College football conference power rankings: ACC, Pac-12 struggles continue

College football conference power rankings entering Week 6 see the ACC and Pac-12 riding the struggle bus while the SEC remains the king.

When it comes to conference hierarchy in college football, things seem pretty clear, at least they do five weeks into the season.

And even though conference play is really just starting in earnest for most teams, this is a good time to evaluate where things stand. Many of the key non-conference games have taken place and while some teams haven’t really been tested outside of their league, we have a decent barometer of where each conference stands in the power scale of college football.

One thing that’s abundantly clear is that the ACC is trailing the other four conferences in terms of both elite teams and depth. Clemson is still a juggernaut, despite their struggles last Saturday, but outside of that, the league sort of looks like a joke. It’s definitely not what was expected when the 14-team conference was formed.

But the ACC isn’t the only disappointment this season, however, that is where we start with this week’s college football conference power rankings.

5. ACC (5th last week)

The ACC hasn’t been great this season but the one thing the conference had going for it was the Clemson Tigers. Yet, even this past week, Clemson looked vulnerable and was one play away from leaving Chapel Hill with a loss to Mack Brown and North Carolina.

If that happens, the ACC is most likely not getting a team into the playoffs. Of course, a lot of things can change between now and the end of the season, but the Tigers resume would not be strong and looking at Ohio State as a recent example, being a one-loss champ doesn’t guarantee anything.

Wake Forest is unbeaten and Duke has one loss, as does Virginia, but the Cavaliers didn’t play that well against Notre Dame and that was another missed opportunity for the conference to show some strength.

As it stands, the playoff hopes rest with Clemson, because when it comes to good teams and quality depth, the ACC isn’t on part with its college football counterparts.

4. Pac-12 (4th last week)

A case could be made for the Pac-12 to be in the fifth spot, however, the league has much better overall depth than the ACC.

Yes, teams are cannibalizing each other a bit and that continued this past week when Arizona State upset Cal, that last unbeaten team left in the Pac-12. Utah felt a similar sting and Washington also handed USC its second loss as the Huskies might be the favorite again to win the conference.

Arizona State owns a nice win over Michigan State and some other teams like Cal, Washington, Utah, even Oregon feel like legitimate contenders. It’s pretty hard to see any of them making the playoff unless there are some other leagues with at least a couple of losses.

3. Big 12 (3rd last week)

Much like the other conferences listed, the Big 12 is one that tends to wear its teams down as the college football season progresses and Oklahoma State upsetting Kansas State, at least as far as the rankings were concerned, was a great example of that.

The Cowboys are a dangerous team and when it’s all said and done, they might be the third-best in the Big 12 behind Texas and Oklahoma. The Sooners continue to look like a powerhouse with Jalen Hurts at quarterback but remember, we are two weeks away from the Red River Shootout when we will learn about the Oklahoma defense.

After the top two teams, the league is a jumbled mess. Kansas State went on the road and beat Mississippi State. Oklahoma State has looked good, Kansas has gotten better, TCU beat Purdue on the road and West Virginia is also 3-1 with a chance to take on Texas this week.

The Big 12 may not be in the SEC’s territory, but it’s not far behind the Big Ten.

2. Big Ten (2nd last week)

All in all, it was a good week for the Big Ten, although in some ways it might not have been so hot.

The big news that most will point to is the Ohio State Buckeyes thrashing of Nebraska. Many expected the Huskers to contend in the Big Ten West this season, however, that still seems to be a year or so away.

There is no shame in losing Big to Ohio State, which looks as good as any team in the country but the Huskers not being ready for the big stage does hurt the strength of the Big Ten West. Wisconsin looks like the dominant team, although we will see if Iowa can put itself in that same conversation with a win at Michigan.

The biggest surprise was the way Penn State manhandled Maryland, a team that scored an impressive win over Syracuse earlier this season. Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Iowa, Michigan — that depth keeps the Big Ten at No. 2. For now.

1. SEC (1st last week)

At this point, no conference in college football can question the power of the SEC. Alabama played itself back into the No. 1 ranking in the AP poll this week after blowing out Ole Miss at the same time Clemson struggled at North Carolina.

In addition to Alabama, the SEC has a bunch of other College Football Playoff contenders. Not only is there Georgia and LSU, but Auburn also looks dangerous and Florida has put together a really good start to the season.

Down the road, these teams will start giving each other losses, particularly the three top-10 teams in the SEC West. Even so, it’s clear that the SEC is in a strong position to get multiple teams in the playoff and looking at the strength of the league overall, it’s hard to argue.

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