As November comes to a close, we're getting a clearer picture of who the top college football teams are in each Power 5 conference and the Group of 5.
Check out each conference below to see where things stand heading into Week 14.
Jump to a conference:
ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC | Non-Power 5
ACC
Camerun Peoples finds a hole in the Troy defense and takes it 63 yards to the house to put the Mountaineers up early.
It's not that there was any serious doubt, but Week 13 offered an emphatic reminder that the top of the ACC is a two-team race.
Notre Dame capped a 31-17 win over North Carolina in which the Irish defense completely shut down one of the country's most prolific rushing attacks. It was Notre Dame's sixth straight game holding an opponent to less than 100 yards. Meanwhile, QB Ian Book looked like a magician once again, burnishing an increasingly impressive resume that could help him make a late Heisman push.
But if Notre Dame's big win felt like an affirmation, Clemson's 52-17 thumping of Pitt was something more of a reminder. The Tigers hadn't been back on the field since falling to Notre Dame in double overtime, and QB Trevor Lawrence hadn't played since Oct. 24. Turns out, there wasn't much rust. Lawrence threw for 403 yards and Clemson led 31-0 after just one quarter.
There are significant questions about how the rest of the ACC's schedule will shake out, with Florida State, Miami and Wake Forest all in the midst of long layoffs and uncertain futures because of the coronavirus. But the remaining games increasingly seem like little more than window dressing for what looks like a clear path toward a Notre Dame-Clemson rematch in the ACC championship game. -- David M. Hale
1. Notre Dame
2. Clemson
3. Miami
4. North Carolina
5. Boston College
6. NC State
7. Wake Forest
8. Virginia Tech
9. Pitt
10. Virginia
11. Louisville
12. Georgia Tech
13. Duke
14. Florida State
15. Syracuse
Big 12
As we near the end of the regular season, the Big 12 picture is becoming clearer.
Iowa State -- still the conference leader -- is a virtual lock to make the Big 12 championship game after its come-from-behind win at Texas. The Cyclones have a 99% chance of reaching the championship game, according to ESPN's Football Power Index.
Oklahoma, which had its game postponed because of virus-related issues, has the next-best shot. The Sooners can secure a berth by winning their last two games.
Oklahoma State has an outside chance. The Cowboys won a wild one over Texas Tech, a game that brought back memories of the recent Big 12 past. The win pulls Oklahoma State even with the Sooners with identical 5-2 conference records. But because of Oklahoma State's loss in Bedlam, the Cowboys need a Sooners loss down the stretch to find their way back in.
Further down the pecking order, Baylor ended its five-game losing streak with a last-second win over K-State, while TCU cruised by Kansas. -- Sam Khan Jr.
1. Iowa State
2. Oklahoma
3. Oklahoma State
4. Texas
5. West Virginia
6. TCU
7. Kansas State
8. Texas Tech
9. Baylor
10. Kansas
Big Ten
Ohio State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota did not play this week because of canceled games. It's easy to keep the Buckeyes at the top this week and slide Indiana up a spot with its win over Maryland and Northwestern's loss to Michigan State. Iowa stays put at No. 4 with a narrow win over Nebraska, and then from there, you could really argue anything.
The most notable change at the bottom is Penn State moving up after getting its first win of the season against Michigan, making things even more interesting in Ann Arbor. Nebraska remains at the bottom. -- Harry Lyles Jr.
1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Northwestern
4. Iowa
5. Wisconsin
6. Michigan State
7. Minnesota
8. Maryland
9. Penn State
10. Michigan
11. Rutgers
12. Purdue
13. Illinois
14. Nebraska
Pac-12
Over the course of the week, Washington saw the Apple Cup get canceled, flirted with playing BYU, scheduled a game against Utah, found itself down 21-0 at halftime and escaped to move to the top of the Pac-12 power rankings. The Huskies, USC and Colorado are the conference's remaining undefeated teams, all 3-0, but there isn't much compelling evidence that separates any of the three. Oregon drops to No. 4 after its loss to Oregon State, but if the Ducks win out, they'll still go to the Pac-12 title game. The reality here is that the remaining Pac-12 games -- the ones that manage to get played -- should be enjoyed as one-offs. It's hard to see a scenario where enough games get played to really determine the best team in the conference. -- Kyle Bonagura
1. Washington
2. USC
3. Colorado
4. Oregon
5. UCLA
6. Oregon State
7. Washington State
8. Stanford
9. Utah
10. Arizona State
11. Cal
12. Arizona
SEC
Auburn is pretty well locked in to the No. 5 spot in our SEC Power Rankings, but that doesn't mean Gus Malzahn's Tigers are among the upper echelon of the conference.
What happened on Saturday afternoon proved that.
Against Alabama, without Nick Saban roaming the sideline, Auburn was dominated. All the progress quarterback Bo Nix and the offense seemingly made the past few games went directly out the window. Nix threw two interceptions and no touchdowns and the running game was practically nonexistent.
The defense, which appeared to be one of the better units in the SEC, was proved otherwise as it gave up 5.3 yards per carry and allowed quarterback Mac Jones to throw for 302 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Long story short: That's not championship or even New Year's Six bowl material.
Maybe Malzahn will work his magic and put a scare into Texas A&M next weekend, but right now it looks as if Auburn isn't on the same level as the rest of the SEC contenders. -- Alex Scarborough
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas A&M
4. Georgia
5. Auburn
6. Missouri
7. Arkansas
8. Ole Miss
9. LSU
10. Kentucky
11. Tennessee
12. Mississippi State
13. South Carolina
14. Vanderbilt
Group of 5/Independents
Not much is changing here -- Cincinnati, BYU, Marshall, Louisiana, Boise State and Tulsa did not play this week. Coastal Carolina stays put with yet another blowout win, this time over Texas State. Everybody else stays put except for SMU, which drops out of the rankings after getting beat up 52-38 by East Carolina.
App State gets a slight jump over Liberty with its 47-10 win over Troy, while Liberty delivered the expected beatdown of UMass. The last spot was between UCF and Memphis, but Memphis gets the nod having beaten UCF earlier in the season, as well as having the more impressive recent victory. -- Harry Lyles Jr.
1. Cincinnati
2. BYU
3. Coastal Carolina
4. Marshall
5. Louisiana
6. Boise State
7. Tulsa
8. Appalachian State
9. Liberty
10. Memphis