Texas A&M (+750)

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Power Ranking College Football’s 9 FBS Conferences: SEC or B1G on Top?

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