Power Four Conferences Look Strong in Weeks 0, 1

© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK

Teams of the Power Four flexed their muscles in Weeks 0 and 1 of the 2024 college football season, going undefeated against FCS teams and 18-1 against Group of 5 teams. Power Four teams prevailed in all 31 of their matchups with FCS opponents.

Here is a breakdown of how each Power Four conference has performed thus far in the 2024 season.

B1G

In the Big Ten Conference, 17 of the 18 teams won their opening games. Only Minnesota lost.

Three B1G teams played other Power Four teams in Week 1: No. 8 Penn State (0-1) defeated West Virginia (0-1) of the Big 12 Conference, No. 13 USC (1-0) defeated No. 18 LSU (0-1) of the Southeastern Conference and North Carolina (1-0) of the Atlantic Coast Conference beat Minnesota (0-1).

B1G teams went 8-0 against teams from the Group of 5 and 7-0 against FCS opponents.

ACC

Following Weeks 0 and 1, 13 ACC teams are undefeated. The only ACC teams that have suffered losses are No. 25 Clemson (0-1), Virginia Tech (0-1), Stanford (0-1) and Florida State (0-2, 0-2). No. 23 Georgia Tech and SMU are both 2-0.

Two in-conference games have been played in the ACC, both involving losses by Florida State, to Georgia Tech in Week 0 and Boston College (1-0, 1-0) in Week 1,

Five ACC teams played teams from other Power Four conferences and went 2-3, with the victories coming over Minnesota of the B1G and Florida (0-1) of the SEC.

In Weeks 0 and 1, ACC teams went 3-0 in games against Group of 5 opponents and 7-0 against FCS teams.

Big 12

The 16 teams of the Big 12 went 14-2 in Week 1, with only West Virginia and Houston (0-1) suffering defeats.

Only two Big 12 teams played teams from other Power Four conferences—with TCU (1-0) defeating Stanford (0-1) of the ACC and West Virginia falling to Penn State of the B1G. Three Big 12 teams played Group of 5 opponents and went 2-1 in those games, with Houston suffering a defeat at the hands of UNLV (1-0) of the Mountain West Conference. The other 11 teams of the Big 12 opened their seasons against FCS opponents and prevailed in all of those contests. The Abilene Christian Wildcats (0-1) almost prevented a clean sweep by the Big 12 against the FCS, taking Texas Tech (1-0) into overtime, where they lost 52-51.

SEC

The 16 teams of the SEC went 13-3 in Week 1, with only Florida, LSU and Texas A&M (0-1) falling.

Four SEC teams played teams from other Power Four conferences, and Texas A&M played independent No. 5 Notre Dame (1-0). Five SEC teams defeated Group of 5 opponents, while six SEC teams prevailed over FCS foes.

The SEC went 2-1 against the ACC, 0-1 against the B1G and 0-1 against the Fighting Irish.

Power Four Dominance

It is evident why the Power Four conferences bear the moniker they have been given. With a 49-1 record against teams from the FCS and Group of 5 after Weeks 0 and 1, the pecking order in college football is plain to see.