While the playoff committee doesn’t rank the power 5 conference, there is no way conference strength – which means OOC results doesn’t figure in to a committee members thought process.
Let me point out on my philosophy on these rankings – your most recent OOC results count a lot, and you’ll see me reference that throughout the season.
We’ll give each conference a relative strength value 1-10.
Let me explain my relative rankings
0-5 : Conference lacks depth no elite teams
6-7: Conference lacks depth, and there are 1-2 elite teams, and 1-2 quality teams
7-8: At least 2 elite teams, and at least 2 quality teams.
8-9: 3 elite teams, and at least 2 quality teams
9-10: 1/2 of conference is elite and/or quality teams.
1) SEC – 8.2
North Texas crushed Arkansas 44-17. That’s an embarrassing loss for the Hogs. Vanderbilt nearly knocked off Notre Dame in what would have been a shocker. Missouri beat Purdue.
LSU validated their Miami victory with a win at Auburn. Remember Auburn has a win over Washington. It’s going to be very difficult this year to move the SEC off the top spot this year.
Next week Texas A&M get their shot at Alabama.
Playoff Contenders
Alabama, Georgia, LSU
In the Playoff Picture
Auburn
2) Big 12 – 7.4
It was an up and down week for the Big 12, but enough to move them into 2nd position on this list. Texas defeated USC and Kansas routed Rutgers. Oklahoma State got a solid win over Boise State.
TCU couldn’t hold on against Ohio State, and Baylor lost to Duke.
Playoff contender Oklahoma faces Army next week.
Playoff Contenders
Oklahoma
In the Playoff Picture
West Virginia
3) ACC – 7.2
No big changes for the ACC as Duke beating Baylor was the only notable OOC win. They did avoid any ugly losses which moved them ahead of the Big 10.
Boston College plays Purdue, and Wake Forest plays Notre Dame this week. If the ACC wins both, I could move them ahead of the Big 12.
Playoff Contenders
Clemson
In the Playoff Picture
Virginia Tech
4) Big 10 – 7.0
Ohio State beat TCU. That’s a solid win for the Buckeyes. After that it was a disastrous week for the Big 10. The conference lost SEVEN games to unranked teams and falls from second on this list to fourth.
Troy beat Nebraska, Rutgers got blown out by Kansas, Temple clobbered Maryland, BYU shocked Wisconsin, South Florida defeated Illinois, Akron beat Northwestern, and Purdue lost to Missouri.
Purdue plays Boston College next week. The Big 10 sure could use that victory.
Playoff Contenders
Ohio State
In the Playoff Picture
Penn State
5) Pac 12 – 6.7
Texas crushed USC 37-14. That’s another bad loss for the Pac 12. It didn’t end there though. Arizona State one of the few good surprises in the Pac 12 went down to San Diego State. Fresno State defeated UCLA. Wow… What an ugly week for the Pac 12.
Stanford plays Oregon next week in a game in a game with playoff implications.
Playoff Contenders
Stanford
In the Playoff Picture
Washington
The Rest
I’m not buying Notre Dame, but they did hold off Vanderbilt. They head to tricky Wake Forest this week.
Playoff Contenders
Notre Dame
In the Playoff Picture
None
My Current Playoff Teams
As my personal criticism of the playoff committee, I don’t think the top 4 seeds order should be released until the final rankings. The playoff committee’s inconsistent and ever changing criteria is causing unnecessary frustration and confusion. It’s one of the improvement points I’d have for them.
If I had a vote this is who I would put in the playoff right now.
In – Ohio State | Alabama | Clemson | Oklahoma
Just Missed – 5) LSU 6) Georgia 7) Stanford 8) Penn State
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