Which conference is the best?

[NPhusker]

This is debated on every year and no one ever wins, but its still fun to talk about. So i want to know what everyone else thinks.

 

I did some research to decide which i thought was the best and here are some stats to chew on.

 

In non-conference games against other BCS conferences:

-Pac 10: 5-3

-Big 10: 5-4

-SEC: 5-5

-Big 12: 5-6

-ACC: 7-8

-Big East: 7-8

 

But those stats alone dont tell us much about which conference is the most dominate. There is no way the Big 10 is a better conference than the SEC or the Big 12

 

In the BCS top 10:

-Big 12- 3 teams

-SEC- 2 teams

-Pac 10- 2 teams

-ACC- 1 team

-Big 10- 1 team

-Big East- 1 team

 

In the BCS top 25:

-SEC- 4 teams

-Big 12- 4 teams

-ACC- 4 teams

-Big East- 4 teams

-Pac 10- 3 teams

-Big 10- 3 teams

 

 

The most popular vote for the toughest conference would be SEC, almost of football analysts say that the SEC plays on a completely different level. Now i am not going to argue that the SEC isnt the best conference, but it is a much closer race than most people give it credit for.

 

Lets take a closer look at these non-conference games. Everyone wants to crown the SEC but the SEC teams have not played that great against non-conference foes. LSU over V-Tech 48-7 is really the only win you can look to and say "now that is impressive". The other 4 wins for SEC over a non-conference foe look like this:

-Auburn over K-State 23-13 (pretty weak considering what K-State has down recently)

-South Carolina over North Carolina ( North Carolina is pretty bad with only 3 wins on the year)

-Georgia over Ok-State (Ok-State is very inconsistent and GU is supposed to the #2 in the SEC)

-Kentucky over Louisville ( Louisville is also pretty bad)

 

Now lets look at their losses:

-Mizzou over Ole Miss (thats to be expected)

-South Florida over Auburn (South Florida isnt nearly as good as everyone thought)

-Florida State over Alabama (Florida St isnt that great, but neither is Alabama)

-Cal over Tennessee 45-31 (This one sticks out, Cal has dropped and dropped fast, and are sitting 7th in the Pac-10 just below Arizona. Tennessee on the other hand has done great in the SEC and has a chance to play for the SEC title)

 

However you can puts stats on here that make every conference look stronger or weaker.

 

So here are my conference rankings and why:

 

1. Even after bashing on the SEC i still think they are the best conference in the nation(not by that much) right now. I mean you jsut look a there teams and most of them you would probably not be able to predict a win with much confidence.

LSU- no way you want to play that D

 

Georgia- I wouldnt want to plan for that very young but very talented offense with Moreno and Stafford leading them.

 

Florida- Tebow is a DC's Nightmare

 

Auburn- Yet another D i would hate to play

 

Arkansas- 2 of the best backs in college football

 

Mississppi State- Even these bulldogs are playing good this year.

 

2. This one is very close between the Pac-10 and the Big 12, but i am going to have to go with the Pac 10. If it wasnt for injuries to Oregon and USC both teams would still be in the NC hunt. USC is still probably the most talented team in the nation, but no one stays on top forever, If Oregon still had Dixon they would be on there way to face LSU. Arizona St. is tearing it up the year. (On the flip side Notre Dame's only win this year came against Pac 10 foe UCLA)

 

3. Big 12- Texas is really down this year and that hurts the Big 12, and Oklahoma got beat against T Tech last week. I know the Big 12 still has 2 teams in the top 5, but i still dont trust Kansas, and Missouri probably isnt good enough on defense to win a NC.

 

4. ACC- The ACC just falls into the #4 spot because i think the Big 10 is very overrated and the Big East still has some work to do to catch up to the other BCS big boys. The ACC does have 4 teams in the top 25 so they have some depth in this conference.

 

5. Big 10- This is probably the most overrated conference in the nation (Kevin Cosgroves Big 10 defensive philosophy just reassures me on this), the Big 10 had a 5-4 record in non-conference BCS games, but lets see who they actually beat. 2 of these 5 wins came against Syracuse(Iowa and Illinios both beat Syracuse), Mich. st. beat Pitt, Ohio State beat Washington, and Wisconsin beat Washington St. Those 5 opponets have a combined record of 16-38, so not one win is impressive. Also lets take into consideration that 2 team from the Big 10 have lost to DI-AA schools this year (Appl. St. over Michigan and North Dak. St. over Minnesota), and Iowa St. first win of the year came against Iowa and Duke's only win of the year came against Northwestern.

 

6. Big East- They need to show me a little more before i move them above the Big 10 and out of last place. (But not a whole lot of work)

 

So.......... SEC good, Pac 10 and Big 12 not far behind, ACC kinda in the middle, Big 10 overrated, and Big East is getting there.

 

What does everyone else think?

[Cy the Cyclone]

The Gateway Conference is better than any of those...

[BeachBuffs]

Why not wat until the Bowl Season has ended, I always feel that is a good indication of the strength of conference.

[VA Husker Fan]

If you're of a notion to spend more time, I'd like to see more on the specific wins and losses of each conference (OOC games), and what their records are vs non-BCS teams (games that probably should not be lost).

 

I think I'd put the Pac 10 closer to the SEC than to the Big 12. Cal over Tennessee and Oregon slamming Michigan, plus USC over Nebraska and ASU over CU were all pretty impressive. What did happen to Cal? Talk about an underachieving team!

 

I'm putting the Big 12 closer to the ACC. Miami loses to OU big, but pounds A&M. Nebraska over Wake, but FSU over CU. Missouri over Illinois is the biggest out of conference win of any of them, probably tilts it to the Big 12.

 

Completely agree that the Big 10 proved absolutely nothing out of conference, including 2 losses to D1AA teams and giving up Duke's only win (Norhtwestern), and Iowa's losses to Western Michigan and Iowa State. I'd put them last, behind the Big East.

[Hunter94]

Why not wat until the Bowl Season has ended, I always feel that is a good indication of the strength of conference.

 

 

 

[knapplc]

Why not wat until the Bowl Season has ended, I always feel that is a good indication of the strength of conference.

Eh. It can be misleading, especially when you have teams playing in bowls they don't expect to play in. Look at Oklahoma last year and Michigan when they played us in the Alamo Bowl, or Nebraska last year against Auburn. There's three teams that should not only have won their games but should have won them handily. Instead all three lost because they were playing a bowl that did not meet the expectations the team had for itself, and their motivation was lacking.

 

So bowl results aren't always indicative of which conference is best.

 

Basically it boils down to the fact that in any given year any of these conferences has the potential to be the "best" conference: SEC, Big XII, Big Ten, Pac 10 and the ACC.

 

If any one of those conference is "weak" this year, just wait until next year and they'll be lots stronger again.

[admo]

I think the Pac 10 is the weeniest conference EVAH.

[alairguard]

This is debated on every year and no one ever wins, but its still fun to talk about. So i want to know what everyone else thinks.

 

I did some research to decide which i thought was the best and here are some stats to chew on.

 

In non-conference games against other BCS conferences:

-Pac 10: 5-3

-Big 10: 5-4

-SEC: 5-5

-Big 12: 5-6

-ACC: 7-8

-Big East: 7-8

 

But those stats alone dont tell us much about which conference is the most dominate. There is no way the Big 10 is a better conference than the SEC or the Big 12

 

In the BCS top 10:

-Big 12- 3 teams

-SEC- 2 teams

-Pac 10- 2 teams

-ACC- 1 team

-Big 10- 1 team

-Big East- 1 team

 

In the BCS top 25:

-SEC- 4 teams

-Big 12- 4 teams

-ACC- 4 teams

-Big East- 4 teams

-Pac 10- 3 teams

-Big 10- 3 teams

 

 

The most popular vote for the toughest conference would be SEC, almost of football analysts say that the SEC plays on a completely different level. Now i am not going to argue that the SEC isnt the best conference, but it is a much closer race than most people give it credit for.

 

Lets take a closer look at these non-conference games. Everyone wants to crown the SEC but the SEC teams have not played that great against non-conference foes. LSU over V-Tech 48-7 is really the only win you can look to and say "now that is impressive". The other 4 wins for SEC over a non-conference foe look like this:

-Auburn over K-State 23-13 (pretty weak considering what K-State has down recently)

-South Carolina over North Carolina ( North Carolina is pretty bad with only 3 wins on the year)

-Georgia over Ok-State (Ok-State is very inconsistent and GU is supposed to the #2 in the SEC)

-Kentucky over Louisville ( Louisville is also pretty bad)

 

Now lets look at their losses:

-Mizzou over Ole Miss (thats to be expected)

-South Florida over Auburn (South Florida isnt nearly as good as everyone thought)

-Florida State over Alabama (Florida St isnt that great, but neither is Alabama)

-Cal over Tennessee 45-31 (This one sticks out, Cal has dropped and dropped fast, and are sitting 7th in the Pac-10 just below Arizona. Tennessee on the other hand has done great in the SEC and has a chance to play for the SEC title)

 

However you can puts stats on here that make every conference look stronger or weaker.

 

So here are my conference rankings and why:

 

1. Even after bashing on the SEC i still think they are the best conference in the nation(not by that much) right now. I mean you jsut look a there teams and most of them you would probably not be able to predict a win with much confidence.

LSU- no way you want to play that D

 

Georgia- I wouldnt want to plan for that very young but very talented offense with Moreno and Stafford leading them.

 

Florida- Tebow is a DC's Nightmare

 

Auburn- Yet another D i would hate to play

 

Arkansas- 2 of the best backs in college football

 

Mississppi State- Even these bulldogs are playing good this year.

 

2. This one is very close between the Pac-10 and the Big 12, but i am going to have to go with the Pac 10. If it wasnt for injuries to Oregon and USC both teams would still be in the NC hunt. USC is still probably the most talented team in the nation, but no one stays on top forever, If Oregon still had Dixon they would be on there way to face LSU. Arizona St. is tearing it up the year. (On the flip side Notre Dame's only win this year came against Pac 10 foe UCLA)

 

3. Big 12- Texas is really down this year and that hurts the Big 12, and Oklahoma got beat against T Tech last week. I know the Big 12 still has 2 teams in the top 5, but i still dont trust Kansas, and Missouri probably isnt good enough on defense to win a NC.

 

4. ACC- The ACC just falls into the #4 spot because i think the Big 10 is very overrated and the Big East still has some work to do to catch up to the other BCS big boys. The ACC does have 4 teams in the top 25 so they have some depth in this conference.

 

5. Big 10- This is probably the most overrated conference in the nation (Kevin Cosgroves Big 10 defensive philosophy just reassures me on this), the Big 10 had a 5-4 record in non-conference BCS games, but lets see who they actually beat. 2 of these 5 wins came against Syracuse(Iowa and Illinios both beat Syracuse), Mich. st. beat Pitt, Ohio State beat Washington, and Wisconsin beat Washington St. Those 5 opponets have a combined record of 16-38, so not one win is impressive. Also lets take into consideration that 2 team from the Big 10 have lost to DI-AA schools this year (Appl. St. over Michigan and North Dak. St. over Minnesota), and Iowa St. first win of the year came against Iowa and Duke's only win of the year came against Northwestern.

 

6. Big East- They need to show me a little more before i move them above the Big 10 and out of last place. (But not a whole lot of work)

 

So.......... SEC good, Pac 10 and Big 12 not far behind, ACC kinda in the middle, Big 10 overrated, and Big East is getting there.

 

What does everyone else think?

You forgot Alabama's loss to La-Monroe (i think you missed it anyway)

[alairguard]

The Gateway Conference is better than any of those...

The Mountain West, Baby! Go Air Force! Gotta show love for my Falcons too!

[Cy the Cyclone]

The Gateway Conference is better than any of those...

The Mountain West, Baby! Go Air Force! Gotta show love for my Falcons too!

 

Bah...Did you happen to notice that the University of Northern Iowa got one vote for the D-I Top 25 this week? That's more than Iowa State, Colorado, Nebraska, Baylor, KSU, Texas A&M and OSU combined!

[junior4949]

Yeah, I think you have to wait until the bowl season. If Mizzou or KU beats OU in the Big 12 Championship game, OU will not be in the top 10. If KU beats Mizzou, Mizzou with 2 losses might not be in the top 10. A better question might be: what percentage of each conference has teams that are 1) bowl eligible 2) actually going to a bowl. In the Big 12 North, right now there are only 2 teams that have at least 6 wins. In the Big 12 South, all but one is bowl eligible. In the SEC, 9 out of the 12 teams have won 6 or more games while the Big 12 has 7 out of 12 winning 6 or more games. Pac 10 has 5 teams bowl eligible. Big 10 has 10 of 11 bowl eligible. The ACC has 7 out of 12 teams bowl eligible. The Big East has 5 of 8 bowl eligible. According to the bowl eligible teams per conference, the Big 10 is the strongest followed by the SEC, then Big East, then a tie between the Big 12 and ACC, with the Pac 10 bringing up the rear.

[alairguard]

The Gateway Conference is better than any of those...

The Mountain West, Baby! Go Air Force! Gotta show love for my Falcons too!

 

Bah...Did you happen to notice that the University of Northern Iowa got one vote for the D-I Top 25 this week? That's more than Iowa State, Colorado, Nebraska, Baylor, KSU, Texas A&M and OSU combined!

Augh! Your right! That hurts!

[knapplc]

Yeah, I think you have to wait until the bowl season. If Mizzou or KU beats OU in the Big 12 Championship game, OU will not be in the top 10. If KU beats Mizzou, Mizzou with 2 losses might not be in the top 10. A better question might be: what percentage of each conference has teams that are 1) bowl eligible 2) actually going to a bowl. In the Big 12 North, right now there are only 2 teams that have at least 6 wins. In the Big 12 South, all but one is bowl eligible. In the SEC, 9 out of the 12 teams have won 6 or more games while the Big 12 has 7 out of 12 winning 6 or more games. Pac 10 has 5 teams bowl eligible. Big 10 has 10 of 11 bowl eligible. The ACC has 7 out of 12 teams bowl eligible. The Big East has 5 of 8 bowl eligible. According to the bowl eligible teams per conference, the Big 10 is the strongest followed by the SEC, then Big East, then a tie between the Big 12 and ACC, with the Pac 10 bringing up the rear.

But even that's not a good indicator, since a conference could have half decent teams and half horrible teams, therefore making all of their decent teams bowl-eligible.

 

In the world of the bowls that we live in there's really no good way to determine which conference is better, save for opinion.

[admo]

If you go 6-6 you become bowl eligible. So if a 6-6 team plays a 7-5 team, whoever wins doesnt exaclty prove anything. Not as far as I am concerned.

[ironmike]

I live out in Pac-10 territory and have seen a lot of their games this year, and after Oregon and USC, the conference really isn't that good. And now that the Ducks have lost Dixon, they are half the team they were. I would put the B12 over the Pac-10 this year. Overall, the offenses in the Pac-10 really stink, and even the defensively-challenged B12 could slow them down.