A week after significant carnage shuffled much of the top ten, status quo largely reigned in Week 6. That preceded what has been one of the wackiest weeks in a while in the world of college football. Much of the conference picture is still muddy, but it should become clearer after a jam-packed week coming up.
To set the table, here is how the leagues stand after a month and a half of play…
- SEC
The gap is closing as the SEC enters uncharted waters. No team from this conference ranked inside the top six teams in the country this week, and one of its potential contenders—Georgia—looks basically done after losing its star tailback and a game at Tennessee.
LSU and Florida look decent, but there are still questions about the Tigers’ one-dimensional attack and the Gators’ quarterback situation. There are enough mid-level teams, however, to offset the lack of an elite presence at the top. With Arkansas, South Carolina, and Auburn looking like deep disappointments, there’s no question this conference is down a good bit from its usual lofty perch.
- Big 12
There is a gigantic opening at the top of these power rankings, and yet, the most logical foil for the SEC cannot take advantage. Once again, TCU played a four-quarter game against an inferior opponent. Baylor’s schedule remains an outrageous joke. Oklahoma lost in an embarrassing way against its imploding rival from Austin.
Oklahoma State is 6-0, but there are fortunate wins all over the place, and its overtime win in Morgantown condemned West Virginia to an 0-2 start. It is perfectly reasonable to assume this league will ascend, especially when Baylor plays anyone with a pulse. It just hasn’t happened yet.
- Pac-12
Having an undefeated Utah is a big plus for this conference, since there really are not any other legitimate contenders at the moment (with the possible exception of Stanford). On the flip side, having an undefeated Utah highlights the underachievement of USC and Oregon, arguably the conference’s flagship programs.
Arizona now has Anu Solomon back at quarterback, so the Wildcats are now back in that middle tier of teams, along with Arizona State, California, and this version of UCLA that does not include Myles Jack on defense. This is another conference that appears to have flawed teams populating much of the middle, and it’s a shame that injuries are largely to blame for that.
- Big Ten
Let’s get this out of the way: Ohio State and Michigan State should not be in anyone’s playoff list. I gave the Buckeyes the benefit of the doubt, but a team should have to be impressive at some point to be included in that lofty group of four. Sparty has actually been worse from that standpoint.
This league really needed the Northwestern-Michigan game to be a dogfight, but it turned into a rout. People are now considering the Wolverines a legitimate force, which is good for them and bad for the league (a one-loss team is your standard-bearer). Wisconsin and Nebraska are both down, which was on display during Saturday’s action, but keep an eye on somehow 6-0 Iowa as a mover and shaker.
- ACC
I just can’t even with the ACC. Who is the third-best team? Heck, the second-best team still hasn’t had a single impressive win or performance. There are some tough matchups out there, but none of those teams moves the needle from a national standpoint.
Miami is 2-6 in the past two seasons after playing Florida State, and the Hurricanes played the Seminoles earlier than usual. Georgia Tech is borderline disaster. N.C. State hasn’t taken advantage of its embarrassing schedule at all, looking overmatched against Virginia Tech on Friday night. The next best team might be North Carolina, which doesn’t really provide any comfort whatsoever.
Also, Wake Forest-Boston College happened. At least Clemson looks good.