Many college football teams were off this week, either by design or because of COVID-19 issues, so we didn't see a lot of movement in our conference power rankings.
Check out each conference below to see where things stand heading into Week 12 of the season.
Jump to a conference:
ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC | Non-Power 5
ACC
Indiana dominates Michigan State behind two touchdowns from Ty Fryfogle to make the Hoosiers 4-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since 1987.
It was a rather uneventful week in the ACC at the top of the power rankings, but there was still plenty of drama. North Carolina once again showed why it is one of the hardest teams to predict from week to week in the conference by posting a 59-53 win over Wake Forest. Sam Howell threw for a billion yards and yet the Tar Heels needed a furious comeback to erase a 21-point second-half deficit to win. It was another perplexing performance from the defense, which has been so up and down this season it is hard to figure out what you are going to get play to play.
Meanwhile, then-No. 9 Miami needed another fourth-quarter comeback in a 25-24 win over Virginia Tech. The Hurricanes might not always look like a Top 10 team, but here is where they are different from their most recent teams: They find ways to win in the end. They did it missing 13 players against the Hokies in a game that was nearly postponed because Miami was so thin at a few positions.
Then there is Notre Dame, which did not show any signs of a letdown in a 45-31 win over Boston College, a week after beating Clemson. The Fighting Irish have won 14 straight, the longest winning streak in the nation, and Ian Book is playing at an incredibly high level in leading the offense. The biggest remaining regular-season test for the Irish comes on Nov. 27, when they play at North Carolina. The Tar Heels certainly have an offense that is capable of keeping up with Notre Dame. But can their defense slow down the Irish? That is a question for another day. -- Andrea Adelson
1. Notre Dame
2. Clemson
3. Miami
4. North Carolina
5. NC State
6. Wake Forest
7. Boston College
8. Virginia Tech
9. Pitt
10. Virginia
11. Georgia Tech
12. Louisville
13. Florida State
14. Duke
15. Syracuse
Big 12
A relatively quiet weekend in the Big 12, with just two games occurring (no, not because of postponements; six teams had previously scheduled open dates), so there's no real shake-up in this week's power rankings.
West Virginia continues to show positive signs of progress under second-year coach Neal Brown, notching an 18-point home win over TCU. The Mountaineers are 5-3 overall and above .500 in conference play with just two games to go.
In Lubbock, a battle between two teams that have struggled this year had a close, dramatic finish as Texas Tech erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Baylor in the final minute. The Red Raiders' Matt Wells said his players "needed it," while the Bears, who have had a tough first year under coach Dave Aranda, suffered a gut punch in a game they had in their grasp, only to suffer their fifth straight defeat.
There are only a few weeks left as we march closer to the Big 12 championship game, and multiple teams are still alive for a berth. -- Sam Khan Jr.
1. Oklahoma State
2. Iowa State
3. Oklahoma
4. Texas
5. West Virginia
6. Kansas State
7. TCU
8. Texas Tech
9. Baylor
10. Kansas
Big Ten
Behind three second-half touchdowns from Tulsa, Zach Smith and the Golden Hurricane upset No. 19 SMU.
Wisconsin looked like the best team in the Big Ten this week, and it holds firm at No. 2 with a dominating performance over Michigan. Ohio State was off this week because of coronavirus issues at Maryland, but the Buckeyes will stay atop these rankings until they show something that might prove they don't deserve to be there. Northwestern and Indiana both improved to 4-0 on the season with wins over Purdue and Michigan State, respectively.
The bottom half of the conference is ... tough. Penn State fell to 0-4 in an ugly game against Nebraska (which moves up a few spots), and Michigan to 1-3. Minnesota is right next to those two when it comes to disappointing starts, following a 35-7 home loss to Iowa. -- Harry Lyles Jr.
1. Ohio State
2. Wisconsin
3. Indiana
4. Northwestern
5. Iowa
6. Maryland
7. Purdue
8. Michigan State
9. Michigan
10. Nebraska
11. Minnesota
12. Penn State
13. Illinois
14. Rutgers
Pac-12
Through two weeks, the available data to evaluate the Pac-12 remains very flawed. Utah, a potential conference title contender, has yet to play, and several others have had major scheduling or roster challenges brought on by COVID-19. Still, two of the three 2-0 teams were preseason favorites: Oregon and USC. The Ducks are clearly on top at this point, while USC was fortunate to get late-game heroics in both victories. Colorado (2-0) and Washington (1-0) have claims for the No. 2 spot, but after that, it's anyone's guess. -- Kyle Bonagura
1. Oregon
2. USC
3. Washington
4. Colorado
5. Utah
6. Washington State
7. UCLA
8. Arizona State
9. Cal
10. Oregon State
11. Arizona
12. Stanford
SEC
More than half of the SEC was off due to postponements, so for the most part, this week was a wash.
Four of the top five teams weren't playing, and Florida, a week after winning its most important regular-season game against Georgia, took care of business and dominated Arkansas. In fact, Kyle Trask made a Heisman Trophy statement by throwing for six touchdowns -- all without his best player, tight end Kyle Pitts.
Kentucky, which had been somewhat of a disappointing team this season, got through an emotional week and beat Vanderbilt two days after offensive line coach John Schlarman died from a yearslong battle with cancer. The fight that offensive line -- and the entire team -- showed was inspiring, and it says a lot about the togetherness of the program, which starts at the top with coach Mark Stoops.
Lastly, Ole Miss showed why it's the most entertaining unranked and sub-.500 team in college football by once again scoring points at breakneck speed against South Carolina. Granted, the Rebels' defense can't stop anyone, but Lane Kiffin has the kind of offense that can keep Ole Miss in any game. -- Alex Scarborough
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas A&M
4. Georgia
5. Auburn
6. Arkansas
7. Ole Miss
8. Missouri
9. LSU
10. Kentucky
11. Tennessee
12. South Carolina
13. Mississippi State
14. Vanderbilt
Group of 5/Independents
There was just a little bit of movement in this week's Group of 5 power rankings, with the top five staying the same after Cincinnati, Liberty and Marshall all rolled to dominant wins and BYU (idle) and Coastal Carolina (postponed) were absent this weekend.
The biggest shift occurred in the bottom half, where Tulsa returned to the mix after a comeback win over SMU. The Golden Hurricane are in a great position for an appearance in the AAC championship game, and they are not completely out of the New Year's Six race. (Tulsa still has a date with Cincinnati on Dec. 4 -- and potentially a rematch, if they play each other in the conference title game.)
Louisiana and Boise State cruised to blowout wins, while Appalachian State needed a fourth-quarter touchdown to overtake Georgia State and remain undefeated in Sun Belt play. -- Sam Khan Jr.
1. Cincinnati
2. BYU
3. Coastal Carolina
4. Liberty
5. Marshall
6. Louisiana
7. Boise State
8. Appalachian State
9. Tulsa
10. SMU