Week 1 Conference Power Rankings

By Owen Pannell | KZA Sports

Week 1 is in the books, and the playoff race is already taking shape. Every conference has its own storylines—whether it’s the AAC battling the Mountain West for the G6 spot, the SEC’s unmatched depth, or the Big Ten’s loaded top tier. These rankings look beyond records, weighing performance and potential to show where each team stands after the opening week.

AAC

1. USF Bulls 1-0 (0-0)

2. Tulane Green Wave 1-0 (0-0)

3. Memphis Tigers 1-0 (0-0)

4. Navy Midshipmen 1-0 (0-0)

5. UTSA Roadrunners 0-1 (0-0)

6. North Texas Mean Green 1-0 (0-0)

7. Temple Owls 1-0 (0-0)

8. East Carolina Pirates 0-1 (0-0)

9. Tulsa Golden Hurricane 1-0 (0-0)

10. Rice Owls 1-0 (0-0)

11. UAB Blazers 1-0 (0-0)

12. Florida Atlantic Owls 0-1 (0-0)

13. Army Black Knights 0-1 (0-0)

14. Charlotte 49ers 0-1 (0-0)

The AAC is battling with the Mountain West for the G6 playoff spot, and I would say so far they’re winning. There’s 3-4 teams in this conference that I think have a chance to make the playoffs, with USF leading that group.

ACC

1. Clemson - 0-1 (0-0)

2. Miami 1-0 (0-0)

3. SMU 1-0 (0-0)

4. Georgia Tech 1-0 (0-0)

5. Florida State 1-0 (0-0)

6. Duke Blue Devils 1-0 (0-0)

7. Pittsburgh Panthers 1-0 (0-0)

8. Louisville Cardinals 1-0 (0-0)

9. Virginia Cavaliers 1-0 (0-0)

10. Virginia Tech Hokies 0-1 (0-0)

11. California Golden Bears 1-0 (0-0)

12. Boston College Eagles 1-0 (0-0)

13. Syracuse Orange 0-1 (0-0)

14. NC State Wolfpack

15. North Carolina Tar Heels 0-1 (0-0)

16. Wake Forest Demon Deacons 1-0 (0-0)

17. Stanford Cardinal 0-1 (0-0)

I know I’m going to get flamed for this, but Clemson is still the best team in the ACC in my opinion. However, Clemson and Miami are interchangeable to me, along with SMU, Georgia Tech, and Florida State. 

Big 12

1. Texas Tech Red Raiders 1-0 (0-0)

2. Arizona State Sun Devils 1-0 (0-0)

3. Iowa State Cyclones 2-0 (1-0)

4. Utah Utes 1-0 (0-0)

5. TCU Horned Frogs 1-0 (0-0)

6. Kansas Jayhawks 2-0 (0-0)

7. West Virginia Mountaineers 1-0 (0-0)

8. BYU Cougars 1-0 (0-0)

9. Baylor Bears 0-1 (0-0)

10. Colorado Buffaloes 0-1 (0-0)

11. Arizona Wildcats 1-0 (0-0)

12. Cincinnati Bearcats 0-1 (0-0)

13. Kansas State Wildcats 1-1 (0-1)

14. Houston Cougars 1-0 (0-0)

15. Oklahoma State Cowboys 1-0 (0-0)

16. UCF Knights 1-0 (0-0)

The Big 12 is the most entertaining conference in my opinion. 3-14 are so close in talent level, a game between any of those schools could legit go either way. Texas Tech and Arizona State are the clear top 2 in my opinion, and Oklahoma State and UCF the clear bottom 2.

Big Ten

1. Ohio State Buckeyes 1-0 (0-0)

2. Penn State Nittany Lions 1-0 (0-0)

3. Oregon Ducks 1-0 (0-0)

4. Illinois Fighting Illini 1-0 (0-0)

5. Michigan Wolverines 1-0 (0-0)

6. Washington Huskies 1-0 (0-0)

7. Indiana Hoosiers 1-0 (0-0)

8. Nebraska Cornhuskers 1-0 (0-0)

9. USC Trojans 1-0 (0-0)

10. Iowa Hawkeyes 1-0 (0-0)

11. Rutgers Scarlet Knights 1-0 (0-0)

12. Wisconsin Badgers 1-0 (0-0)

13. Maryland Terrapins 1-0 (0-0)

14. Michigan State Spartans 1-0 (0-0)

15. Minnesota Golden Gophers 1-0 (0-0)

16. UCLA Bruins 0-1 (0-0)

17. Purdue Boilermakers 1-0 (0-0)

18. Northwestern Wildcats 0-1 (0-0)

The Big 10 has a great argument for the best conference in college football. They have 7 teams I considered putting in my top 25, and 6 teams that are in the AP top 25. The top 3 is not up for debate, but you could make a case for OSU, Oregon, and Penn State to all be at the top.

Conference USA

1. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 2-0 (1-0)

2. Florida International Panthers 1-0 (0-0)

3. Liberty Flames 1-0 (0-0)

4. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 1-0 (0-0)

5. Kennesaw State Owls 0-1 (0-0)

6. Jacksonville State Gamecocks 0-1 (0-0)

7. Delaware Blue Hens 1-0 (0-0)

8. New Mexico State Aggies 1-0 (0-0)

9. UTEP Miners 0-1 (0-0)

10. Sam Houston Bearkats 0-2 (0-1)

11. Missouri State Bears 0-1 (0-0)

12. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 0-1 (0-0)

Western Kentucky looks to be clearly the best team so far, but I could see FIU or Liberty making some noise. However, Conference USA is the weakest conference in CFB.

MAC

1. Toledo Rockets 0-1 (0-0)

2. Ohio Bobcats 0-1 (0-0)

3. Central Michigan Chippewas 1-0 (0-0)

4. Buffalo Bulls 0-1 (0-0)

5. Miami (Ohio) RedHawks 0-1 (0-0)

6. Western Michigan Broncos 0-1 (0-0)

7. Bowling Green Falcons 1-0 (0-0)

8. Northern Illinois Huskies 1-0 (0-0)

9. Akron Zips 0-1 (0-0)

10. Kent State Golden Flashes 1-0 (0-0)

11. Eastern Michigan 0-1 (0-0)

12. Ball State Cardinals 0-1 (0-0)

13. UMass Minutemen 0-1 (0-0)

The only teams who have a real shot to win the MAC is Toledo and Ohio. Both almost pulled off great wins last weekend, but fell just short. The rest of the conference will all be pretty mid, with most just trying to make a bowl game.

Mountain West

1. UNLV Rebels 2-0 (0-0)

2. Colorado State Rams 0-1 (0-0)

3. San Diego State Aztecs 1-0 (0-0)

4. Boise State Broncos 0-1 (0-0)

5. Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors 1-1 (0-0)

6. Utah State Aggies 1-0 (0-0)

7. Fresno State Bulldogs 1-1 (0-0)

8. Wyoming Cowboys 1-0 (0-0)

9. Air Force Falcons 1-0 (0-0)

10. New Mexico Lobos 0-1 (0-0)

11. San Jose State Spartans 0-1 (0-0)

12. Nevada Wolf Pack 0-1 (0-0)

This conference is super deep. I'm not exaggerating when I say every single team has a shot to win it. UNLV looks the best so far, but they definitely have flaws that can be exploited. Whoever wins the conference will be in good position to snag a playoff spot.

SEC

1. LSU Tigers 1-0 (0-0)

2. Georgia Bulldogs 1-0 (0-0)

3. Oklahoma Sooners 1-0 (0-0)

4. South Carolina Gamecocks 1-0 (0-0)

5. Texas A&M Aggies 1-0 (0-0)

6. Texas Longhorns 0-1 (0-0)

7. Auburn Tigers 1-0 (0-0)

8. Florida Gators 1-0 (0-0)

9. Alabama Crimson Tide 0-1 (0-0)

10. Ole Miss Rebels 1-0 (0-0)

11. Tennessee Volunteers 1-0 (0-0)

12. Vanderbilt Commodores 1-0 (0-0)

13. Missouri Tigers 1-0 (0-0)

14. Arkansas Razorbacks 1-0 (0-0)

15. Mississippi State Bulldogs 1-0 (0-0)

16. Kentucky Wildcats 1-0 (0-0)

The best conference in college football, I’d say there’s at minimum 11 teams with a shot to make the playoffs. They should get 4-5 spots, which is absolutely nuts. LSU looks to be in the drivers seat right now, but anything can happen.

Sun Belt

1. James Madison Dukes 1-0 (0-0)

2. App State Mountaineers 1-0 (0-0)

3. Southern Miss Golden Eagles 0-1 (0-0)

4. Texas State Bobcats 1-0 (0-0)

5. Old Dominion Monarchs 0-1 (0-0)

6. Troy Trojans 1-0 (0-0)

7. Arkansas State Red Wolves 1-0 (0-0)

8. UL Monroe Warhawks 1-0 (0-0)

9. Louisiana Ragin Cajuns 0-1 (0-0)

10. Marshall Thundering Herd 0-1 (0-0)

11. South Alabama Jaguars 1-0 (0-0)

12. Georgia State Panthers 0-1 (0-0)

13. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 0-1 (0-0)

14. Georgia Southern Eagles 0-1 (0-0)

The Sun Belt is very unpredictable this year. James Madison seems to be ahead of the pack, but App State, Southern Miss, Texas State, and Old Dominion all look to be solid. It’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top.

You can find Owen Pannell on X here.

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