Week 5 College Football Conference Power Rankings
With Week 4 of the college football season in the books, a majority of teams have closed out their nonconference schedules. With that, conferences as a whole have largely made their final push in the race for league supremacy.
While there weren't a lot of intriguing nonconference matchups last weekend, the pecking order for college football's best league is rounding into shape.
Determining which league is best goes beyond a simple glance at the collective conference records, though. Quality wins over elite competition will boost a conference's reputation, while bad losses from league members will drag it down.
A number of SEC teams are coming off some lackluster outings. Did that letdown result in the Pac-12 claiming the top spot in our power rankings?
There's only one way to find out.
11. C-USA (Last Week: 11)
1 of 11
Nonconference Record: 15-27
Early Favorite: East Carolina
Pleasant Surprise: Rice
Big Disappointment: Louisiana Tech
It was the Sun Belt that opened the season as Bleacher Report's worst conference, but after just one week of play, Conference USA has refused to let go of the bottom spot.
Nothing from last week's action changed that. The league went 1-6 in nonconference play, with its lone win coming in unimpressive fashion as UAB defeated FCS opponent Northwestern State.
After a Week 4 bye, the Pirates, who are just one week removed from taking Virignia Tech to the brink, still look like the conference's best team.
Marshall looked just as good on the road against the Hokies, losing 29-21 in a sloppy, triple-overtime thriller.
Rice surprised college football fans everywhere, and the entire Houston team, with its incredible onside kick. The Owls still fell to the Cougars 26-21, but that loss can't erase one of the best plays of the season.
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs fell to Kansas, and if that was said three years ago, no one would blame them. That was before Kansas started its 22-game losing streak against FBS teams, something the Bulldogs ended on Saturday.
10. Sun Belt (Last Week: 10)
2 of 11
Nonconference Record: 12-14
Best Team: Louisiana-Monroe
Pleasant Surprise: Texas State
Big Disappointment: Arkansas State
The Sun Belt went 2-5 against non-league members, but those two victories came against FCS opponent Morgan State and Akron, which has won just four games since the 2010 season.
Although Louisiana-Monroe was absolutely hammered by Baylor last weekend, it's too soon to give up on the Warhawks. That's especially true when you consider Louisiana-Monroe has the conference's best victory (a 21-19 win over Wake Forest).
Arkansas State looked like one of the Sun Belt's best teams in its season-opening rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but things have gone downhill for the Red Wolves. They were a popular pick to upset Auburn in Week 2, but ended up getting drilled 38-9. Last weekend, they gave a hapless Memphis team its first victory of the season.
After winning its first two games of the year, Texas State went to Lubbock, Texas and did some good things defensively in a loss to Texas Tech.
9. MAC (Last Week: 8)
3 of 11
Nonconference Record: 16-30
Best Team: Northern Illinois
Pleasant Surprise: Bowling Green
Big Disappointment: Akron
The MAC dropped in the rankings this week because it's too top heavy.
Northern Illinois clearly remains the MAC's best team, even after coming off a bye week. The Huskies' season-opening victory over Iowa is looking even more impressive after the Hawkeyes rattled off three consecutive victories.
Bowling Green bounced back nicely after a tough loss to Indiana, hammering outclassed Murray State 42-7.
After coming four yards shy of beating Michigan in Ann Arbor, it looked like Terry Bowden's Akron Zips had finally turned the corner. A 35-30 home loss to Louisiana-Lafayette brought the Zips, and our expectations, back to earth.
While the MAC boasts some impressive teams, the bottom half of the conference has played horrible football. Eight teams (Akron, Buffalo, Miami, Massachusetts, Kent State, Central/Eastern/Western Michigan) have a combined record of 5-25.
The only reason the MAC is ranked ahead of the Sun Belt is because Northern Illinois has the best win on its resume.
8. Independent (Last Week: 9)
4 of 11
Nonconference Record: 9-16
Best Team: Notre Dame
Pleasant Surprise: Navy
Big Disappointment: BYU
Notre Dame's 17-13 victory wasn't pretty, but when a team goes up against the country's top defense, winning pretty is nearly impossible.
The Irish reclaimed the top spot among independents with their victory and BYU's 20-13 defeat to Utah.
The Cougars couldn't overcome 13 unanswered Utah points in the first half, and they eventually fell to the Utes for the fourth consecutive year. Losing to its top rival took some of the shine off of BYU's surprising rout of Texas in Week 2.
Navy, which has looked very good in two victories over Indiana and Delaware, will take the field after a bye week against Western Kentucky this Saturday.
The Independents leapfrog the MAC this week because Notre Dame, BYU and Navy have four combined victories over teams from automatic-qualifying conferences.
7. Mountain West (Last Week: 7)
5 of 11
Nonconference Record: 13-17
Best Team: Fresno State
Pleasant Surprise: Wyoming
Big Disappointment: Boise State
In one of the most entertaining games of the young season, No. 25 Fresno State established itself as the top dog in the Mountain West conference with its 41-40 victory over Boise State.
The Bulldogs are now considered the top candidate to bust the BCS, and because of that, the Mountain West tops the list of non-qualifying conferences. Fresno State holds the conference's best win, a 52-51 overtime victory over 3-1 Rutgers.
Wyoming has been very impressive as well. After losing by three points on the road to Nebraska, the Cowboys have posted three consecutive victories over Idaho, Northern Colorado and Air Force.
Boise State is now 2-2, but both of its losses have come to Top 25 opponents in Washington and Fresno State.
6. AAC (Last Week: 6)
6 of 11
Nonconference Record: 17-14
Best Team: Louisville
Pleasant Surprise: Rutgers
Big Disappointment: South Florida
The AAC boasts three undefeated teams in No. 7 Louisville, UCF and Houston. Although only one team is ranked, teams such as Cincinnati and Rutgers give the conference depth that the non-automatic qualifying conferences lack.
The Knights have a very impressive victory on their resume: a 34-31 win over Penn State on the road. After having Week 4 off, UCF will host No. 12 South Carolina.
Rutgers registered a quality win this weekend when it rallied from 17 points down to beat the previously undefeated Arkansas Razorbacks. The Scarlet Knights' only loss came to No. 25 Fresno State on the road in overtime.
5. Big 12 (Last Week: 5)
7 of 11
Nonconference Record: 19-8
Best Team: Oklahoma State
Pleasant Surprise: Baylor
Big Disappointment: West Virginia
With Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on a bye week and a number of teams starting conference play, the Big 12 didn't have much of a chance to jump in the rankings.
That was confounded by West Virginia's humiliating 37-0 loss to Maryland last Saturday.
Texas' nonconference struggles, most notably when they were beaten soundly by a mediocre BYU team and No. 21 Ole Miss, really brings the conference down.
Baylor has been surprisingly dominant so far. Although they haven't played a tough schedule (Wofford, Buffalo and Louisiana-Monroe), the Bears are winning their games by an average of 62 points.
4. Big Ten (Last Week: 4)
8 of 11
Nonconference Record: 35-10
Best Team: Ohio State
Pleasant Surprise: Iowa
Big Disappointment: Michigan
No. 4 Ohio State is one of the elite teams in the country and gives the Big Ten a huge boost in the power rankings.
After Michigan's Week 2 victory over Notre Dame, it looked like the Big Ten had a pair of BCS contenders, followed by a strong second tier of teams such as Northwestern, Wisconsin, Michigan State and even Penn State.
Despite back-to-back victories, Michigan's struggles against lowly Akron and Connecticut have the Big Ten stuck at No. 4.
Although a 35-10 record looks impressive, the league hasn't had many statement victories. Both Ohio State and Northwestern beat a high-flying Cal squad. Penn State beat a decent looking Syracuse team and Illinois dismantled Cincinnati.
The conference's best win came when Michigan defeated Notre Dame in Week 2, which doesn't match up with the leagues ranked ahead.
3. ACC (Last Week: 3)
9 of 11
Nonconference Record: 28-7
Best Team: Clemson
Pleasant Surprise: Maryland/Georgia Tech
Big Disappointment: Virginia Tech
While a number of teams either started or continued conference play last week, only six ACC squads played nonconference competition.
The league went 6-0 in those games, with the most impressive victory coming from Maryland. The Terrapins defeated West Virginia 37-0 to improve to 4-0 on the year.
The ACC boasts two outstanding nonconference victories. No. 3 Clemson defeated No. 9 Georgia 38-35 to open the season. A week later, No. 15 Miami outlasted No. 20 Florida 21-16 at home.
That's not to mention No. 8 Florida State, who holds a good win over Pittsburgh and two blowout victories over Nevada and Bethune-Cookman.
2. Pac-12 (Last Week: 2)
10 of 11
Nonconference Record: 29-4
Best Team: Oregon
Pleasant Surprise: Washington
Big Disappointment: Oregon State
As the nonconference record would suggest, the Pac-12 has been on fire to start the year.
Only one team (Cal) has a record below .500, a mark that no other conference in the country can match.
The Pac-12 boasts legitimate national title contenders in No. 2 Oregon and No. 5 Stanford, but the league has tremendous depth with No. 13 UCLA, No. 16 Washington and Arizona, all of which are undefeated.
The conference was a perfect 6-0 against non-league members this past weekend, but the most impressive wins came previously in the year when Oregon hammered Tennessee, UCLA overwhelmed Nebraska and Arizona State won in wild fashion over No. 23 Wisconsin.
1. SEC (Last Week: 1)
11 of 11
Non-Conference Record: 28-7
Best Team: Alabama
Pleasant Surprise: Ole Miss
Big Disappointment: Mississippi State
Four teams played league games, but the SEC won six of seven nonconference matchups last week.
Although a number of those victories were ugly, such as Alabama's 25-point win over Colorado State, Vanderbilt's sloppy 24-7 victory over Massachusetts and Georgia's closer-than-it-looked 41-21 win over North Texas, the SEC has done enough to hold the top spot.
It remains No. 1 not just because it has claimed every national title since the 2006 season, but because it boasts a solid collection of quality victories.
Alabama handled Virginia Tech, South Carolina beat North Carolina and LSU dispatched TCU in the opening week. Ole Miss beat Texas and Missouri beat Indiana on the road; both teams are undefeated.
That, coupled with the SEC boasting seven teams ranked in the Top 25, makes it college football's best conference.
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