Which conference is better, the Big Ten or SEC? The Big Ten has won the past three titles with three different teams, but the SEC has seven of the top-12 teams in the AP top 25. Last year, three Big Ten teams were better than the best SEC team per SP+, but seven Big Ten teams were worse than the worst SEC team. The Big Ten is top-heavy; the SEC is parity-heavy with no elite teams.

Week 2 gives us a three-game Big Ten-SEC Challenge: No. 11 Oklahoma at Michigan, Mississippi State-Minnesota, and No. 1 Ohio State at No. 4 Texas. Per SP+ projections, there's a 64% chance the SEC wins at least two of three. The SEC has 10 of the hardest 11 schedules and 14 of the top 17.

Other games include Missouri at Kansas, Iowa State at Iowa, Memphis at Boise State, and tests for Alabama and BYU. Ohio State and Texas combine for six of the top-15 players in the preseason CFB Player Rank, including WR Jeremiah Smith (No. 1), QB Julian Sayin (No. 8), DE Colin Simmons (No. 3), LT Trevor Goosby (No. 12), QB Arch Manning (No. 13), and WR Cam Coleman (No. 15).