College football is filled with some of the greatest rivalries in all of sports and those grudges are not limited to just the competing teams.
There is also a strong sense of camaraderie felt among the member schools of each respective conference, as the strength of their peers helps raise the tide for everyone in the league. Not to mention the money that the bigger conferences bring in to help enrich their programs.
Ahead of the 2025 campaign, CBS Sports writer Cody Nagel took a moment to rank all of the Football Bowl Subdivision schools — both the Power Four and the Group of Six — from top to bottom. In it, the Southeastern Conference, which hosts the Florida Gators, came out on top.
CBS Sports explains SEC’s top ranking
“The SEC hasn’t won a national title in the past two years and took plenty of criticism for its disappointing postseason showing last season,” Nagel begins. “Still, it opens the 2025 season as the deepest conference in the country, topping the preseason conference power rankings.
“Like it or not, the strength of the league is undeniable, with preseason No. 1 Texas leading a group that could put the SEC back on college football’s mountaintop. No. 5 Georgia, No. 8 Alabama and No. 9 LSU all enter the year as legitimate national championship contenders, giving the conference four of the country’s biggest heavyweights at the top,” he continues.
“It doesn’t stop there. No. 13 South Carolina, No. 15 Florida, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 19 Texas A&M, No. 21 Ole Miss and No. 24 Tennessee start inside the preseason AP Top 25 and our own CBS Sports 136, adding serious depth behind the league’s top tier. Once again, the majority of the SEC looks capable of at least reaching a bowl game.”
CBS Sports’ 2025 College Football Conference Power Rankings
Power Four
SECBig TenBig 12ACC
Group of Six
AmericanSun BeltMountain WestConference USAMACPac-12
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