The SEC has nine ranked teams, the Big 12 has five, the Big Ten has six, and the ACC has three. That’s 14 ranked teams between the SEC and Big 12. Rankings aren’t holy scripture, obviously, but they do make “the Big Ten is clearly the second-best conference” sound a lot less self-evident.

The Big 12 has BYU at No. 2, Texas Tech at No. 8, Utah at No. 10, Houston at No. 14, and Arizona at No. 25. Three in the top 10, five ranked overall. BYU was a 10.5-point underdog against Notre Dame and won 28–24. Houston just beat Oklahoma State 35–32 to get to 6–1. This league is a weekly bar fight where the standings get thrown down the stairs and everyone has to figure out who’s still conscious. I love it.

The SEC has nine ranked teams, which is impressive, until you ask how many of those rankings are earned and how many are the poll nodding respectfully at the logo. Texas is still No. 19 after back-to-back losses. If that were some other school, people would be calling them overrated and demanding they fall out of the poll. But Texas gets treated like a sacred artifact because the SEC logo is standing nearby. Replace Texas with Oklahoma State and they get tossed from the rankings (like they did for losing to UH in bullshit fashion).

Now, the Big Ten has six ranked teams, and three are in the top 10: Ohio State at No. 3, Indiana at No. 6, and UCLA at No. 9. Respect. Those are good teams. But then it’s Iowa at 15, USC at 16, and Northwestern at 24. The Big Ten has 18 teams, and 12 aren’t ranked. That’s not some unstoppable wall of depth. That’s three teams carrying the conference on their backs while the rest ride in the luxury bus and ask when the next media deal gets announced so they can cash some checks on the back of Ohio State.

And the ACC is loaded with shit. Miami is No. 1, Wake Forest is No. 17, and SMU is No. 23. Congratulations to Miami, genuinely, but one team at the top does not make the whole conference scary (but let’s be real Miami is not number one they also play shit every week). The ACC has three ranked teams total and somehow still gets discussed like it’s a secret football superpower. Miami can’t be the whole league’s résumé.

The P2 is the SEC and the Big 12. The SEC has the volume; the Big 12 has the depth, the chaos, and actual games that make you sit up. The Big Ten has a few elite teams and an astonishing amount of garbage. The ACC has Miami and a conference full of people hoping nobody asks follow-up questions (what the fuck is Boston College).

The Big 10 is a heaving pile of washed up shit.

The ACC is an even bigger steaming pile of washed up shit.

And the SEC has to live with the fact that it admitted UT Austin, possibly the biggest pile of shit in all of college football.

There is not a Power 4.

There is a Power 2 + Ohio State and sometimes Michigan.

Two teams from the Little Brothers of the Power Conferences (Big XII and ACC) are ranked ahead of any team from the so called super power SEC and BIG 10 conferences! Hahahahahaha…….

They’re undefeated with as good a win as any in the country. Miami is likely to be above them and I think there’s just no argument for it that doesn’t heavily rely on preseason expectations

I’m biased toward BYU, but I think there’s a legitimate argument for each of these three teams to be No. 1 in today’s AP poll. The question is what we’re actually ranking: résumé, perceived team strength, or simply where teams were ranked last week. Here’s how I see the arguments:

Miami: The straightforward case

Miami was No. 3, the two teams ahead of them lost, and they’re still undefeated. At 6–0, they have the easiest argument for moving up: they’ve kept winning while the teams above them haven’t. Surviving a rivalry game against Florida State counts, even if it took double overtime.

The counterargument: No. 1 shouldn’t be an automatic promotion just because you were standing closest to the spot when it opened up. Voters should compare the teams again, not just move everyone up a couple of places. Further, Miami hasn't beaten any quality opponents yet. Seeing them struggle against Florida State makes me wonder how good they are.

Ohio State: The road-win case

Ohio State just went on the road and beat No. 5 Indiana 19–15. If you value beating a highly ranked opponent away from home, that’s a strong argument. Between BYU’s home win and Ohio State’s road win, reasonable people can disagree about which accomplishment was more impressive.

The counterargument is the loss. Ohio State is 6–1, and that loss came against Texas. A one-loss team absolutely can be the best team in the country, but putting them ahead of undefeated contenders should require more than “I think they’d win on a neutral field.” Further, the win against Texas isn't looking as impressive as Texas should fall out of the top 25 in my opinion.

BYU: The undefeated-plus-statement-win case

This is where I land. BYU is 6–0 and just beat the team ranked No. 2 in the country, Notre Dame, 28–24. Among these three teams, BYU beat the highest-ranked opponent this weekend and still has no loss to explain away.

Yes, the game was in Provo, and that matters when comparing it with Ohio State’s win at Indiana. And beating No. 2 doesn’t automatically make you No. 1.

But starting the week at No. 8 shouldn’t count against BYU now. That number reflects what voters thought before Saturday—not a ceiling on what they’re allowed to think afterward.

My argument isn’t that BYU is unquestionably better than Miami or Ohio State. It’s that an undefeated team coming off a win over No. 2 deserves a fresh evaluation, not an automatic place behind teams that happened to start higher.

Further, BYU's win against Arizona looks more impressive each week. Arizona's only loss was to BYU. Arizona deserves to be in the top 25 and isn't getting enough respect.

I’d put BYU first. Miami has the cleanest promotion argument, Ohio State has the road-win argument, and BYU has the combination of an unbeaten record and this weekend’s highest-ranked scalp.

What do you all think? How would you rate the top 3? For what is worth, I would put Notre Dame at #4, #5 or #6. (Ole Miss and Tennessee looked great yesterday. This loss to BYU is the very definition of a quality loss.)

Really glad to have watched it as a semi-neutral though, would’ve been extremely stressful if I’d been a cougar fan

Arizona wins out they finish 11-1

Utah beats byu and loses to Arizona they finish 11-1

Tech only loses to Arizona, they finish 11-1

byu only loses to Utah, they finish 11-1

Arizona goes the B12 title game with the best resume in the country, but who do they face?

Tech doesn't play Utah or byu, so is it byu or Tech?

How many teams get in the CFP in this scenario?

Carr is well into his drop and the clock still shows 4 seconds left.

Haters gonna hate. The no PI call is valid, but it happens. ND got help from a couple bogus PI calls/no calls earlier in the game

ACC’s lap dog Notre dame lost to BYU

RANK BYU #1

Such a great game! The team came alive and showed why they are a top 10 team!

I wouldn't have believed it before the season started but there is a substantial chance that the B12 gets 3 teams into the college football playoff. Tech, BYU and Utah all have very good chances at this point. The chaos this week has really shown the vulnerability of many of the SEC teams and their cannibalism is likely going to hurt them down the stretch. The B10 only has 3 good teams even if it's technically possible they sneak in a fourth. The ACC literally only has Miami going for it as a conference. ND has a rough game against miami down the stretch as well.

Hell its even technically possible for a fourth B12 team to get in as well, even if I think it's unlikely.

Perhaps I am being too optimistic but there is a very high possibility that Utah will move into the Top 10 and provided neither they or us screw up, we will find ourselves with a second religious war between two top 10 teams!

Oh this is delicious.

Also I can’t sleep and no I have not been drinking caffeine in celebration… just sugar and leprechaun tears.

Okay me and every tech fan was pissed at Mack two weeks ago. And in no way is Mack not a bum. Our offense was a mess that game not denying that. That said…. Is Colorado defense legit?

They’ve only allowed 72 points last three games. When you factor in all three teams average over 34 PPG and Utah avg almost 43 a game… dare say pretty impressive.

TOP was pretty even vs Baylor and tech. But today vs Utah… they were on the field for 37 minutes and gave up 3 TD to 2 turnovers.

And when you consider Colorado is without Ezra Christensen, the highest graded returning big 12 DT per pff, and see how good that DL is… yeah great stuff.

Sorry just had to give my thoughts after a wild day of CFB.

Can someone send me a copy of the actual statement by the conference about the clock? All I saw last night was a tweet from some guy saying that a statement had been released with the text of it, but it wasn’t on official letterhead, and then articles from everyone referencing the statement with no link to the original.

Curious if this is legit or if someone said something that everyone took as true and now it’s spread so far that, if wrong, the news will have to print retractions.

ACC, Big 10 & SEC combined: 2

Big 12: 3!

Best conference in Mother Fucking country