At the end of each conference preview series, I looked at how I perceived that conference's balance of power heading into 2015. All of those individual conference rankings and team previews are here.

This was in no way based on schedules. These were not standings predictions. They were just how I would have ranked the teams after writing a big preview about each.

Now that I've written previews about each of FBS' 128 teams, and now that I've broken down each conference's balance of power, it's time for the ultimate task of the preseason: breaking down FBS' balance of power.

Below, I've ranked all 128 FBS teams. This isn't a stat projection. It's my own opinion. This was like a series of ladder matches: who would I pick if these two teams played on a neutral field? I adhered mostly to the conference-specific power rankings I had already crafted, though in rare cases (Utah State, which has since suffered injuries and suspensions), I did some rearranging.

Tier 1: Contenders

1. Ohio State

2. Alabama

3. Oregon

4. Baylor

5. Georgia

6. TCU

My TCU preview was built around the premise of the Horned Frogs being a little bit overrated. I don't trust them nearly enough to think of the Frogs as the No. 2 team in the country (as many preseason polls have done). But when push came to shove, I found that I still trust them more than any of the teams below.

Tier 2: Could easily be contenders with a couple of happy answers

7. Ole Miss

8. Auburn

9. UCLA

10. LSU

11. Michigan State

12. Oklahoma

13. USC

14. Arkansas

15. Arizona State

16. Stanford

17. Florida State

If any of these end up 11-1 or 12-1, it wouldn't be much of a surprise. The biggest wildcard here, to me, is Les Miles' team. I found myself simultaneously wanting to put the Tigers in the top five and knock them out of the top 20. If they have a quarterback, and the new defensive coordinator clicks, they could be absolutely dynamite. But those are two huge ifs.

Stanford is another team with a wide range of possibilities. The offense should be far more stable, and the defense is super-talented, but the Cardinal have to replace so much starting experience on D.

Tier 3: A top-15 performance would not be surprising

18. Tennessee

19. Georgia Tech

20. Notre Dame

21. Wisconsin

22. Louisville

23. Mississippi State

24. Clemson

25. Virginia Tech

26. Boise State

27. Missouri

28. Nebraska

29. Michigan

30. Texas A&M

31. Penn State

32. BYU

33. Miami

34. Arizona

I find myself far more confident in Miami than some, and I still maintain (as I did in the preview) that the Hurricanes were hitting some pretty high notes before they dropped the FSU game and collapsed. If they are more mature and can handle setbacks a bit better this time, they'll have a chance at saving Al Golden's job. The upside is pretty obvious.

Tier 4: A couple will play at a top-25 level

35. Oklahoma State

36. Pitt

37. Florida

38. Texas

39. Minnesota

40. Cincinnati

41. Kansas State

42. South Carolina

43. Utah

44. West Virginia

45. NC State

46. Navy

47. Iowa

48. North Carolina

49. Maryland

In terms of my own perceptions vs. last year's F/+ rankings, I think no team varies more than Mike Gundy's squad.

OSU totally collapsed midseason last year and finished 75th overall. But the Cowboys were woefully inexperienced, and they were looking for a quarterback they could trust. They improved late, they're drastically more experienced, and between sophomore Mason Rudolph (who looked pretty good late) and veteran J.W. Walsh (who missed almost all of last season), I trust the QB position. They should rebound pretty significantly.

Tier 5: Top 40 is the goal (and that's OK)

50. Kentucky

51. Western Kentucky

52. California

53. Marshall

54. Rutgers

55. Georgia Southern

56. Central Florida

57. Northwestern

58. Washington State

59. Colorado State

60. Duke

61. Virginia

62. Memphis

63. Western Michigan

64. Utah State

65. Temple

66. East Carolina

67. Houston

68. Texas Tech

69. Boston College

70. Colorado

71. Arkansas State

72. Louisiana Tech

73. Toledo

74. Rice

This tier is a fun combination of risers (Kentucky, WKU, Georgia Southern, Colorado) and fallers (Memphis, Duke, and Boston College, at least temporarily).

The most interesting team on the list, however, might be P.J. Fleck's Western Michigan Broncos. Fleck is recruiting circles around the rest of the MAC, and WMU broke through earlier than expected last year, improving from 1-11 to 8-5. And now the Broncos have talent and experience (and a September 4 home game against Michigan State). What's the ceiling? High enough to overcome having to play at both Toledo and NIU?

Tier 6: Mid-major up-and-comers and power-conference dead weight

75. Indiana

76. San Diego State

77. Air Force

78. Northern Illinois

79. Illinois

80. Washington

81. UL-Lafayette

82. Appalachian State

83. Purdue

84. Middle Tennessee

85. Tulane

86. Old Dominion

87. UTEP

88. Oregon State

89. South Alabama

90. Iowa State

91. Bowling Green

92. Akron

93. New Mexico

Quite a few teams here have one impressive unit (ODU's offense, Tulane's defense, etc.) and one abomination. And quite a few power-conference teams here (Indiana, Illinois, Iowa State) might be replacing their head coaches in about four months. I still think Kevin Wilson's got a chance to succeed at Indiana, but his offense might be breaking in a few too many pieces. It will be interesting to see how much time he gets.

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Tier 7: :(

94. Vanderbilt

95. San Jose State

96. Tulsa

97. Ball State

98. Wake Forest

99. Syracuse

100. Texas State

101. Nevada

102. Florida Atlantic

103. Fresno State

104. UL-Monroe

105. Florida International

106. Ohio

107. Wyoming

108. Buffalo

109. Kansas

110. SMU

111. Idaho

112. Central Michigan

113. Southern Miss

114. Massachusetts

115. South Florida

San Jose State is basically a West Coast Western Michigan. The Spartans reeled in a top-60 recruiting class out of nowhere, better than Iowa's ... and now we wait to see how long it takes for a talent upgrade to actually make a difference.

Tier 8: :( :( :(

116. Hawaii

117. Kent State

118. Army

119. Troy

120. Connecticut

121. Miami (Ohio)

122. North Texas

123. UNLV

124. Georgia State

125. Eastern Michigan

126. New Mexico State

127. UTSA

128. Charlotte

I write most of my previews with a relatively optimistic tone, and I could tell you good things about most of these teams. I like Charlotte's potential on offense, I like UTSA's athleticism, and I still think Bob Diaco could still build something pretty decent at UConn, etc. But these teams certainly have the longest roads.

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