Comparing Power Four Conference Records in 2024-25 Postseason

@ Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Among the Power Four conferences, winners and losers have emerged in 2024 postseason play. Teams from the Big Ten Conference have the most victories and best win percentage, while the squads comprising the Atlantic Coast Conference have the fewest triumphs and the lowest win percentage.

Power Four Records

The Power Four conferences are the Big Ten, the Big 12 Conference, the Southeastern Conference and the ACC. Although the Notre Dame football program is an FBS independent, it is regarded as a Power Four team.

Heading into the CFP semifinals, the postseason records of the Power Four conferences (and the Fighting Irish) are as follows:

• ND: 2-0 (100 percent win rate)

• Big Ten: 9-5 (64.2 percent win rate)

• SEC: 8-6 (57.1 percent win rate)

• Big 12: 4-5 (44.4 percent win rate)

• ACC: 2-11 (15.3 percent win rate)

With just the CFP semifinals and championship game remaining, the only way for the SEC to overtake the Big Ten is for the two remaining B1G teams to fall in the semifinals, with No. 3 Texas (13-2) upsetting No. 6 Ohio State (12-2) and No. 5 Notre Dame (13-1) knocking off No. 4 Penn State (13-2).

While the Fighting Irish are favored by 1.5 points over the Nittany Lions, the Buckeyes are favored by 6.5 points over the Longhorns. Notre Dame and Penn State face off on Jan. 9 in the Orange Bowl. Ohio State and Texas clash on Jan. 10 in the Cotton Bowl.

ACC Falters

With four teams in the final CFP top-25 rankings—No. 10 SMU (11-3), No. 13 Miami (10-3), No. 16 Clemson (10-4) and No. 21 Syracuse (10-3)—the ACC's 2-11 record in postseason play was surprisingly poor. The only two teams in the conference that won bowl games were Syracuse (10-3) and Louisville (9-4); the Orange won the Holiday Bowl and the Cardinals won the Sun Bowl. The two ACC teams that made the CFP—SMU and Clemson—were both knocked out in the first round, making this the fourth consecutive season in which no ACC team has reached the CFP semifinals. Accentuating the conference's dismal record, its teams went 0-3 against Group of 5 opponents. In the words of Sports Illustrated, the ACC's postseason performance "wasn't pretty."

Group of 5 Outduels Power Four

Out of nine contests pitting Group of 5 teams against Power Four squads, the "little guys" more than held their own, with the Group of 5 prevailing in six of the matchups:

• Memphis 42 - West Virginia 37 (Frisco Bowl) G5 record vs. P4: 1-0

• UNLV 24 - Cal 13 (LA Bowl) G5 record vs. P4: 2-0

• Florida 33 - Tulane 8 (Gasparilla Bowl) G5 record vs. P4: 2-1

• Toledo 48 - Pitt 46 (GameAbove Sports Bowl) G5 record vs. P4: 3-1

• Navy 21 - Oklahoma 20 (Armed Forces Bowl) G5 record vs. P4: 4-1

• UConn 27 - North Carolina 14 (Fenway Bowl) G5 record vs. P4: 5-1

• TCU 34 - Louisiana 3 (New Mexico Bowl) G5 record vs. P4: 5-2

• East Carolina 26 - NC State 21 (Military Bowl) G5 record vs. P4: 6-2

• Penn State 31 - Boise State 14 (Fiesta Bowl) G5 record vs. P4: 6-3

Note: While UConn is one of three FBS independent football programs (along with UMass and Notre Dame), the Huskies are deemed a G5 team.

Despite the success of the Group of 5 teams against Power Four opponents in the postseason, the lone G5 representative in the CFP (Boise State) lost its only postseason game.

B1G Dominates SEC

Some view the Big Ten and SEC as the only two power conferences—the "Power Two," rather than the Power Four, and in head-to-head 2024-25 postseason matchups between the two preeminent leagues, the B1G has a 4-1 record against the SEC, with the lone SEC victory coming in the Music City Bowl in which No. 23 Missouri (10-3) narrowly triumphed over Iowa (8-5).

In the CFP semifinals, the Big Ten has the opportunity to make its dominance over the SEC more complete with wins by Ohio State and Penn State. The SEC's only hope of curtailing the B1G's upper hand rests with the Longhorns—a conference newcomer.