Here's how 247Sports would rank the Power Five conferences entering the 2018 season.

5. Pac-12 

1-8 bowl record is telling. 

4. Big 12 

3. ACC 

The peak of ACC football's recent run might've been 2016. 

2. SEC 

Outside of the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs, there isn't another national title challenger to be found. Fans at Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn and Texas A&M have perennial championship expectations, but none of those programs (outside of maybe Auburn) will have a shot at that in 2018. 

If this were about the best team, the SEC would still be on top of this list. But it's more than Alabama and Georgia, which is why the SEC slots second. 

The Big Ten can legitimately claim five national title contenders. Right now, the SEC isn't close that. 

1. Big Ten 

Wisconsin is an annual power in the Big Ten West, while Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State form the toughest quartet found in any college football division.

About the Author

Keep Reading

South Carolina State University head football coach Chennis Berry joined the team in 2023 after coaching at Benedict College, a historically Black college in Columbia, South Carolina. Last year, Berry's team saw its season end in heartbreak in the Celebration Bowl and this time, it ended in triumph with a 40-38 win. (Courtesy of South Carolina State Athletics)

Credit: South Carolina State University Athletics

Featured

Students line up after school for school buses at Sequoyah Middle School in Doraville on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. The school’s principal told teachers not to talk to students about ICE, and teachers and activists are pushing back. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com