U.S. News & World Report recently released their annual “Best Colleges” rankings, which, much like any poll or ranking involving colleges, is up for constant debate. Those who rank highly are happy, those who don’t rank as high as they hoped are mad, and everyone just wants to know that they rank higher than their rival.

When it comes to FBS schools, there’s obviously a gap between most of them and the top of the list (and then there’s West Virginia). But almost every university in the Power Five conferences does appear in the Top 200 (and then there’s West Virginia), so it does help to create a solid comparison between each conference when it comes to who ranks highest off the field.

The ACC is claiming victory with an average rank of 54.7, the highest of any FBS conference. It’s also the only FBS conference to put six member schools among the top 35 and seven schools among the top 40 (#8 Duke, #18 Notre Dame, #25 Virginia, #27 Wake Forest, #30 UNC, #35 Georgia Tech, #38 Boston College). The league also made sure to note that it has led the FBS conferences in best average rank in each of the last 12 years. Just imagine how much more the conference would pull ahead without Louisville (#171) pulling down the average?

The Pac-12 is the most top-heavy conference among the Power Five. They’re the only conference to have more than two schools in the Top 25 (#7 Stanford, #19 UCLA, #22 Cal-Berkeley, #22 USC).

Meanwhile, the Big Ten and ACC both find themselves with the least number of schools in triple-digit rankings with one apiece (#129 Nebraska and #171 Louisville). The SEC leans into those triple-digits with ten of its 14 members ranked in the 100s. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering why they keep Vanderbilt around, the school’s #14 ranking here is the reason why.

Check out the full rundown of the 2018 rankings below ordered by average rankings of school.

ACC 54.7 
#8 Duke
#25 Virginia
#27 Wake Forest
#30 UNC
#35 Georgia Tech
#38 Boston College
#53 Miami
#53 Syracuse
#66 Clemson
#70 Florida State
#70 Pittsburgh
#76 VA Tech
#80 NC State
#171 Louisville

BIG TEN 57.21 
#10 Northwestern
#27 Michigan
#46 Illinois
#49 Wisconsin
#56 The Ohio State
#56 Purdue
#56 Rutgers
#59 Penn State
#63 Maryland
#76 Minnesota
#85 Michigan State
#89 Indiana
#89 Iowa
#129 Nebraska

PAC-12  78.9
#7 Stanford
#19 UCLA
#22 Cal-Berkeley
#22 USC
#59 Washington
#96 Colorado
#102 Oregon
#106 Arizona
#115 Arizona State
#119 Utah
#140 Oregon State
#140 WSU

SEC  89.7
#14 Vanderbilt
#35 Florida
#46 Georgia
#66 Texas A&M
#106 South Carolina
#115 Auburn
#115 Tennessee
#129 Alabama
#129 Missouri
#140 LSU
#147 Kentucky
#152 Arkansas
#152 Mississippi
#177 Mississippi State

BIG 12  111.8
#49 Texas
#78 Baylor
#80 TCU
#119 Iowa State
#124 Oklahoma
#129 Kansas
#147 Kansas State
#157 Oklahoma State
#187 Texas Tech
#205 West Virginia

 

[U.S. News/Photo: ACC]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.