NCAA Football Report (Week 11)
There is a uniqueness to the NCAA ranks as there are very distinct styles of football all active at the same time.
The league is full of teams that are all trying to get ahead by trying out different ways of getting that advantage against everyone else.
It is the place where innovation lies free as teams and coaches have the freedom to do just about everything if it helps them win.
It has led to a lot of different styles of football throughout the country and as the game evolved, and continues to evolve, certain themes have taken hold.
Most of those themes seem to come together based on the conference that teams play in and rivalry games are usually the perfect place to see this.
As the season enters the final stretch more games between rival teams in the same conferences highlight that conference specifically.
Each of the Power Five conferences has their own attitude and their own theme making each of them unique.
It is what makes the matchups between these conferences so interesting because it is as much about great players and coaches as it is about the style of football that they play.
The entire country is always led by the Southeastern Conference if only because the best team in football is a part of that conference.
Alabama is the perfect poster child for the SEC as they were the team that initially started the move to what SEC football is all about.
Although there are outliers and every team does it differently the massive theme among SEC teams is an old-school mentality.
Generally, SEC teams are built from the defence out as they concentrate on shutting everything down and then dominating the time of possession with a punishing run game.
The Tide are moving to a more explosive offence this year thanks to the quarterback they have under centre but the fact remains that their defence is still a massive part of their team.
In the Big Ten things are somewhat similar to the SEC except they fully concentrate on that defensive side of the ball.
They tend not to have that same flare on the offensive side with defensive football taking precedence.
It isn’t unusual to see a Big Ten game finish without either team scoring anywhere close to 30 points.
That isn’t the case in either the Big 12 or the Pac-12 where offence has become king over the last decade.
Both conferences look at offence to win as the Pac-12 is a conference defined by teams like Oregon who got the nickname Track-U for the speed that they possess.
That has been the case for years while athletic quarterbacks take most of the focus right now.
The Big 12 is all about offensive innovation with the spread offence taking over the entire conference and leading to some explosive games.
The best example of Big 12 football is always and will likely always be the annual game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State known as Bedlam.
This week it showed that style of football as the Sooners beat the Cowboys 48-47 in a thrilling game where the defences seemed to take a break for most of the game.
In the ACC the game is a little bit different as they are the one conference without a true identity that locks them all in.
In general, ACC teams are just well-rounded and tend to go from one strength to another.
The conference is led by the Clemson Tigers who are looking to their defence this year but looked to a strong offence a year ago.
They are the more flexible of the conferences with the ability and want to play to their strengths rather than fit players into a style.
All of these styles of football are present and all will get the chance to showcase themselves in the playoff.
The big question will be who represents each style of football in the playoff when the regular season finishes.
The Tide seem like they will be on their way to the playoff barring major losses in the next few weeks of the season.
Clemson seems on their way to the playoffs as well representing the ACC while Michigan is #4 to represent the Big Ten.
The Pac-12 and Big 12 are at risk of not being represented with Notre Dame taking the third place spot as an independent team.
All of the Power Five conferences have a shot though as the last few weeks of the season will go a long way to determine who will get to showcase their style in the biggest games of the year.
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