The Big Ten returns to give these college football conference power rankings even more bite.
With the Big Ten return, the college football landscape just got even more robust and enticing.
For as much fun as we have had the last seven weeks, something was clearly missing on fall Saturdays. With the Big Ten playing seven conference games this upcoming weekend, things will start to feel a bit more normal as the weather changes. It will feature the signature game of the week, as the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes will host the Nebraska Cornhuskers at 12:00 p.m. ET.
College football conference power rankings heading into Week 8
The best thing going for the Pac-12 right now is the Power 5 conference is slated to begin playing games in two weeks. There is a sliver of optimism the Pac-12 can get a team into the College Football Playoff for the third time in seven tries with the likes of the Oregon Ducks or the USC Trojans. However, any Pac-12 team who loses a game this year is immediately crossed off.
This is what happens when you only play seven conference games. The Big Ten and the Big 12 are playing nine, and the ACC and the SEC are playing 10. This is two short of the Pac-12’s normal allotment of conference games. While it’s great to see the Pac-12 on the precipice of coming back, Oregon or USC need to go undefeated and dominate to have any shot at making the playoff.
The Big 12 continues to be punished for its collective lackluster performance against non-conference opponents out of the Group of 5. Though they have three ranked teams this week who haven’t lost a conference game yet, the only team who remains unscathed is the Oklahoma State Cowboys. This may be a team capable of winning the Big 12, but probably won’t go undefeated.
Despite two non-conference losses to Sun Belt teams, the Iowa State Cyclones and the Kansas State Wildcats have been the two other strong teams in the Big 12 this season. While it’s great to see the Farmageddon rivals playing high-quality ball, the conference is in overall bad shape because the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns have two losses before Halloween.
This is the closest the top three have been all season long. The Big Ten has five ranked teams, including two in the top 10 in No. 6 Ohio State and the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions. Its three other ranked teams are the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers, the No. 18 Michigan Wolverines and the No. 21 Minnesota Golden Gophers. All five teams should be ranked at the start of the year.
Going conference-only isn’t going to hurt the Big Ten as it would other conferences. However, we are a tad concerned about the middle class of the Big Ten. One would think the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers are No. 6 and No. 7 respectively in the conference. Nebraska will lose to Ohio State and how much faith do we have in Iowa to make noise in the Big Ten West?
This is the best week the ACC could argue for the top spot. It’s closer than expected, as the ACC leads all Power 5 conferences with six ranked teams, including two of the top three in the No. 1 Clemson Tigers and the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Miami Hurricanes, the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Virginia Tech Hokies and the North Carolina State Wolfpack are ranked in Week 8.
What hurts the ACC from getting the top spot is three-fold: One, Notre Dame is not an impressive No. 3 team in the country and hasn’t played anybody. Two, is anybody going to attempt to challenge Clemson? And three, the bottom of the ACC significantly hurts the consistency of the overall product. The ACC is better than last year, but it is benefiting from the Notre Dame inclusion.
The SEC holds onto the top spot for yet another week. Though only one undefeated team remains in the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide, it’s a testament to how deep the SEC is. All but one team has at least one conference victory through four weeks. While only four teams are ranked this week, all four of them reside inside of the latest AP Top 25 Poll, including three one-loss teams.
With the Georgia Bulldogs coming in at No. 4, the Texas A&M Aggies at No. 7 and the Florida Gators at No. 10, the upper tier of the SEC is better than anyone’s best. However, it’s a considerable drop-off to the next three teams in the conference. According to the AP Voters, that would be the Auburn Tigers, the Kentucky Wildcats and yes, the Arkansas Razorbacks.
It will be interesting to see how the Big Ten pushes the ACC and the SEC in these conference power rankings down the line. We have a strong idea who the best teams in each conference is, as well as the worst. What these rankings may eventually come down to is how strong each league’s respective middles are. We’re just going to have to see how it all shakes out in the end.
Can the Big Ten or the ACC leapfrog the SEC before the end of their respective seasons?
For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.