The SEC is home to the top team in the land and four of the top 11 ranked teams overall as they continue to be the king of college football.
Last weekend was thought to be a sleepy little Saturday with little marquee games on the schedule. It was a great weekend to skip the football and head out to a Halloween party because Iowa-Penn State was the only game between ranked teams, and with apologies to both programs, that doesn’t exactly scream must-see TV.
Having said that, what transpired during Week 9 was sheer and utter madness as 11 ranked teams lost, including No. 6 Texas and No. 9 Florida. In fact, the Top 25 only went 9-11 last week with the other five teams enjoying a bye week where they were guaranteed of not getting upset. Just look at Ohio State who moved up three spots to No. 8 despite not playing a game, and Purdue, the team who just blew them out, lost to Michigan State. So clearly, the polls are just silliness and the Playoff rankings will replace them on Tuesday for the rest of the year as the one that matters.
Speaking of polls that matter, this ranking of the best college football conferences through nine weeks definitely matters. In the case of the SEC, it just means more, and as they have been for the better part of the last decade, the SEC remains the king of the sport.
1. SEC – No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 LSU are set to battle from Death Valley on Saturday. At least Alabama, and possibly, LSU, will be in the Playoff top four on Tuesday. But what makes them the best is the depth of the conference where teams like Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Florida and Kentucky, the biggest surprise of the year. The Wildcats will play Georgia with the winner clinching the SEC East.
2. Big Ten – Who had Northwestern in first place heading into November? I certainly didn’t and I’m willing to bet you didn’t either unless you’re Pat Fitzgerald and I thank you for reading. Go Cats! After beating Wisconsin on Saturday and losses by Iowa and Purdue, the Wildcats now own a 1.5 game lead in the East. The winner of the West, however, likely will be determined in The Game, because I don’t think Penn State beats Michigan this weekend, and I think Ohio State will win out between now and the regular season finale.
3. Big 12 – Oklahoma is the class of the conference and I felt that way after they lost to Texas too. I didn’t think Texas was going to get to the conference title game unscathed and they lost to Oklahoma State on Saturday night. Meanwhile, Oklahoma is scoring points at will and Kyler Murray shows no signs of slowing down. West Virginia bounced back with a win over Baylor after a few ho-hum weeks. I still don’t think the Big 12 is going to get in the Playoff unless Notre Dame loses and even then, they might need to get lucky because the SEC might get two in again.
4. Pac-12 – Let’s give it up for the underdog. Every underdog won last week and the biggest being the comeback win from Oregon State against Colorado. The Beavers trailed 31-3 at one point before coming back to win in overtime. Remarkable for both teams. Washington State winning at Stanford all but secured their fate as the king of the North and Utah looks like the clear favorite now in the South. Who had that in the preseason?
5. ACC – Look, Clemson is really, really good. They’re the No. 2 team in the nation and playing their best ball of late as freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence gains more confidence. That was never more clear than when Clemson handed Florida State their worst loss in program history on Saturday. What used to be the ACC game of the year is now a cupcake for Clemson who looks like the safest bet to make the Playoff among all contenders. With Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech all having rough stretches, Virginia might be the second best team in the ACC. Bronco Mendenhall has done a great job with that team, but when it’s the second best team in the conference, it’s easy to see why it’s the weakest among the Power 5.