Ranking Every Power Five Conference in 2021 College Football Season

Conference pride is a funky thing in the college football world. Fans of a certain team generally care nothing about league affiliation until their favorite program is out of title contention.

And then, hey, might as well start "S-E-C" chants!

That humorous trend aside, each of the Power Five conferences—the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC—wants to be labeled the best in the country. The recognition is a legitimate selling point on the recruiting trail.

As the 2021 regular season nears its end, which league deserves this year's crown as the premier Power Five conference?

This is a subjective exercise. Your order may both be different and the result of a justifiable process. For this ranking, every program landed in a tier. These are the groupings:

• Tier 1: College Football Playoff potential
• Tier 2: New Year's Six or major bowl contender
• Tier 3: Bowl qualifier
• Tier 4: Below-average team
• Tier 5: Non-bowl threat

Tier 1 receives five points, descending to one point for Tier 5. The total is divided by the number of teams in the league.

5. Pac-12

Stephen Brashear/Associated Press

Average Team Rating: 2.58

The expanded College Football Playoff can hardly come soon enough for the Pac-12.

Utah's emphatic win over Oregon in Week 12 squashed any hopes of the conference ending a miserable streak. In the seven-year CFP era, only 2014 Oregon—which lost to Ohio State for the title—and 2016 Washington have reached the four-team tournament.

Once again, the Pac-12 is too thin on legitimate national contenders. Every team beyond Oregon (9-2) has at least three losses, and Utah (8-3) is the only other program with a remaining chance to hit double-digit victories in 2021.

UCLA (7-4) and Oregon State (7-4) are trending up, but preseason Top 25 teams Washington (4-7) and USC (4-6) both plummeted and fired their head coach. Stanford (3-8) is a disaster, too.

Overall, it's been another forgettable year on the West Coast.

4. ACC

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Average Team Rating: 2.86

While the ACC lacks a CFP threat—which is a glaring flaw—its level of mediocrity is slightly better than the Pac-12's.

Congrats, maybe?

Wake Forest (9-2) and Pitt (9-2) are flirting with a 10th victory. Plus, both North Carolina State (8-3) and Clemson (8-3) have that potential in a bowl if they close the regular season with a win.

Nine of the ACC's 14 teams are bowl-eligible, and three 5-6 teams—Florida State, Syracuse and Virginia Tech—have the opportunity to join them this week. That is generally a positive.

The problem is, past the top four, no program has a record better than 6-5.

Unlike the Pac-12, the ACC is largely on the correct side of 5.5 wins. That isn't "best conference in the country" material, though.

3. Big 12

Brad Tollefson/Associated Press

Average Team Rating: 3.00

Neither the Pac-12 nor the ACC have a realistic path to having a representative in the College Football Playoff. Without question, that's the biggest negative for those conferences.

The Big 12 needs help. Nevertheless, thanks to Oklahoma State (10-1), a CFP path is still open.

Even if the Cowboys lose to rival Oklahoma (10-1) in Week 13, the league still has a decent resume. There's a reasonable chance that between OSU, Oklahoma and Baylor (9-2), the Big 12 sends two programs to a New Year's Six bowl this season.

Kansas State (7-4) offers a final boost before the Big 12, like the ACC, devolves into five- and six-win territory.

2. Big Ten

Rebecca S. Gratz/Associated Press

Average Team Rating: 3.07

Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Big Ten holds a clear path to the College Football Playoff. If the winner of the showdown between Michigan (10-1) and Ohio State (10-1) then wins the Big Ten title, that program is CFP-bound.

Whether that plays out in reality is anyone's guess. But the conference is set up nicely for a noteworthy postseason.

Along with U-M and OSU, Michigan State (9-2) and Wisconsin (8-3) have New Year's Six bowl upside. Iowa (9-2) is probably outside of that range, yet the Hawkeyes still have a shot at 10 wins.

Throw in a trio of programs at 7-4—Purdue, Penn State and Minnesota—and the Big Ten's depth in the middle tier is respectable. That helps atone for a larger group of unimpressive teams at the bottom of the league, nudging the Big Ten ahead of the Big 12.

1. SEC

John Amis/Associated Press

Average Team Rating: 3.21

If you're tired of the SEC owning the No. 1 spot, it's understandable. However, you'll have to wait another year for that to change.

Georgia (11-0) and Alabama (10-1) have ranked first and second, respectively, in each CFP poll so far. As long as UGA wins its regular-season finale, that likely seals a trip to the Playoff no matter the result against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.

Plus, if either Cincinnati or Oklahoma State falls in the last two weeks, a two-loss Alabama might sneak into the CFP. That's a longer conversation for another day, but don't rule it out.

Beyond UGA and Bama, Ole Miss (9-2) is also a New Year's Six contender. Texas A&M (8-3) and Kentucky (8-3) are safely in the "major bowl" category as well.

The key separation for the SEC is the lowest tier. While the Big Ten has three eight-loss teams, Vanderbilt (2-9) is the lone SEC program that can total more than seven. Every SEC team is already bowl-eligible except for Vanderbilt, Florida (5-6) and LSU (5-6).

No other conference can match the SEC's collection of two national contenders, a three-team NY6 group and respectable depth.

Follow Bleacher Report CFB Writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.