College football conference power rankings: Week 1
Here’s how the Power Five conferences stack up heading into the 2017 college football regular season.
While fans around the country will have to wait a few more days until the epic season-opening showdown between the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide and No. 3 Florida State Seminoles, college football is already underway.
The 2017 season kicked off on Saturday with the Colorado State Rams blowing out the Oregon State Beavers, followed by a pair of easy wins the No. 19 South Florida Bulls and No. 14 Stanford Cardinal. A handful of games on Thursday and Friday will lead into a full slate over the weekend, which features three critical games between top 25 opponents.
There are few surprises in the initial AP Poll, as heavyweights Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State and USC own the top four spots. Each member of the Power Five has at least two teams ranked in the top 12, which should lead to some wild title races down the line.
A major surprise last season was a rare down year for the SEC, as no team outside of Alabama finished better than 9-4. That led to a major power shift towards the ACC, which won its second national title over a period of four years, and the Big Ten, which sent four teams to the New Year’s Six.
Both conferences look strong once again, but there are legitimate national title contenders in each member of the Power Five. Here’s how the major college football conferences stack up as the preseason comes to an end.
5. Big 12
After being shut out of the playoff last season, the Big 12 stands out as the most likely conference to miss out yet again in 2017.
The No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners and No. 10 Oklahoma State Cowboys stand out as the clear-cut favorites to win the Big 12 and challenge for a spot in the final four, but both have some question marks. Oklahoma has to replace a ton of production under first-year head coach Lincoln Riley, while the Cowboys have to squeeze enough out of a shaky defense to support what might be the best offense in the nation and may have to beat the Sooners twice.
What would really help the Big 12 climb the conference power rankings is the Texas Longhorns returning to national relevance. Texas opens the first year of the Tom Herman era at No. 23 and has a very talented if young roster, although a Sept. 16 trip to USC is a daunting early-season test.
One team that has the potential to challenge the Oklahoma schools for the conference title is the No. 20 Kansas State Wildcats, as Bill Snyder returns the key pieces of a dynamic and physical offense that was tough to stop late last year. The West Virginia Mountaineers are also hanging around at No. 22 and have high hopes for Florida transfer quarterback Will Grier, and nobody should be overlooking a sneaky good TCU Horned Frogs roster that has a lot of experience.
Even with the smattering of good teams, the Big 12’s top tier is a step below the rest of the Power Five, and teams like Kansas, Iowa State and Texas Tech could really struggle. Oklahoma has a chance to pick up a much-needed massive road win for the conference at Ohio State on Sept. 9.