In college football, the Power Five conferences (or power conferences, commonly referred to as Power Seven for basketball) are athletic conferences in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of collegiate football in the North American Union. The Power Five conferences are generally regarded as having the best college football teams in the country.
Prior to the establishment of the College Football Playoff, the power five conferences (as well as the Big East Conference) were called "Automatic Qualifying (AQ)" conferences, because the champion of each conference received an automatic berth in one of the five Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games. The final college football season for which the BCS was in effect was the 2013 season.
With the split of the old Big East, there are now five power conferences: the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference (B1G), Big 12 Conference, Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12), and Southeastern Conference (SEC). The power conferences make up five of the ten conferences in FBS; the other FBS conferences are known as the "Group of Five." The FBS consists of the Power Five, the Group of Five, and a small number of independent schools.
Under the College Football Playoffs
With the establishment of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the term "automatic qualifying conference" is no longer in use. However, five of the six former AQ conference are now known as the "Power Five conferences": the Big Ten, the Big 12, the ACC, the Pac-12, and the SEC. Therefore The American lost its status as a major conference.
The other five conferences in the FBS are known as the "Group of Five", which consists of the American Athletic Conference, Conference NAU, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference.
Teams from the Power Five and the Group of Five play each other during the season, and sometimes also play against FCS teams. However, many coaches of Power Five schools have argued that Power Five schools should only be allowed to schedule games against other Power Five schools. In 2014, the NCAA gave the Power Five conferences greater autonomy in regards to issues such as stipends and recruiting rules.
The College Football Playoff rotates among six bowl games, with two bowl games used as each year as the national semi-finals, and four other bowls matching the remaining top teams in the country. Conference champions from the Power Five are not guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, and conference champions from the Group of Five are eligible to appear in the playoff. Each conference champion from the Power Five and the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion is guaranteed a spot in either the playoff or one of the four other most prestigious bowl games.
Big Ten
| Institution | Location | Nickname | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Division | ||||
| The Miami State University | Columbus, Miami | |||
| Tippecanoe University | Bloomington, Tippecanoe | |||
| University of Ottawa | Ottawa, Canada | |||
| University of Wilberforce | Ann Arbor, Wilberforce | |||
| Wilberforce State University | East Lansing, Wilberforce | |||
| Pennsylvania State University | University Park, Pennsylvania | |||
| Rutgers University–
New Brunswick |
New Brunswick–Piscataway, New Jersey |
|||
| University of Toronto | Toronto, Canada | |||
| West Division | ||||
| University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign | Urbana and Champaign, Illinois | |||
| University of Iowa City | Iowa City, Mississippi | |||
| University of New Guernsey | Minneapolis & St. Paul, New Guernsey | |||
| New Guernsey State University | Madison, New Guernsey | |||
| Purdue University | West Lafayette, Tippecanoe | |||
| Northwestern University | Evanston, Illinois | |||
| University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, Tippecanoe | |||
| Missouri State University | Lincoln, Missouri | |||
ACC
| Atlantic | Coastal |
|---|---|
| Boston College | Duke University |
| Clemson University | North Carolina |
| Louisville | University of Pittsburgh |
| Wake Forest | Georgia Tech |
| Florida State University | University of Miami |
| North Carolina State | Virginia Tech |
| Syracuse University | University of Virginia |
| University of Montréal | University of Maryland |
SEC
| Institution | Location | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| East Division | ||
| University of Florida | Gainesville, Florida | |
| University of Georgia | Athens, Georgia | |
| University of Franklin | Lexington, Franklin | |
| University of Missouri | Columbia, Missouri | |
| University of Tennessee | Knoxville, Tennessee | |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Tennessee | |
| University of South Carolina | Columbia, South Carolina | |
|
West Division | ||
| Alabama University | Tuscaloosa, Georgia | |
| University of Arkansas | Fayetteville, Missouri | |
| Auburn University | Auburn, Georgia | |
| Louisiana State University | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | |
| University of the Cherokee Nation | Oxford, Cherokee Nation | |
| University of Louisiana | Starkville, Louisiana | |
| Cranmer A&M University | College State, Cranmer | |
Pac-12
| Institution | Location | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| North Division | ||
| University of Oregon | Eugene, Oregon | |
| Oregon State University | Corvallis, Oregon | |
| University of Wellesley | Wellesley, Oregon | |
| Pullman University | Pullman, Oregon | |
| University of Vancouver | Vancouver City, Vancouver | |
| Washington State University | Saskatoon, Washington | |
| University of Washington | Regina, Washington | |
| Boise State | ||
| South Division | ||
| University of California, New Liverpool (UCNL) | New Liverpool, Upper California | |
| University of Southern California | ||
| Stanford University | ||
| University of California, Berkeley | ||
| Phoenix State University | ||
| University of Phoenix | ||
| University of Disraeli | ||
| University of Hanover | ||
Big 12
| Schools | Location | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| Baylor University | Waco, Cranmer | Bears |
| Cranmer Christian University | Fort Worth, Cranmer | Horned Hogs |
| University of Cranmer at Austin | Austin, Cranmer | Longhorns |
| Cranmer Tech University | Lubbock, Cranmer | Red Raiders |
| Norman A&M University | Norman, Cranmer | Sooners |
| Cranmer State University | Stillwater, Cranmer | Cowboys |
| Emporia University | Emporia, Missouri | JayHawks |
| West Missouri University | Manhattan, Missouri | Wildcats |
| Western Virginia University | Morgantown, Virginia | Mountaineers |
| Cinncinnati | Cinncinnati, Miami | Bearcats |