Conference Power Rankings - YTD Review

[Sox33OSU]

So there has been a lot of ballyhoo about conference strength this year, with opinions seemingly changing every week. It's been interesting seeing the back and forth, yet we seem to be in the same spot as always, with the SEC on top.

1. SEC - While there is a lot of argument about Bama being the best team in the nation, it's hard to say the conference isn't the best. The SEC West appears to be making a comeback, with Bama being elite and A&M and Auburn being very good. LSU has some work to do, as their game this weekend vs. Furman was not a good showing (Furman is a bad FCS team). SCar and Missouri look like they'd be in the top quarter of any conference. Injuries have crippled UGA, and Florida wasn't that good to begin with, but top to bottom, the SEC is clearly the best.
2. Pac 12 - Oregon is, IMO, the best team in the nation. We are likely to see them square off with Bama in the NCG, which is what the nation deserves at this point. Stanford is one of the best defensive teams in the nation. UCLA is very talented, Arizona State is a tough out for anyone, and even Washington and Oregon State have looked good at times, though both have also looked pretty bad at times. Overall, Oregon is elite, Stanford is very good, and there are other teams who could give most others teams a run for their money.
3. B1G - Ohio State is elite, and the conference is tied for 2nd most teams in the BCS top 25. While they have more teams than the Pac12, I still feel like the Pac is a better conference at this point. Wisconsin should be a top 10 team right now if not for the officiating at ASU (only other loss is a 7-point loss @ #4 Ohio State). Michigan State's defense is elite, and Michigan is a very good team when they can actually put together a full game.
4. ACC - Florida State is elite overall, but they aren't getting much help from the rest of the conference. Clemson is extremely inconsistent, barely escaping games with sub-.500 NC State and BC, and they were clearly outclassed by FSU. Miami was lucky to escape with a win over a bad Wake Forest team at home, and VT just lost to frickin Duke - who, while at 6-2, is still not a good team (their best win other than VT is Navy, and they were smoked by a mediocre GT team).
5. Big 12 - Baylor could be legit but the best team they've faced is Buffalo, the only team they've faced that has a winning record. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both have bad losses to unranked teams. Texas Tech is decent but was beaten by the only good team they've faced so far. They've faced the 4 worst teams in the Big 12, and played 3 horrible teams OOC. Texas has been a huge disappointment...again. There is a very realistic chance that they will not fill their bowl allotment (7 games).
6. AAC - Does this need to be explained?

There also doesn't appear to be a BCS buster-type team worthy of mentioning. Fresno State would be a .500 team in any BCS conference, and Northern Illinois is wildly inconsistent.

 

[BucksFanInGA]

Source?

IDK if I agree with the B1G over the ACC...

 

[WhiteMamba]

would have had ACC over B1g.

But as of now I agree.

B1G is looking better while the ACC is looking not as good every week.

FSU and tOSU are only elites in the respective conferences.

After that, B1G is more balanced with next 5 or 6 teams.

 

[Wild Turkey]

Interesting you don't seem impressed with LSU but they did beat Auburn and have a legit shot to beat A&M and Alabama. I have seen worse LSU teams beat very strong Alabama teams and heck they almost did it last year and they are much better this year.

Last Year:

LSU gets lucky to beat Auburn (3 and 9 team) by 2.
Alabama only beats LSU by 4 and it took everything they had to do it.

This Year:
LSU lost to Georgia when they were at full strength and ready to make a run.

LSU lost to a quality Ole Miss team at Ole Miss after the Rebels had dropped 3 straight and desperately needed a win. This was the definition of a trap game.

On their best day LSU can play with anyone in the country and if they had a different coach it might be even on a mediocre day.

 

[BucksFanInGA]

Interesting you don't seem impressed with LSU but they did beat Auburn and have a legit shot to beat A&M and Alabama. I have seen worse LSU teams beat very strong Alabama teams and heck they almost did it last year and they are much better this year.

Last Year:

LSU gets lucky to beat Auburn (3 and 9 team) by 2.
Alabama only beats LSU by 4 and it took everything they had to do it.

This Year:
LSU lost to Georgia when they were at full strength and ready to make a run.

LSU lost to a quality Ole Miss team at Ole Miss after the Rebels had dropped 3 straight and desperately needed a win. This was the definition of a trap game.

On their best day LSU can play with anyone in the country and if they had a different coach it might be even on a mediocre day.

It looks like a copy/paste job to me...

 

[Wild Turkey]

would have had ACC over B1g.

But as of now I agree.

B1G is looking better while the ACC is looking not as good every week.

FSU and tOSU are only elites in the respective conferences.

After that, B1G is more balanced with next 5 or 6 teams.

I would put the ACC and Big 12 over the B1G. I think the resumes of FSU, Clemson and Miami beats anything in the B1G and I think the resumes of Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas and maybe OSU beat anything in the B1G.

The B1G's biggest problem is that there is no Big East anymore so the ground floor is a lot closer these days in big time college football.

 

[BucksFanInGA]

I would put the ACC and Big 12 over the B1G. I think the resumes of FSU, Clemson and Miami beats anything in the B1G and I think the resumes of Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas and maybe OSU beat anything in the B1G.

The B1G's biggest problem is that there is no Big East anymore so the ground floor is a lot closer these days in big time college football.

Yeah we know you would...

 

[Sox33OSU]

Interesting you don't seem impressed with LSU but they did beat Auburn and have a legit shot to beat A&M and Alabama. I have seen worse LSU teams beat very strong Alabama teams and heck they almost did it last year and they are much better this year.

Last Year:

LSU gets lucky to beat Auburn (3 and 9 team) by 2.
Alabama only beats LSU by 4 and it took everything they had to do it.

This Year:
LSU lost to Georgia when they were at full strength and ready to make a run.

LSU lost to a quality Ole Miss team at Ole Miss after the Rebels had dropped 3 straight and desperately needed a win. This was the definition of a trap game.

On their best day LSU can play with anyone in the country and if they had a different coach it might be even on a mediocre day.

So what you're telling me is that they are wildly inconsistent. I called LSU as a likely 8-4 team this year, and that's looking pretty likely. That isn't impressive when they recruit like they do. They have the coach that they have, so you can't just discount that. Overall, they aren't that great of a team, and I think they are wildly overrated where they are right now.

 

[Codaxx]

I may have it PAC/SEC. I am not convinced that the SEC is much better. It is really tight this yr. The next best is simply arguing over the the tallest midget. All look equally terrible.

 

[Sox33OSU]

Source?

IDK if I agree with the B1G over the ACC...

would have had ACC over B1g.

But as of now I agree.

B1G is looking better while the ACC is looking not as good every week.

FSU and tOSU are only elites in the respective conferences.

After that, B1G is more balanced with next 5 or 6 teams.

Mamba, you pretty much summed it up perfectly.

I would put the ACC and Big 12 over the B1G. I think the resumes of FSU, Clemson and Miami beats anything in the B1G and I think the resumes of Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas and maybe OSU beat anything in the B1G.

The B1G's biggest problem is that there is no Big East anymore so the ground floor is a lot closer these days in big time college football.

LMAO, ok. Baylor has literally beaten nobody. Okie State lost to a WVU team that doesn't have a single player that most CFB fans can even name. Baylor, Oklahoma State, Miami and Clemson claim 0 wins over ranked teams while Ohio State and Michigan both do (Oklahoma's best win is against Michigan's best win, so that's a wash). Texas got their shit pushed in against 2 unranked teams and then turned around and kicked the shit out of Oklahoma. Time for you to move along.

 

[Sox33OSU]

I may have it PAC/SEC. I am not convinced that the SEC is much better. It is really tight this yr. The next best is simply arguing over the the tallest midget. All look equally terrible.

I can't agree with you on that Pac/SEC. The SEC literally has twice as many teams in the BCS top 25. Teams like Washington and UCLA are really looking bad lately (I know they're facing the top tier Pac teams, but this just shows how big a disparity there is).

 

[WhiteMamba]

That's just it, Clemson and Miami have got to look the part of their ranking from here out if the ACC would want to take claim to #3 or #2.

That VA Tech loss to Duke and FSU / Clemson game really hurt ACC image. Now if FSU goes out and dismantles Miami..... Hurts it even more.

ALmost same thing could be said if Oregon dismantles Stanford next Thursday.

I don't think for a long time, we have seen such clear separation between the #1 team in a conference to the rest of the teams in conference.

That goes for Bama, Oregon, FSU, and tOSU. Seems its these teams and everyone else.

We will see if Baylor can join that group.

We will see if Oregon can stay in that group with the Stanford game on the horizon.

 

[Jonny Valtimore]

I would put the ACC and Big 12 over the B1G. I think the resumes of FSU, Clemson and Miami beats anything in the B1G and I think the resumes of Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas and maybe OSU beat anything in the B1G.

The B1G's biggest problem is that there is no Big East anymore so the ground floor is a lot closer these days in big time college football.

What resumes do Clemson and Miami have that don't get worse by the week? Miami and Clemson are top 25 teams, but not top 15. Outside of FSU who else is there? Duke? ACC is not better than the B1G, period.

Big 12 could be debated but until Baylor proves they're legit I don't see it.

 

[Codaxx]

I can't agree with you on that Pac/SEC. The SEC literally has twice as many teams in the BCS top 25. Teams like Washington and UCLA are really looking bad lately (I know they're facing the top tier Pac teams, but this just shows how big a disparity there is).

-
they look bad because they are playing elite Pac teams. I am giving Washington the benefit of doubt,because they played 2 top 10 teams and lost on the road to ASU. That is a brutal schedule. UCLA lost back to back games vs top 10 teams. Not sure there is a particularly good team in the SEC east. Outside of Bama, the SEC has more questions than answers, but please put that is perspective. We are talking about the SEC as either #1 or #2. I had them tied at the top, so its not like I think they are a bad conference.

 

[Codaxx]

it is odd you have Wisky as a "should be" top 10 team, but give little respect to ASU. They did beat them and outgained them in that game, so it is hard to say the results were flukey. Nothing in the game or the stats show that Wisky is a superior team, if anything they are fairly evenly matched.

 

[jonvi]

Been through this so much. Just because Clemson struggled against BC and the Wolfpack has no bearing on which conferences are stronger. Thinking there are five teams that will whip Clemson because FSU had a good day may find themselves stamped with TB was here on their ass this bowl season.

Because teams in league play have so much history, they don't compare to non league play. The preseason explained who had the leg up.

 

[Jonny Valtimore]

it is odd you have Wisky as a "should be" top 10 team, but give little respect to ASU. They did beat them and outgained them in that game, so it is hard to say the results were flukey. Nothing in the game or the stats show that Wisky is a superior team, if anything they are fairly evenly matched.

He definitely mentioned ASU being tough.

In don't disagree with you that ASU is better than their ranking, but to use that one game where Wisconsin was on the road at night (ended after midnight CST) as the only evidence is pretty shortsighted.

 

[Sox33OSU]

-
they look bad because they are playing elite Pac teams. I am giving Washington the benefit of doubt,because they played 2 top 10 teams and lost on the road to ASU. That is a brutal schedule. UCLA lost back to back games vs top 10 teams. Not sure there is a particularly good team in the SEC east. Outside of Bama, the SEC has more questions than answers, but please put that is perspective. We are talking about the SEC as either #1 or #2. I had them tied at the top, so its not like I think they are a bad conference.

Oh I know, it's a worthy debate. It just seems like we're seeing a bit of separation. There is of course some media bias, but even without Georgia and Florida, the SEC is still strewn across the BCS Top 25. Middle of the SEC teams like A&M, Ole Miss and SCar would probably be able to hang with anyone in the Pac outside of Oregon while I don't think you'd see Washington doing the same with most of the teams in the top 4-5 of the SEC.

 

[Codaxx]

Oh I know, it's a worthy debate. It just seems like we're seeing a bit of separation. There is of course some media bias, but even without Georgia and Florida, the SEC is still strewn across the BCS Top 25. Middle of the SEC teams like A&M, Ole Miss and SCar would probably be able to hang with anyone in the Pac outside of Oregon while I don't think you'd see Washington doing the same with most of the teams in the top 4-5 of the SEC.

-
I think Washington is a pretty solid. I think there are 8-9 teams in the Pac that can ruin your day. I also think there is bias in the SEC. More to the fact that Georgia and Florida are decimated by injuries. They just are not what we thought they would be. Mizzu is not even the same,now that they lost their QB.This is kind of a BS statement, but if WSU can hang with Auburn I think Washington can hang around with a lot of SEC teams.

 

[Wild Turkey]

Mamba, you pretty much summed it up perfectly.



LMAO, ok. Baylor has literally beaten nobody. Okie State lost to a WVU team that doesn't have a single player that most CFB fans can even name. Baylor, Oklahoma State, Miami and Clemson claim 0 wins over ranked teams while Ohio State and Michigan both do (Oklahoma's best win is against Michigan's best win, so that's a wash). Texas got their shit pushed in against 2 unranked teams and then turned around and kicked the shit out of Oklahoma. Time for you to move along.

1. Ohio State's schedule is horrible.
2. Don't go putting down other team's wins when your big win is against a 5 -2 Whisky.
3. I've seen Michigan play this year and it ain't pretty by a long shot you guys will kill them.
4. If Ohio State played in the SEC West they would most likely have at least 2 losses right now and wouldn't rank higher than 3rd in the division. In the East it would depend on your schedule.
5. FSU and Clemson both beat Ohio State right now and I think Baylor, Oklahoma and a now what looks like an improved Texas would have a decent shot.

Get a clue and quit drinking the Kool-aid.