Welcome to a new feature on the Hotline — a regular, but not quite weekly, examination of the Power Four.
The column will be published each Monday through the end of September as the barrage of non-conference matchups provides fresh data. Once October arrives and teams enter the heart of conference play, the column will switch to a bi-monthly schedule.
Although the College Football Playoff uses a clunkier, murkier selection process than the NCAA Tournament, the early-season results help frame decisions made months later.
How the ACC performs head-to-head against the Big Ten, for example, will lend context to the CFP selection committee’s rankings on the first Sunday of December.
Our view of the conference hierarchy:
(Records against Power Four conferences include results against Notre Dame.)
1. SEC
Non-conference record: 35-3 (92.1 percent)Record vs. Power Four: 10-2Best wins: Texas A&M over Notre Dame and Oklahoma over MichiganWorst losses: Florida to South Florida and Alabama to Florida StateComment: Since the Week 1 losses by Alabama and Texas, the SEC has dominated all comers and stands alone as the strongest conference. We remain slightly skeptical about the quantity of legitimate national title contenders — the Big Ten might have more — but the depth of the conference is unmatched. Vanderbilt won at Virginia Tech; Mississippi State toppled defending Big 12 champ Arizona State; Missouri beat Kansas; and Auburn won at Baylor. The top-to-bottom quality should be clear to even the most passionate SEC haters … or maybe not.
2. Big 12
Non-conference record: 33-9 (78.5 percent)Record vs. Power Four: 6-6Best wins: Iowa State over Iowa and Baylor over SMUWorst losses: West Virginia to Ohio and Oklahoma State to OregonComment: We elevated the Big 12 into the No. 2 position, over the Big Ten, following a week in which the conference added one Power Four win to its ledger (West Virginia over Pittsburgh) and avoided any bad losses. Can the Big 12 hold the position? It depends partly on two important games this weekend: TCU-SMU and UCF-North Carolina. Clearly, the conference has comported itself well over three weeks. We wish Utah and Texas Tech had faced high-level opponents, but it was not to be.
3. Big Ten
Non-conference record: 41-8 (83.6 percent)Record vs. Power Four: 5-5Best wins: Ohio State over Texas and Illinois over DukeWorst losses: Northwestern to Tulane and UCLA to New MexicoComment: The top of the conference is arguably the best in the land with Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State, but the middle is demonstrably worse than the middle of the SEC (based on results to date) and the bottom is beyond dreadful. If UCLA and Northwestern win more than one or two conference games, the stain will spread to every resume. Also, the only games left against power conference competition are the Notre Dame affairs for Purdue and USC, meaning the Big Ten will complete the 2025 season with its 18 teams facing just 12 Power Four foes. That’s weak, folks.
4. ACC
Non-conference record: 29-14 (67.4 percent)Record vs. Power Four: 4-10Best wins: Miami over Notre Dame and Florida State over AlabamaWorst losses: Duke to Tulane, Virginia Tech to Old Dominion and Pitt to West VirginiaComment: It sure appears that Miami and Florida State are legit, but Clemson is rapidly losing credibility at the top. The middle has a few solid teams (Cal and Georgia Tech come to mind) but generally, the second and third tiers of the ACC are softer than those of their peers. There’s no way to spin the 4-10 record into something better, and it could get worse this week if SMU and North Carolina fare poorly against Big 12 opponents.
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