The top team in the SEC and the Big 12 are no strangers. Ten months ago, TCU routed Ole Miss in the Chik-Fil-A Peach Bowl, but in our poll ranking just teams from these two conference, the Rebels get the nod for actually having a defense.

There are going to be more than a few games played that will help clear up the conference’s best teams, and here is a look at how the two leagues stack up against one another.

PLAYOFF CONVERSATION

There is a better-than-winning-the-lottery chance at least one team from each conference will make the playoffs this year. The question remains who will survive the respective conference games. It is only the first week of October, but expect one of the following to be playing in mid-January.

1. Ole Miss
2. TCU
3. Georgia
4. Texas A&M
5. Alabama
6. Oklahoma State

SERIOUS CONTENDERS

The SEC champion will likely not go undefeated through the league gauntlet, but one loss may not be enough to keep a team out of the playoffs. The Big 12, by virtue of no conference championship game, will probably need a team to go undefeated to avoid a repeat of the scenario from a season ago when the league was shutout of the playoffs.

7. LSU
8. Baylor
9. Oklahoma
10. Florida

CHALLENGERS

Challengers can also be termed as spoilers. It will be difficult for these teams to get into the playoffs, but they will have a say in who does get there.

11. Mississippi State
12. Texas Tech
13. Kentucky
14. Missouri

NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY THEM

These are the teams that scare coaches. It is the game a team could overlook and bite them in the hind parts to destroy a season.

15. Kansas State
16. Tennessee
17. West Virginia

ON THE UPSWING

Here are a couple of teams that are going to improve the rest of the season and can be moving up the standings in the not-too-distant future.

18. Vanderbilt
19. Iowa State

AND THE REST

20. Auburn
21. Arkansas
22. Texas
23. South Carolina
24. Kansas