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ESPN releases Power 5 conference rankings following Week 4 action
By Paul Harvey
Published:
The B1G is looking strong as a conference headed into Week 5 of the season.
A lot of action remains to determine which teams will make it to the College Football Playoff, but the B1G has a number of teams with potential to contend for a spot. In ranking the conferences, Heather Dinich with ESPN listed Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State as teams still alive in the race for the CFB Playoff.
Unfortunately, the SEC claimed the top spot in the conference rankings, mainly behind the strength of top-10 teams in Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Auburn. Dinich also pointed out that the SEC still has a solid shot at sending two teams to the Playoff for a second straight season:
The SEC entered Week 4 with a 49 percent chance to send two teams to the playoff, and with Alabama and Georgia both winning convincingly (again) this week, the conference remains in the strongest position in the Power 5.
The B1G did occupy the No. 2 spot in the rankings as Ohio State and Penn State get set to square off this Saturday. The loser of the big-time game will not be eliminated from the Playoff, but the winner will absolutely have a head start in the B1G East division race:
(The playoff path) goes through State College, Pennsylvania, where the Nittany Lions will play host to Ohio State on Saturday in what is currently the most impactful remaining regular-season game of the CFP race, according to ESPN’s Leverage Index.
Who do you think will make it to the Playoff?
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.