The bolstering of the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences has caused several of ESPN’s favorite metrics to lean in favor of the two biggest entities in college football.
As of Week 9, 17 of the 20 most difficult remaining schedules in college football come from one of those two conferences. However, when it comes to what teams in college football have done to this point, there’s another conference that is hanging with the Big Boys.
According to ESPN’s Strength of Record metric, which can be found in the “Resume” tab of the College Football Power Index, two of the top six teams in the country heading into Week 8 are in the Big 12.
Through the first eight weeks of the season, BYU is the No. 4 team in the country in SOR, while Iowa State checks in at No. 6. The Cougars and Cyclones are two of nine remaining undefeated teams in the Top 25 and just six teams that have made it to 7-0.
The league’s third team to crack the Top 15 in SOR is Kansas State, which checks in at No. 12.
The Big 12 (BYU, Iowa State, Kansas State) and Big Ten (No. 2 Oregon, No. 5 Penn State, No. 11 Indiana) both have two of the top six teams in strength of record and three of the Top 15. Meanwhile, the SEC has the most, with 6 of the top 15 but just one in the top six (Georgia, No. 1).
This past weekend, both BYU and Iowa State needed comeback victories in the final minute of their games to stay perfect, and they happened in eerily similar fashion. BYU’s 38-35 victory against Oklahoma State was capped by a touchdown with just 10 seconds remaining, while Iowa State locked up their 38-35 win with a game-winner with just 30 ticks left on the clock.
The 10th-ranked Cyclones and 11th-ranked Cougars enter Week 9 as the only two undefeated teams in Big 12 play and look like the best squads the league has to offer to this point in the year. No. 16 K-State appears to be getting better by the week, too, as they dominated West Virginia in a 45-18 road win on Saturday.
