College football rankings: Oregon’s loss to Utah crushes Pac-12 in new conference power rankings

3. Big 12

It was a huge bounce-back week for most of the Big 12. Oklahoma came back after a loss to Baylor and held off Iowa State at home. They won’t get back in the College Football Playoff conversation even with Oregon’s loss, but they have a chance to still make this a special season. Texas’s season is toast. The loss to WVU put an end to any hopes they could become bowl eligible. West Virginia on the other hand does have a chance to make a bowl if they can beat Kansas. Baylor and Oklahoma State both got huge wins on the road and they might both be ranked in the Top 10. It will be interesting to see what the committee does with the Cowboys this week.

2. Big Ten

Ohio State put the Big Ten and the nation on notice with their demolishing of Michigan State. The Buckeyes were up 21-0 after the first quarter and took a 49-0 lead at halftime. This was the No. 7 team in the country. Maybe the Spartans were frauds, or maybe there was just a timing issue for where their season ended up. Or maybe Ohio State is just that good. Ohio State is the top dog, and now they prepare for the game of the year in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes head to the Big House on Saturday to take on Michigan, who’s coming off a blowout win against Maryland. Wisconsin gave a beating to Nebraska, Iowa survived Illinois and Purdue continued their winning ways against Northwestern. It will be interesting to see how the Big Ten does overall for bowl weeks.

1. SEC

Georgia had a game against an FCS foe, so it’s not even worth mentioning. The rest of the conference had a fun week. The Alabama-Arkansas matchup was more than most expected. The Crimson Tide ended up surviving, but not before the Razorbacks forced them to answer some questions. The other three ranked teams in the conference faced weak opponents and everyone won. Florida and Missouri had one of the games of the year, and the Tigers went for two in overtime to beat the Gators, sending their season into a total tailspin and Dan Mullen was fired on Sunday. South Carolina beat Auburn to turn their season from bad to worse. Still, this is the best conference in the country.

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