Ranking Every Power 5 College Football Conference After Week 1
Forget preseason rankings. Shrug off what the experts and pundits say. All we have right now is the on-the-field resume and a body of work on film.
Whether you like it or not, that's how we are going to do the power rankings for the Power 5 conferences after the first week of games.
After Duke dismantled Clemson on Monday night to close out Week 1, really, the only conference we should have questions about right now is the ACC. Are the Blue Devils really that good? Or, does this mean the league has no secondary alpha to battle Florida State?
We'll wrestle with that one another time; for now, it doesn't hurt the ACC too much.
While the SEC may be the standard for the rest of college football, after a week's worth of action it certainly doesn't look that way. Using only the on-field results as a litmus test, here are college football's power rankings of the Power 5 after one week of action.
The results are far from what we expected.
5. Big 12
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The Big 12 has some possible exciting teams ready to compete during the 2023 college football season, highlighted by Texas and Oklahoma in those programs' final campaign in the conference before heading off to the SEC.
But the league would love to show signs of having lasting power beyond the Longhorns and Sooners, and the first week of the season showed mixed results.
Sitting at 10-4, the Big 12 experienced some embarrassments beyond the convincing wins by the two aforementioned programs and last year's champion, Kansas State.
In the stunner of the week, last year's national runner-up—TCU—hosted Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes in a game where the Horned Frogs were favored by nearly three touchdowns. They allowed 510 passing yards in a shocking 45-42 loss that proves they lost far too much off of last year's team to have a great year.
Texas Tech was picked by many as a sleeper to shine in Joey McGuire's second season in Lubbock, but an embarrassing 35-33 overtime loss to Wyoming ended any honeymoon Red Raiders fans might have had.
An underrated upset occurred when Texas State dropped Baylor 42-31 just two seasons removed from the Bears winning the conference, casting even more doubt into Dave Aranda's tenure in Waco. Finally, in a nationally televised prime-time game, West Virginia didn't put up much of a fight against Penn State in Happy Valley, either.
At every turn to make a statement, only questions emerged for the conference.
4. SEC
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Begin the hate mail and kick up the gnashing of teeth, but the nation's premiere conference looked anything but during the first weekend of the college football season.
As a matter of fact, things were downright puzzling at times.
Marquee matchups fell flat. Stalwarts looked like also-rans. Even the two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs sleep-walked through an uninspiring Week 1 win over UT-Martin that was 17-0 into the third quarter.
Yawn.
There likely will be better days for a conference that boasts the talented Dawgs, an Alabama team with talent all over the field and a high-scoring Tennessee team, among others. But Week 1 was forgettable.
All three of the conference's showcase games ended in SEC teams taking home a fat L. The biggest was Sunday night's 45-24 Florida State domination of LSU in a game where the Seminoles ran over, around and through the Tigers in a blitz of a second half.
Saturday night's showdown between North Carolina and South Carolina saw another lopsided ACC win as the Gamecocks struggled to run on the Tar Heels' mediocre defense and had few answers for Drake Maye in a 31-17 loss.
And don't forget Thursday night's 24-11 win by Utah over the shell of a Florida program looking for any signs of life in Billy Napier's first season. The Gators looked pedestrian on both sides of the ball as the Utes cake-walked with a third-string quarterback.
Bright spots were sporadic, as Tennessee crushed a hapless Virginia team, Ole Miss showed an offensive outburst, Hugh Freeze won his Auburn debut and Alabama ran all over Middle Tennessee with Jalen Milroe at quarterback, but this conference looked far from its dominant self.
3. ACC
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For a week, at least, the ACC has bragging rights over the SEC, which is why it is ranked ahead on this list.
Is it a better conference overall? That's still up in the air and debatable, at best. In the past, you could make the argument that the best of the SEC's best would still win in head-to-head contests with the top ACC programs. But if that's the case anymore, there's no evidence.
After all, Florida State proved the preseason hype is real with a three-touchdown embarrassment of fellow top-10 counterpart LSU. North Carolina pretty much did what it wanted against a Gamecocks program that looked mediocre, at best.
The only head-to-head saving grace for the SEC in Week 1 against the ACC was Tennessee's easy win over Virginia, but the Cavaliers are likely the worst team in the league.
In Week 1, the league endured just four losses with two of those coming in-league as Clemson lost to Duke on Monday night and Georgia Tech put up a valiant effort in Brent Key's first game without the "interim" in front of his Yellow Jackets title before losing to a more talented Louisville team.
Yes, Boston College's 27-24 overtime loss to a bad Northern Illinois team was horrific and inexcusable, but the Eagles joined Virginia as cellar-dwellers, and there were way more positives than negatives in the opening weekend.
Miami looked much-improved against a decent mid-major Miami (Ohio) team, and North Carolina State took on a better-than-expected UConn team and showed its old, strong defensive self in a 24-14 win.
The biggest question that dropped the ACC from second to third with Duke's stunning, three-touchdown win over Clemson on Monday night was whether the Blue Devils should be considered a potential power, or if this means the Tigers' position alongside Florida State as ACC alphas is vacated. For now, the Big Ten gets the slight nod because those teams at the top have proven better.
2. Big Ten
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When it came time to weigh whether the Big Ten or the ACC belonged higher on the list, several things went into the decision. The bottom line, though, is the latter simply looked better to the naked eye.
Again, is that saying the top teams in the Big Ten would beat the ACC's best head-to-head? We can't know that since they didn't play. But there were plenty enough dents in both conferences' armor to know if this was the right call.
Let's start with the most impressive team of the bunch, though, and that would be Penn State. In a lopsided win over West Virginia, the Nittany Lions enjoyed their normal, steady diet of quality defense and a stellar rushing attack. The best news was Drew Allar wowed in his first start at quarterback, so you may need to pay close attention to James Franklin's team.
Yes, Ohio State and Michigan took care of business, but neither looked particularly exciting.
The Buckeyes really struggled offensively against Indiana in a 23-3 win that looked like life without CJ Stroud may be more difficult than previously expected, even with all those weapons at receiver and running back.
Michigan looked a little better in a 30-3 win over East Carolina, and J.J. McCarthy had a big game, but the Wolverines weren't dominant as Jim Harbaugh served the first game of his suspension. Will those two teams be fine? Yes. But Week 1 was a resounding "meh."
Wisconsin had a nice start to the Luke Fickell era, while Minnesota and Nebraska battled to a good, old-fashioned donnybrook. But there were eggs laid, like Purdue's home loss to Fresno State in Ryan Walters' debut and Illinois' sweat-inducing 30-28 home survival against Toledo.
There was a mixture of good and bad.
1. Pac-12
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As we say farewell to the Pac-12 as we know it, what if we get the type of swan song we've been missing from the conference for the past decade-plus?
Don't be surprised.
Week 1 saw the league go 13-0, and the spotless record occurred while all the other Power 5 conferences endured egg-on-face losses. The Pac-12 thrived in the spotlight, and for a week at least, it sits at the top spot.
Several intriguing teams could make national noise and are making impressive statements.
By now, everybody knows about Colorado's program-defining start to Deion Sanders' first season, and those headlines are wonderful, but the truth of the matter is the Buffaloes likely aren't in the top five teams in the league. And that's saying something.
USC played a little bit better defense in a dismantling of Nevada and sit at 2-0 to start the season. Oregon erupted for 81 points in its season opener against lowly Portland State, but don't let the opponent fool you; the Ducks are for real.
Showcase games were Ws beyond the Buffs, too. Utah didn't need starting quarterback Cam Rising to handle Florida in Salt Lake City on Thursday night, and Washington proved it has its own Heisman Trophy candidate in Michael Penix Jr., who picked apart a good Boise State team.
Oregon State started the DJ Uiagalelei era with a lopsided win over San Jose State, and UCLA put away a pesky Coastal Carolina team in L.A. California flicked aside any talk of a North Texas upset bid with a dominant business trip to Denton, Texas, and Washington State posted 50 points on Colorado State.
Stanford coach Troy Taylor won his debut in style, as did Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State. Up and down the league, big things happened. That's why they sit at No. 1.
All stats courtesy of CFBStats and Sports Reference unless otherwise noted. Recruit rankings courtesy of 247Sports unless otherwise noted.
Follow Brad Shepard on Twitter, @Brad_Shepard.
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