There has been plenty of talk about which conference is the best conference in college football. Over the history of college football or from year to year a debate can always be had. It’s a great debate to have because, not only is fun to see your friend from high school get really mad at you when you claim that your conference was tougher than his or that their conference is watered down, but also because it has great logistical merits as well. It can start numerous ways, but mainly starts with the best teams in the country that year. Let’s take the year-to-year approach. 2019 looks to be as good of a college football season as any before it. With teams from 4 of the 5 power conferences rounding up the top 5 spots in the AP Top 25 it could (not will) be anyone’s year. Because of this parity, and even though each conference has a different dynamic, let’s take a look at the best of the Power Five
Topping off the Top
While the ACC and SEC have the top spots this year for early season play off contention, the Big-10 actually has the most amount of teams (7 in each) inside the top 25 in both the AP and Coaches Poll. This is great because it will mean not only intense competition for the Big-10 itself, but also bragging rights nationally. This will be a good year for Big-10 fans as schools around the conference will try and prove their worth to un-seed the forever resilient Ohio State. Look for the surounding states to put up the biggest fight in Michigan/Michigan State and Penn State. As for the West half of the conference, look for Northwestern and Wisconsin to be the biggest trouble makers to the East’s continued dominance.
The Football Heartland
It should to come to the surprise of no one that the SEC takes, a very close, number two spot with the most teams inside the top 25 polls. With 6 teams in the top 25 at the beginning of the season, one can expect this trend to continue throughout the season. As per usual, Alabama has the highest spot at number two in the nation. Georgia coming in right behind Alabama expect to jostle for position as they do not actually play each other this season. Look to Texas A&M to be possible upset for Georgia. Currently ranked 12 Texas A&M look to have a good of a team since Johnny Football and Mike Evans were there.
Bringing Up the Rear
Following behind, in order (based on AP Top 25, not Coaches), is the Pac-12 with 5, Big-12 with 3, and the ACC with 2 (psuedo-3 because Notre Dame has special scheduling right with them).
If you’re keeping score at home that accounts for 24 teams. So….. who else is in there? It is the recently-dominant, unofficial, official National Champions from 2017. The UCF Knights. The Knights as on August 27th, 2018 were named co-national champions along side Alabama.
The Power Behind the Throne
That was a nice little tangent about UCF, wasn’t it? Ok, back to what this means. Who has the strongest teams, who has the most to lose, who is the up and coming?
By the metric of this year, the Big 10 has the strongest teams. Not holistically, just by virtue of that conference having the largest number of teams. They also have the most to lose. With each team looking as individually strong; upsets, blowouts, 1 point game winners are all likely. This is bad news because these teams may end up with one or two big loses and be virtually eliminated from playoff contention or may not even make a bowl game. In terms of competition, fun for the spectator, disastrous for rankings.
Out of the 25 teams, the ACC has the fewest. With Syracuse and Clemson being ranked 22nd and 1st respectively, it really makes for a poor showing. The ACC just can’t seem to recruit the muscle like other conferences. While Clemson has been able to produce some amazing seasons in recent years, Syracuse is on the map because they can upset teams.
The Pac-12 looks to maintain the conferences middle of the pack status. With Oregon and Auburn looking to square off this Saturday, it should make for great inter-conference play early on.
Finishing Up
Big-10 has the most to gain/lose, and currently looks to be the best of the Power Five. SEC looks to continue their standard procedure of Alabama winning. The Pac-12 could flip-flop between two or three teams. Finally, the ACC and Pac-12 have 1 teams each within the top four, with Clemson being the favorite to win it all.
