Ranking All of College Football's FBS Conferences Heading into Week 5

At the quarter pole of the season, the elite teams are starting to provide some separation. As conference play starts to heat up, you can expect the unexpected.

What is still readily apparent is that the SEC remains the best conference, but the Big 12 has narrowed the gap.

Hold onto your hats football fans...

No. 1: SEC

LSU played against their third ranked opponent already this year on the road, and showed why they have vaulted to No. 1 in the rankings with a 47-21 win over West Virginia.

Les Miles might be pulling another rabbit out of his infamous hat this year.

1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Florida
4. South Carolina
5. Arkansas
6. Auburn
7. Georgia
8. Mississippi State
9. Tennessee
10. Mississippi
11. Vanderbilt
12. Kentucky

No. 2: Big 12

Oklahoma needed a comeback win at home over Missouri to stay atop the conference power rankings...but don't look now, here come the Cowboys.

1. Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma State
3. Texas A&M
4. Baylor
5. Texas
6. Kansas State
7. Missouri
8. Texas Tech
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas

No. 3: Big 10

Wisconsin might just be the best Top 10 team to which no team is paying attention. With QB Russell Wilson finding his groove, the Badgers are a dangerous squad.

1. Wisconsin
2. Nebraska
3. Michigan
4. Michigan State
5. Ohio State
6. Penn State
7. Illinois
8. Iowa
9. Purdue
10. Northwestern
11. Indiana
12. Minnesota

No. 4: Pac-12

Stanford is still my pick for the Pac-12's best team, but Oregon is looking unbelievably dangerous—their showdown later in the season could be epic.

Sadly for the Ducks, they won't be rocking Autzen Stadium but maybe Stanford can finally sell a few more seats in their stadium.

1. Stanford
2. Oregon
3. Arizona State
4. Utah
5. Washington
6. USC
7. Cal
8. Arizona
9. UCLA
10. Washington State
11. Colorado
12. Oregon State

No. 5: ACC

The Clemson Tigers are forcing the college football world to take notice, with back to back beatdowns of Auburn and Florida State.

If they can handle Virginia Tech next week, the Tigers could run the table.

1. Clemson
2. Virginia Tech
3. Florida State
4. Georgia Tech
5. North Carolina
6. Miami
7. Wake Forrest
8. Virginia
9. Duke
10. Boston College
11. Maryland
12. North Carolina State

6. Big East

South Florida continues to roll behind stud QB B.J. Daniels—they could be BCS bound.

1. South Florida
2. West Virginia
3. Cincinnati
4. Rutgers
5. Connecticut
6. Pittsburgh
7. Syracuse
8. Louisville

No. 7: The Mountain West

Boise State remains the class of this conference, winning easily while going through the motions. 

1. Boise State
2. TCU
3. San Diego State
4. Colorado State
5. Wyoming
6. Air Force
7. UNLV
8. New Mexico

No 8: Independents

Notre Dame is working its way back to relevance by taking a hard fought victory against Pitt.

1. Notre Dame
2. BYU
3. Navy
4. Army

9. Conference USA

When QB Case Keenum and the Houston offense is humming, there might not be a team in the conference that can beat them.

1. Houston
2. SMU
3. Southern Miss
4. UCF
5. Tulsa
6. Tulane
7. Marshall
8. East Carolina
9. Rice
10. UTEP
11. UAB
12. Memphis

10. WAC

Fresno State looks like they are rounding into shape, which is a good thing. With Ole Miss coming up and Boise State six days later, the Bulldogs better be ready.

1. Fresno State
2. Hawaii
3. Nevada
4. Utah State
5. San Jose State
6. Louisiana Tech
7. Idaho
8. New Mexico State

No. 11: MAC

It's time to give a hoot about Temple. After playing Penn State tough, the Owls pounded Maryland.

1. Temple
2. Ball State
3. Ohio
4. Bowling Green
5. Toledo
6. Western Michigan
7. Eastern Michigan
8. Kent State
9. Northern Illinois
10. Akron
11. Buffalo
12. Central Michigan
13. Miami, OH

No. 12: The Sun Belt

Troy clings to the top spot, but if their defense doesn't play better they won't be on top for long.

1. Troy
2. Louisiana Lafayette
3. Florida International
4. Arkansas State
5. Louisiana Monroe
6. North Texas
7. Western Kentucky
8. Florida Atlantic
9. Middle Tennessee