Conferences & Divisions

This is not a top-to-bottom conference rating (that is reflected in the list at the bottom); the focus here 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, 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 tie-breaker with higher average ranking

The top-rated Sun Belt (SBC) team is Georgia Southern at #44.

The top-rated MAC team is Northern Illinois at #51.

Best average team (by rank, not by rating):

!. SEC

2. Pac-12

3. Big Ten

4. Big XII

5. ACC

6. Independents

7. Mountain West (MWC)

8. American (AAC)

9. CUSA

10.Sun Belt (SBC)

11.MAC