Conferences & Divisions

This is not a top-to-bottom conference rating; the focus is on how well-represented the conferences are among the top teams. I gave each conference and division a score based on three points for a top 10 team, 2 points for a team ranked 11-25, and 1 point for a team ranked 26-40. The sheer number of top 40 teams is also indicated. Score/tm is the conference's or division's total score divided by number of teams. I also indicated percent of teams in a group that are in the top 25 and top 40, respectively. Conferences are first sorted by overall score. Ties are sorted by top 40 membership, percentage in top 40, and top-25 membership, and finally percentage in the top 25. Failing that, the rankings of all top 40 teams of the respective conferences/divisions are averaged. If averages are used, that will be noted below the tables.

Divisions:

*-won tiebreaker based on higher average ranking among top-40 teams

Louisiana-Lafayette, at #49, is the best Sun Belt team.