College football conference power rankings: Big Ten bummer, ACC stunner

Which college football conference has played the best from top to bottom so far this year?

Conference championship weekend is rapidly approaching in the college football landscape.

Though only four teams will make the College Football Playoff, plenty of teams are still in the mix to get in out of several conferences. While it is a guarantee the ACC and the SEC will be getting at least one team in, the Big Ten and the Pac-12’s playoff chances are on the brink, while the Big 12 is already out of it. Here are the weekly conference power rankings heading into Week 14.

College football conference power rankings entering Week 14

Though the Pac-12 has not been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, only having three teams ranked inside of the top 25 in the latest playoff rankings does not bode well for West Coast football. Though the Pac-12 gained a team this week in the No. 22 Washington Huskies, the No. 20 USC Trojans had a game canceled and the Oregon Ducks lost to fall to No. 23 overall.

At this time, it feels like only the Pac-12 champion will be getting a New Year’s Six bowl invitation. Because the Rose Bowl is part of the College Football Playoff national semifinal rotation this year, the Pac-12 champion will have to settle for Fiesta Bowl against the second-best team out of the Big Ten or something. Playing the fewest amount of games in the Power 5 hurts the Pac-12 here.

The Big 12 edges out the Pac-12 for the bottom of the barrel in these rankings for a few reasons. Though the Big 12 is the least likely Power 5 conference to get a single team into the playoff, it has the same amount of ranked teams as the Pac-12 and all three teams are ranked ahead of the Pac-12’s top-25 trio. Better yet, two are around the top-10 and all three are top-15 or better.

Leading the way are the No. 9 Iowa State Cyclones with the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners right behind them. Though the Oklahoma State Cowboys are pretty much out of the mix, they still come in at No. 15 overall. The winner of the Big 12 Championship game between presumably Iowa State and Oklahoma will represent the Power 5 conference in the New Year’s Six in the Cotton Bowl Classic.

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee did the Ohio State Buckeyes a favor in their second rankings by keeping them in the top four, despite only playing four games this season. Ohio State cannot have a third game canceled this season if the Buckeyes want to play in the conference title bout. As long as they get there and win, they will make the four-team field.

Interestingly enough, the Big Ten has the most teams ranked in the top- 25 in the latest playoff rankings this past week at five. Joining the Buckeyes in the top 25 are the No. 12 Indiana Hoosiers, the No. 14 Northwestern Wildcats, the No. 16 Wisconsin Badgers and the No. 19 Iowa Hawkeyes. Though only the Buckeyes have a shot at making the playoff, it still feels like they are getting in.

Will the ACC be able to usurp the SEC when it is all said and done? Potentially, as the ACC stands the best chance of any Power 5 conference getting two teams into the four-team field. As long as the No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeat the hapless Syracuse Orange at home on Saturday, they will make the playoff, regardless of what happens in the ACC Championship game.

As for the No. 3 Clemson Tigers, they need to win their next two games, including the ACC Championship game over Notre Dame. Fortunately for the Tigers, they are expected to beat the Golden Domers in a neutral-site rematch. As for the rest of the ACC, the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes are essentially a lock to make sure three teams will be getting New Year’s Six bowl invitations.

The SEC retains the top spot in this week’s conference power rankings for three reasons. One, they have four teams ranked inside of the top eight. Two, as many as three teams still have a chance to make the playoff. And three, the SEC has the No. 1 team in the land in the Alabama Crimson Tide. It looks like four SEC teams will be getting New Year’s Six bowl invitations as well.

After No. 1 Alabama comes the No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies, the No. 6 Florida Gators and the No. 8 Georgia Bulldogs. Texas A&M can make the playoff as a one-loss, at-large team and Florida can get in as a one-loss Power 5 champion. None of these four teams will have more than two regular-season losses this year. Georgia being the fourth-best team says a lot about the SEC.

So how does the ACC overtake the SEC? It is pretty simple really. If Notre Dame beats Clemson again and Florida upsets Alabama, the ACC will take the top spot. If Alabama beats Florida and Clemson beats Notre Dame, that might be enough as well, as the ACC will have sent two teams into the playoff, while the SEC would only have one, so long as Texas A&M does not get in at No. 4.

The final weeks of the 2020 college football season will be utterly fascinating to watch unfold.

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