Welcome to a special episode in which we rank the conferences through the games of last week trying to determine which conference is has demonstrated the most top to bottom depth. This is not a measure of which conferences have the best top teams, or bottom teams, but an overall picture of health across the board. Let’s start with the FBS. Here’s the table and I’ll comment below.
| Conference | Record | Avg Wins | Non Conf Record | Avg Rank | Avg SOS | Best Team | Bowl Teams |
| Indies (2) | 12-5 (706) | 6.00 | 12-5 (706) | 37.0 | 88.5 | Notre Dame (6-2/10) | 2 (1000) |
| Big 12 (16) | 84-56 (600) | 5.25 | 37-9 (804) | 46.8 | 53.2 | Texas Tech (8-1/3) | 7 (438) |
| Big Ten (18) | 93-59 (612) | 5.17 | 44-10 (815) | 47.7 | 42.8 | Indiana (9-0/1) | 10 (556) |
| SEC (16) | 88-49 (642) | 5.50 | 45-6 (882) | 51.2 | 49.1 | Texas A&M (8-0/8) | 9 (563) |
| ACC (17) | 82-64 (562) | 4.82 | 37-19 (661) | 55.7 | 50.4 | Louisville (7-1/7) | 6 (353) |
| SUN (14) | 58-60 (492) | 4.14 | 26-28 (481) | 75.2 | 74.6 | James Madison (7-1/11) | 4 (286) |
| American (14) | 66-50 (569) | 4.71 | 33-17 (660) | 79.3 | 78.9 | Memphis (8-1/20) | 5 (357) |
| Mountain West (12) | 53-48 (525) | 4.42 | 26-21 (553) | 89.1 | 92.3 | San Diego St (7-1/32) | 6 (500) |
| Pac 12 (2) | 6-12 (333) | 3.00 | 5-11 (313) | 89.5 | 13.0 | Washington St (4-5/63) | 0 (0) |
| C-USA (12) | 45-52 (464) | 3.75 | 18-25 (419) | 103.1 | 103.1 | Kennesaw St (6-2/44) | 2 (167) |
| MAC (13) | 45-65 (409) | 3.46 | 16-36 (308) | 113.9 | 106.8 | Ohio (5-3/75) | 0 (0) |
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After September, the SEC was the dominant conference but have dropped to an unfamiliar 4th through October. Why? Yes, they have nine teams already eligible for bowls, but they only have one team with 5 wins – by comparison, the Big 12 has 4 such teams. Yes, the SEC could have six 10-2 teams if everything plays out exactly right, but that would mean more teams do not make bowl games. Ok, the top SEC teams have only lost to each other (except that weird Florida St/Alabama game), but the depth of previous seasons (when 13 or 14 bowl eligible teams existed) does not seem to be there. The same is true for the Big Ten – very top heavy, but a cliff between elite and also ran. The Big 12 moves into the number two spot because of egalitarianism. By the way, congratulations to both Notre Dame and UCONN who are bowl eligible making the independents pretty strong right now. The wonderful mysterious MAC along with the Pac-(1)2 got through two months of football without a single team reaching six wins. There’s always November. I’ll have the final regular season conference ranking during championship week.
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We also have the FCS. Here’s the table with comments below.
| Conference | Record | Avg Wins | NC Record | Avg Rank | Avg SOS | Best Team |
| Ivy (8) | 32-24 (571) | 4.00 | 16-8 (667) | 163.1 | 173.8 | Harvard (7-0/110) |
| Missouri Valley (10) | 50-41 (549) | 5.00 | 24-15 (615) | 177.5 | 184.1 | North Dakota St (9-0/105) |
| FCS Indies (2) | 9-9 (500) | 4.50 | 9-9 (500) | 182.5 | 168.5 | Sacred Heart (6-3/159) |
| United Athletic (9) | 40-42 (488) | 4.44 | 16-18 (471) | 183.6 | 183.7 | Tarleton (9-1/118) |
| Pioneer (11) | 49-50 (495) | 4.45 | 20-21 (488) | 189.0 | 202.6 | Presbyterian (8-1/144) |
| Big Sky (12) | 53-54 (495) | 4.42 | 23-24 (489) | 193.0 | 186.4 | Montana (9-0/133) |
| Southern (9) | 35-45 (438) | 3.89 | 10-20 (333) | 198.3 | 201.9 | Mercer (7-1/131) |
| Patriot (8) | 35-37 (486) | 4.38 | 18-20 (474) | 201.7 | 216.9 | Lehigh (9-0/120) |
| Colonial (14) | 57-68 (456) | 4.07 | 21-32 (396) | 203.4 | 209.0 | Monmouth (8-1/139) |
| MEAC (6) | 26-28 (481) | 4.33 | 20-22 (476) | 215.0 | 227.3 | Delaware St (6-3/176) |
| SWAC (12) | 49-54 (476) | 4.08 | 17-22 (436) | 215.6 | 213.7 | Alabama St (6-2/150) |
| Big South/Ohio Valley (9) | 36-46 (439) | 4.00 | 12-22 (353) | 216.2 | 195.4 | Tennessee Tech (9-0/132) |
| Southland (10) | 41-49 (456) | 4.10 | 16-24 (400) | 217.7 | 208.8 | Southeastern (7-2/154) |
| Northeast (9) | 30-50 (375) | 3.33 | 11-31 (262) | 219.9 | 212.4 | C Connecticut (6-3/182) |
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It is really too bad that the Ivy League does not participate in the 24-team FCS playoff (neither does the MEAC or the SWAC). After watching both teams play, I don’t think Harvard could stand up to North Dakota St (or Montana). In fact, I suspect that on the best years they would get to the quarter finals – this has nothing to do with the quality of the program, but everything to do with football scholarships and player size. I would like to see how far they would advance though. I do see some quality teams who could make a run such as Tennessee Tech and Lehigh who are just killing everyone they play. They both remind me of Holy Cross from a few years ago who went deep in the playoffs. The NEC is, once again, the bottom dweller of the FCS.
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That’s it for today. The next post will be on Sunday when all 265 football teams are ranked. Thank you for reading, and especially, for sharing with others, JoJo and G.
