B1G ranks third among Power Five conferences, per ESPN's FPI
There’s no question that the B1G is one of the two best conferences in college football heading into the 2020 season. The league has proven to be one of the deepest in the sport, and the same will be true this fall.
No conference has more teams ranked in ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) than the B1G, which has seven teams in the top 25. The SEC has six teams in the top 25, while the Big 12 has four and the ACC and Pac-12 each have three teams.
By that standard, the B1G would be the best Power Five league in college football.
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Since ESPN ranks every single team in the sport, though, we decided to take a look at the overall averages. That doesn’t work in the B1G’s favor quite as much. Factoring in every team, the B1G actually ranks third among Power Five leagues.
Here’s how the leagues rank:
- Big 12 — 33.6 average rank
- SEC — 34.4 average rank
- B1G — 35.7 average rank
- Pac-12 — 41.9 average rank
- ACC — 47.6 average rank
As you can tell, the Big 12, SEC and B1G are all pretty close together in the averages, separate by just two points. The Pac-12 and ACC are well behind those three leagues, posting averages in the 40s.
To go into even a little more detail, here’s the highest- and lowest-ranked teams in each conference, according to ESPN’s FPI:
- Big 12: Highest — No. 10 Oklahoma; Lowest — No. 98 Kansas
- SEC: Highest — No. 3 Alabama; Lowest — No. 100 Vanderbilt
- B1G: Highest — No. 2 Ohio State; Lowest — No. 82 Rutgers
- Pac-12: Highest — No. 8 Oregon; Lowest — No. 75 Colorado
- ACC — Highest — No. 1 Clemson; Lowest — No. 88 Syracuse
While the B1G may not have the best average, it does not have a team ranked lower than No. 82 in the FPI, which the Big 12, SEC and ACC all do. Where the Big 12 and SEC separate themselves a bit is in the middle of the pack.
The SEC has one more team ranked inside the top 10 and the top 40 than the B1G. Nine of the 10 teams in the Big 12 are listed inside the top 50.
You can view the complete FPI from ESPN.com.