USA TODAY International Edition
Big Ten asserts itself early over SEC
Conference play has come to the Football Bowl Subdivision. Paycheck games have been replaced by can’t-afford-to-lose matchups on the Power Five and Group of Five ranks. It’s about time.
League action marks the true beginning to the push for the College Football Playoff. What does that make non-conference play? Still important in any number of ways, including as a primer for what might lie ahead during the next two months of the regular season.
This week’s top 10 list evaluates the season’s first four weeks to answer a question: What is the FBS conference power structure heading into the final Saturday of September?
1. BIG TEN
Best team: Penn State Worst team: Rutgers With four teams in the top 10 of this week’s Amway Coaches Poll, the Big Ten touts the most impressive top third of any conference in the FBS. After that top four — Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin — come Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern, Michigan State and Purdue. If not by more than a hair or two above the Southeastern, this has been the top conference in college football.
2. SOUTHEASTERN
Best team: Alabama
Worst team: Missouri Alabama has been the nation’s best team. That doesn’t mean the SEC is the best league. Auburn and LSU haven’t met expectations. Minus Georgia, the East Division has been awful. With just two unbeaten teams to this point, you must at least consider the possibility that the SEC will again enter the postseason with a clear top dog — that’d be the Crimson Tide — followed by a handful of underachieving would-be contenders.
3. ATLANTIC COAST
Best team: Clemson
Worst team: Boston College Clemson has more than upheld its end of the bargain, but Florida State’s early swoon has robbed the ACC of one of its two clear Playoff contenders. Others have filled the void — notably Virginia Tech and Miami — but the league has been weaker than expected. The potential remains for an ACC team to reach a semifinal, obviously, as well as place two or three teams in the final top 10.
4. BIG 12
Best team: Oklahoma
Worst team: Kansas Oklahoma as the best team. Kansas as the worst. Seems familiar. Maybe this year’s Big 12 will be different. There have been very good signs: Oklahoma’s as good as expected, TCU has bounced back, Oklahoma State’s still a prime contender, West Virginia’s explosive on offense and Texas Tech might have found a defense, for example.
5. PAC-12
Best team: Southern California
Worst team: Oregon State The Pac-12 isn’t too far behind the Big 12, nor even that far off the pace set by the Big Ten, SEC and ACC. The conference has four unbeatens in the Playoff mix: USC, Washington, Washington State and Utah. Things get a little hazy after that quartet, however, and it seems very possible that the league’s middle and lower tier will chew itself up during league play.
6. AMERICAN ATHLETIC
Best team: Memphis
Worst team: Connecticut If the first month holds true down the stretch, the winner of the American — barring some major upsets in league play — will make a January bowl. For now, Memphis looks like the best team; South Florida isn’t too far behind. The solid teams in the top half — Memphis, USF, Navy, Southern Methodist, Houston and Central Florida — make up for the league’s handful of weak links.
7. MOUNTAIN WEST
Best team: San Diego State Worst team: Nevada
For now, the Mountain West trails the American in the hierarchy of Group of Five leagues. That’ll be important to watch as the Playoff selection committee looks to find its access-bowl invitee to a New Year’s Six bowl. But one thing hasn’t changed: SDSU is the team to beat. Nevada’s been the worst team by some distance, but Boise State’s 2-2 mark has been disappointing.
8. MID-AMERICAN
Best team: Toledo
Worst team: Bowling Green The potential is there for as many as seven or eight teams to eventually reach bowl eligibility. The best of the bunch, Toledo, had a shot against Miami (Fla.) to cement its place among the elite teams among the Group of Five. The Rockets still stand as the MAC’s best, though a home date with Northern Illinois on Nov. 2 will again be a winner-take-fall matchup in the West Division. It’s been stunning to watch Bowling Green’s slide.
9. CONFERENCE USA
Best team: Texas-San Antonio
Worst team: Charlotte UTSA is the league’s lone unbeaten, with its most impressive win coming against Baylor on Sept. 10.
Louisiana Tech was under consideration for its solid victory against Western Kentucky and a narrow loss to South Carolina last weekend.
Bringing up the rear: Charlotte, which has been very bad, and Texas-El Paso, which also has been abysmal but not quite as horrible as the 49ers.
10. SUN BELT
Best team: Appalachian State Worst team: Georgia Southern
As expected, the nation’s weakest conference. That’s OK. What is the Sun Belt? A fine league that plays patsy to Power Five programs in September. Appalachian State might be 2-2, but the Mountaineers’ close call with Wake Forest last Saturday has them atop the list as the month winds down.