Week 3 College Football Conference Power Rankings

Week 2's highest-ranked showdown, Georgia vs. South Carolina, was an intra-conference affair, but there was still plenty of nonconference action on the schedule.

The FBS Independents featured in two of the biggest games, with Notre Dame traveling to Ann Arbor and BYU hosting Texas. Even though they split those two contests, did they make a big enough impression to boost their conference of misfits?

And what about the power five conferences, who always seem to be neck-and-neck (...and neck-and-neck) in pursuit of the SEC's top spot? Was there any jockeying between those high-profile leagues?

And after nonconference losses by Georgia and Florida in the first two weeks, is the SEC even still No. 1?

11. C-USA (Last Week: 11)

Nonconference Record: 9-15

Week 2 Best Win: Tulsa (vs. Colorado State, 30-27)

Week 2 Worst Loss: Tulane (vs. South Alabama, 39-41)

Reigning champ Tulsa got back on track with a close win over Colorado State, coming on the heels of a big loss to Bowling Green. But after the Falcons beat down Kent State in Week 2, they're starting to look more and more like the class of the MAC—and there's no shame in losing to that.

There isn't much depth to speak of in C-USA, but if Tulsa remains strong, it can at least boast quality at the top. East Carolina and Marshall are both 2-0, both have explosive offenses and both should be genuine factors all year.

We'll learn a lot about those squads in Week 3, when the Herd play a road game at Ohio and the Pirates take on Virginia Tech.

10. Sun Belt (Last Week: 10)

Nonconference Record: 8-8

Week 2 Best Win: South Alabama (at Tulane, 41-39)

Week 2 Worst Loss: Western Kentucky (at Tennessee, 20-52)

It was another 4-4 week for the Sun Belt, but this time, its top-end teams (if you want to call them that) took a bit of a hit.

Western Kentucky, fresh off a win over "Kentucky" Kentucky, committed five turnovers in six plays against Tennessee, handing the Vols the game in the first half. Arkansas State was embarrassed by an SEC team too, losing 38-9 at the hands of Auburn and former coach Gus Malzahn.

Props for the competitive schedule, but shame on the execution.

9. Independent (Last Week: 9)

Season Record: 4-9

Week 2 Best Win: BYU (vs. Texas, 40-21)

Week 2 Worst Loss: Notre Dame (at Michigan, 30-41)

In Week 1, it was Notre Dame looking good against Temple and BYU losing a close one at Virginia. Week 2 was the complete opposite, with BYU looking more than good against Texas and Notre Dame losing a close one at Michigan.

That top-end depth evens out, but the Independents also got a second-week boost from Navy, which started its season with a road upset of Indiana. The Midshipmen rushed for 444 yards against the Hoosiers—a trendy Big Ten sleeper pick—and just generally had their way.

If it can join Notre Dame and BYU among the ranks of the competent, Navy could help the Independents ascend this list.

8. Mountain West (Last Week: 8)

Nonconference Record: 9-15

Week 2 Best Win: Boise State (vs. Tennessee-Martin, 63-14)

Week 2 Worst Loss: UNLV (vs. Arizona, 13-58)

The overall record, 9-15, is still tough to look at, but much of that can be attributed to a fairly tough nonconference schedule (at least in Week 1). The Mountain West isn't as bad as its 38-percent win rate would suggest.

Though it came against Tennessee-Martin, Boise State's 63-14 win was the highlight of the second weekend. After watching the Broncos get destroyed by Washington, fans of the conference needed a reminder of their potency.

Utah State looked great in a win over Air Force (52-20), too. The Aggies should provide ample competition for Boise and Fresno State atop the conference.

7. MAC (Last Week: 7)

Nonconference Record: 9-13

Week 2 Best Win: Bowling Green (at Kent State, 41-22)

Week 2 Worst Loss: Western Michigan (vs. Nicholls State, 23-27)

Bowling Green notched its second impressive victory in two weeks, starting #MACtion right with an easy victory over Dri Archer-less Kent State. The Falcons travel to Bloomington this week, where they're giving less than a field goal to Big Ten foe Indiana.

But the MAC struggled elsewhere in Week 2, when Massachusetts and Western Michigan both fell victim to the year of FCS upsets (against Maine and Nicholls State, respectively).

Toledo looked a little better against Missouri than Florida, and despite an 0-2 record, the Rockets should be better (in the long run) for their difficult early schedule. But Ohio struggled to beat North Texas at home, which has to be a little troubling for the conference.

6. AAC (Last Week: 6)

Nonconference Record: 8-8

Week 2 Best Win: UCF (at Florida International, 38-0)

Week 2 Worst Loss: Cincinnati (at Illinois, 17-45)

Where one potential threat to Louisville falters, another continues to emerge.

Cincinnati followed its blowout win over Purdue with a blowout loss to Illinois, allowing Nathan Scheelhaase to shred its defense for 312 yards and four touchdowns. But UCF continued its strong play, led by quarterback Blake Bortles, in a 38-0 shutout of Florida International.

If the Bearcats can solve their defensive problems and the Knights can continue their current form, the duo would join Rutgers in a group of legitimate threats to beat the Cardinals. The better they do, the better Louisville's BCS resume will look.

5. Big 12 (Last Week: 5)

Nonconference Record: 12-4

Week 2 Best Win: Baylor (vs. Buffalo, 70-13)

Week 2 Worst Loss: Texas (at BYU, 21-40)

The hits keep coming for the Big 12, which has now watched its reigning champion (Kansas State) lose to an FCS opponent and its most brand-recognizable team (Texas) get shredded like cheese against BYU.

The Longhorns fired defensive coordinator Manny Diaz after allowing 550 rush yards to the Cougars, bringing in Greg Robinson—of Rich Rodriguez-era Michigan infamy—to run the unit. That could be a problem going forward.

Or maybe it won't be. It's not like Oklahoma or West Virginia will be able to exploit Texas' defensive deficiencies—at least not if they play like they did in Week 2's ugly Sooners win.

Oklahoma State looked good, Baylor looked great and Texas Tech continued to look like a solid sleeper play. But other than that, the season has gotten off to a rocky start down south.

4. Big Ten (Last Week: 4)

Nonconference Record: 21-3

Week 2 Best Win: Michigan (vs. Notre Dame, 41-30)

Week 2 Worst Loss: Indiana (vs. Navy, 35-41)

Michigan went out and got the Big Ten its first blue-chip victory on Saturday, beating Notre Dame by 11 in a game that was technically closer but felt like it could have been even more lopsided.

If the Wolverines stay healthy, and the Big House crowd stays potent, Ohio State will have some serious trouble playing there in Week 14.

Northwestern could knock the Buckeyes off their perch, too. The Wildcats looked good against a power conference team for the second-straight week, beating Syracuse 48-27 in a game that was much more one-sided than the final score indicated.

Still, despite the 21-3 nonconference record, the Big Ten hasn't scored enough quality wins to climb past the next three leagues.

3. ACC (Last Week: 3)

Nonconference Record: 16-5

Week 2 Best Win: Miami (vs. Florida, 21-16)

Week 2 Worst Loss: Syracuse (at Northwestern, 27-48)

Let's talk about the elephant in the room. Miami's win over Florida, while impressive on paper, didn't look all that good firsthand.

Yes, the Hurricanes got a big victory over an SEC powerhouse and ascended up the rankings. But they needed five ugly turnovers to get there, won by just five points and were almost doubled in total yards.

Miami is plenty good, but it's also the ACC's third-best team. Having just beat the SEC's fifth- or sixth-best team, in a game it barely deserved to win, is not grounds for moving the conference up.

At least not yet.

2. Pac-12 (Last Week: 2)

Nonconference Record: 15-3

Week 2 Best Win: Oregon (at Virginia, 59-10)

Week 3 Worst Loss: USC (vs. Washington State, 7-10)

The Pac-12 went undefeated in nonconference play this week, but that was to be expected given its schedule. Still, teams like Oregon, Stanford, Arizona State, Arizona, UCLA and Utah are all operating at a high level, giving the conference a lot of high-end depth.

Not part of that depth is USC, the only Pac-12 team who lost last week, and perhaps the most listless passing attack we've seen in college football this season (outside of East Lansing).

The Trojans have a lot of work to do—that much is obvious—but at least they have a dominant defense, which looks good enough to (maybe) steal a few games they otherwise shouldn't win. 

1. SEC (Last Week: 1)

Nonconference Record: 19-4

Week 2 Best Win: Georgia (vs. South Carolina, 41-30)

Week 2 Worst Loss: Florida (at Miami, 16-21)

Florida and Georgia have both lost to ACC teams, but the SEC is still the cream of the crop. And it's not even close.

The Bulldogs avenged a Week 1 loss by beating South Carolina, helping them regain a spot among the top 10 teams in America. They're joined there by No. 1 Alabama, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 8 LSU, giving the SEC 40 percent of that rarefied domain.

Folks want to see the SEC ranked somewhere—anywhere—but first, which is easy to understand given its last decade of dominance. Eventually it won't grace the top spot, but dropping them lower before they deserve it does nobody justice.

Waiting for them to actually slip up will make it so much sweeter when they do.