Fansided

College football rankings: With 5 teams ranked in the top 11, has the Big Ten surpassed the SEC?

By Nick Villano

Michigan Wolverines defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (97) rushes the quarterback as Wisconsin Badgers offensive lineman Logan Bruss (60) blocks during the third quarter at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Michigan Wolverines defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (97) rushes the quarterback as Wisconsin Badgers offensive lineman Logan Bruss (60) blocks during the third quarter at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 2
Next
Oregon Ducks
Mykael Wright #2 of the Oregon Ducks. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Conference rankings after Week 5 saw the SEC depth exposed while the Big Ten gets five teams ranked in the top 11 of the AP Top 25.

Oregon was the only hope for the Pac-12 to make it to the College Football Playoff. They beat Ohio State, and they didn’t have a ranked opponent on its schedule for a few weeks. All the number 3 team in the country needed to do was take care of business. Don’t make a major mistake, and things should be relatively easy until a matchup with UCLA near the end of this month. Well, they made that major mistake.

They weren’t the only ones. After going toe to toe with Alabama, Florida put up loss number two to Kentucky. Any hopes they were going to see Alabama again in the SEC Championship were dashed on Saturday. Texas A&M also got upset, this time by Mississippi state. Meanwhile, Arkansas and Ole Miss failed in their attempts to prove themselves as Top 15 teams. The SEC is Alabama and Georgia and that’s never been more clear.

College football power rankings: SEC is literally untouchable at this point.

5. ACC

Listen, the ACC avoided disaster this week. The conference’s three ranked teams (ranked 23, 24, and 25) all won. Clemson bounced back to beat an undefeated Boston College team, although barely. NC State took care of businesses against LA Tech and Wake Forest remains undefeated after squeaking past Louisville. Miami’s season continues to dig once it hits rock bottom as a missed field goal with no time remaining secured its third loss of the season, this time against Virginia. The one good news is North Carolina bounced back with the throttling of Duke. Sam Howell could at least get into the conversation for the top quarterback taken in the NFL Draft.

4. Pac-12

When the two top teams in the division lose, the ranking gets worse. Oregon fell to eighth in the AP Top 25, but it might as well be 20 as the hill to climb to get back in the top four seems impossible after losing to Stanford. UCLA, who looked revitalized under Chip Kelly, fizzled out again versus Arizona State. They didn’t even have a chance in that game. Oregon State seems like it might be pretty good, as they used a last-second game-winning field goal to win the game. They might have a chance to get ranked with another win this week.

Home/College Football