Fjoinkay
Starter
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Messages
- 1,421
- Like
- 752
After week 7 where most teams have played 6 games and have therefore reached the halfway point, we have 12 undefeated teams remaining:
Alabama
LSU
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Penn State
Minnesota
Baylor
Oklahoma
Clemson
SMU (American Athletic Conference)
Appalachian State (Sun Belt)
Boise State (Mountain West)
That is 9 undefeated teams in Power 5 conferences:
B1G- 4
SEC- 2
Big 12- 2
ACC- 1
How would you rank the Power 5 conferences so far? This is how I see it right now:
SEC
B1G
Big 12
Pac 12
ACC
I give a slight edge to the SEC over B1G. The SEC has 2 undefeated teams compared to B1G's 4 undefeated teams, but the SEC has 4 teams with one loss and the B1G just one. That said, the SEC is not as deep as many believed the conference would be, and we will likely see more chaos this year in the SEC.
How did Minnesota enter week 7 with a 5-0 record and still be outside of the AP Top 25? That most recent AP poll had 11 teams with at least 1 loss including Texas A&M with 2 losses in the Top 25. In fact Texas A&M hung around the AP Top 25 for 3 weeks as a 2-loss team even though they have no impressive wins and struggled to beat Arkansas.
A different way to look at the Aggies' ranked status is to remember that yesterday Alabama was finally able to play against a ranked opponent. Yesterday Bama beat #24 Texas A&M now (3-3) in College Station 47-28. Being able to finally play against a ranked team is a big deal for Alabama because once again this season their schedule remains very light until week 10 when they play LSU. At most Alabama will play against 3 ranked teams during its 12 game schedule, but that of course assumes that Auburn will be ranked for the Iron Bowl week 13. Auburn has games against Georgia and LSU on its schedule before the Iron Bowl.
Anyway, now that Minnesota is 6-0 will they be ranked in the AP Top 25? Has there ever been a team from a Power 5 conference that has been either 5-0 or 6-0 and that has been ranked outside of the AP Top 25? I seriously doubt that any SEC team with one of those records would be outside of the AP Top 25. In fact, I seriously doubt than any ACC team would be either.
So I rank the Pac 12 above the ACC because the ACC has one undefeated team in Clemson and just one team with 1 loss on its record in Wake Forest. And while the Pac 12 has zero undefeated teams it does have 3 teams with 1 loss in Oregon, Utah and Arizona State. All of those teams will be ranked going into week 8, and it looks like the ACC will have just one ranked team in Clemson because both Virginia and Wake lost this week. Virginia is now involved in a 2 game losing streak.
I do think the ACC is improving and is clearly more competitive than a year ago. I see better coaching at Louisville which is impressively and quickly on the mend, Mack Brown doing great work at North Carolina, Virginia continuing to show strength, and Florida State is showing signs of coming together. And then Duke looks competitive and Pitt has been competitive and has a nice win over UCF. But I don't think any of those 2-loss ACC teams should be ranked in the Top 25 after week 7, and I also don't think Wake should be ranked with one loss because it just gave up 62 points in regulation in a loss at home. (Will the AP rank Minnesota ahead of Wake?)
On the flip side in the Pac 12 there is Oregon, Utah and Arizona State which are all 1-loss teams that are ranked and coming off wins. The Pac 12 also has good teams in Washington, Cal, and Arizona. And yesterday a healthy USC team who is now (3-3) played Notre Dame really well in South Bend. When I look at the Pac 12 I see another Power 5 conference that has benefited from more good coaches joining the conference. I give the edge to the Pac 12 right over the ACC.
The Power 5 structure so far appears to be spreading good coaching around all of the Power 5 conferences. Add to that the ability of those coaches to recruit using the Power 5 backdrop and then throw in the Power 5 money and the ability to create state of the art facilities at more and more schools and you see the Power 5 structure spreading the wealth in more ways than one. I personally enjoy the rising tide of competitive teams.
The Big 12 is improved. I thought they showed well in the bowl games after last season, and I wondered if that would carry over to the 2019 season. I think it has. The defense is improved overall. Of course that isn't saying much, but the improvements appear to be more than trivial and it isn't just Oklahoma with improved defense. Look at Matt Rhule at Baylor which is playing impressive complementary football and there are others.
Is the SEC morphing into the Big 12? The SEC used to dominate with defense. These past 2 seasons not so much, but at the same time the SEC offenses are becoming more prolific at least statistically. The conference remains my number 1 over the B1G at 2, but this season the gap between the SEC and everyone else and right now especially the B1G is pretty thin compared to what it once was.
How far will Georgia drop? How far should Georgia drop? I think Georgia needs to drop several places and that includes dropping beyond Wisconsin. I cannot see how keeping Georgia ahead of Wisconsin makes any sense at all.
The really great news no matter what is that the final 6 weeks this season ought to be a wild, wild ride. There are just so many potential big games. And who doesn't love moments like yesterday when South Carolina beat Georgia at home? More please!!!
Alabama
LSU
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Penn State
Minnesota
Baylor
Oklahoma
Clemson
SMU (American Athletic Conference)
Appalachian State (Sun Belt)
Boise State (Mountain West)
That is 9 undefeated teams in Power 5 conferences:
B1G- 4
SEC- 2
Big 12- 2
ACC- 1
How would you rank the Power 5 conferences so far? This is how I see it right now:
SEC
B1G
Big 12
Pac 12
ACC
I give a slight edge to the SEC over B1G. The SEC has 2 undefeated teams compared to B1G's 4 undefeated teams, but the SEC has 4 teams with one loss and the B1G just one. That said, the SEC is not as deep as many believed the conference would be, and we will likely see more chaos this year in the SEC.
How did Minnesota enter week 7 with a 5-0 record and still be outside of the AP Top 25? That most recent AP poll had 11 teams with at least 1 loss including Texas A&M with 2 losses in the Top 25. In fact Texas A&M hung around the AP Top 25 for 3 weeks as a 2-loss team even though they have no impressive wins and struggled to beat Arkansas.
A different way to look at the Aggies' ranked status is to remember that yesterday Alabama was finally able to play against a ranked opponent. Yesterday Bama beat #24 Texas A&M now (3-3) in College Station 47-28. Being able to finally play against a ranked team is a big deal for Alabama because once again this season their schedule remains very light until week 10 when they play LSU. At most Alabama will play against 3 ranked teams during its 12 game schedule, but that of course assumes that Auburn will be ranked for the Iron Bowl week 13. Auburn has games against Georgia and LSU on its schedule before the Iron Bowl.
Anyway, now that Minnesota is 6-0 will they be ranked in the AP Top 25? Has there ever been a team from a Power 5 conference that has been either 5-0 or 6-0 and that has been ranked outside of the AP Top 25? I seriously doubt that any SEC team with one of those records would be outside of the AP Top 25. In fact, I seriously doubt than any ACC team would be either.
So I rank the Pac 12 above the ACC because the ACC has one undefeated team in Clemson and just one team with 1 loss on its record in Wake Forest. And while the Pac 12 has zero undefeated teams it does have 3 teams with 1 loss in Oregon, Utah and Arizona State. All of those teams will be ranked going into week 8, and it looks like the ACC will have just one ranked team in Clemson because both Virginia and Wake lost this week. Virginia is now involved in a 2 game losing streak.
I do think the ACC is improving and is clearly more competitive than a year ago. I see better coaching at Louisville which is impressively and quickly on the mend, Mack Brown doing great work at North Carolina, Virginia continuing to show strength, and Florida State is showing signs of coming together. And then Duke looks competitive and Pitt has been competitive and has a nice win over UCF. But I don't think any of those 2-loss ACC teams should be ranked in the Top 25 after week 7, and I also don't think Wake should be ranked with one loss because it just gave up 62 points in regulation in a loss at home. (Will the AP rank Minnesota ahead of Wake?)
On the flip side in the Pac 12 there is Oregon, Utah and Arizona State which are all 1-loss teams that are ranked and coming off wins. The Pac 12 also has good teams in Washington, Cal, and Arizona. And yesterday a healthy USC team who is now (3-3) played Notre Dame really well in South Bend. When I look at the Pac 12 I see another Power 5 conference that has benefited from more good coaches joining the conference. I give the edge to the Pac 12 right over the ACC.
The Power 5 structure so far appears to be spreading good coaching around all of the Power 5 conferences. Add to that the ability of those coaches to recruit using the Power 5 backdrop and then throw in the Power 5 money and the ability to create state of the art facilities at more and more schools and you see the Power 5 structure spreading the wealth in more ways than one. I personally enjoy the rising tide of competitive teams.
The Big 12 is improved. I thought they showed well in the bowl games after last season, and I wondered if that would carry over to the 2019 season. I think it has. The defense is improved overall. Of course that isn't saying much, but the improvements appear to be more than trivial and it isn't just Oklahoma with improved defense. Look at Matt Rhule at Baylor which is playing impressive complementary football and there are others.
Is the SEC morphing into the Big 12? The SEC used to dominate with defense. These past 2 seasons not so much, but at the same time the SEC offenses are becoming more prolific at least statistically. The conference remains my number 1 over the B1G at 2, but this season the gap between the SEC and everyone else and right now especially the B1G is pretty thin compared to what it once was.
How far will Georgia drop? How far should Georgia drop? I think Georgia needs to drop several places and that includes dropping beyond Wisconsin. I cannot see how keeping Georgia ahead of Wisconsin makes any sense at all.
The really great news no matter what is that the final 6 weeks this season ought to be a wild, wild ride. There are just so many potential big games. And who doesn't love moments like yesterday when South Carolina beat Georgia at home? More please!!!
