Ranking the best NCAA football conferences

[Eric the Red]

GII: Ranking the best NCAA football conferences

 

From AP via GII:

 

Determining which conference is best comes down to the criteria. Is it the league with the most national title contenders? Is it the one with the fewest soft touches at the bottom? Or is it the conference with the greatest depth, solid from top to bottom?

 

Of course, the answer is a little of each.

 

1. SEC — It's hard to touch the top group, with Auburn, Florida, LSU and Georgia all players on the national scene. Then throw in Tennessee (primed for a rebound), Alabama (10 wins last season) and South Carolina (with that Spurrier guy). But the Mississippi schools have been easy outs recently.

 

2. Big Ten — Ohio State is a national championship contender, but Iowa, Michigan and Penn State could emerge as upper-echelon teams. Wisconsin always seems to overachieve, and Minnesota, Purdue, Northwestern and Michigan State make for imposing middle-of-the-pack teams.

 

3. ACC — If Miami and Florida State become national title contenders again, the ACC could challenge the SEC. Virginia Tech is a given to win about 10 games. Clemson, Boston College, Maryland and Georgia Tech provide excellent depth and balance.

 

4. Pac-10 — USC has been so good recently the rest of the conference has taken a bit of a bad rap. Defense often seems optional in the Pac-10 but don't downplay the offenses at Oregon, Arizona State and California. Arizona is on the upswing, and a rebirth at Washington would help the Pac-10's prestige.

 

5. Big 12 — Texas and Oklahoma gives the conference two top-10 fixtures. Texas Tech has become the league's No. 3 team, and Texas A&M is in line to rebound. Will the North rise again? Much depends on whether Nebraska is ready for a return to glory, because the rest of the teams look so-so.

 

6. Big East — West Virginia's big win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl saved face for the league, but it's clearly No. 6 out of the BCS conferences. Louisville gives the league another team that can play with the top teams.

 

7. Mountain West — Two seasons ago Utah became the first team from outside the high-revenue leagues to reach the BCS. TCU went 11-1 last season with a road win against Oklahoma. The MWC's depth might be better than the Big East's, but it doesn't have the heavyweights up top.

 

8. C-USA — Good coaches make this league tough with Mike Price at UTEP, George O'Leary at UCF, Jeff Bower at Southern Mississippi and Steve Kragthorpe at Tulsa. But even the best C-USA teams would have a tough time reaching .500 in the power conferences.

 

9. WAC — Fresno State does some great things against top competition but never wins the league. Boise State isn't quite ready to hang with the nation's top teams, but the Broncos clean up in their conference. Although Nevada has improved, the rest are homecoming fodder for the power schools.

 

10. MAC — The top teams such as Northern Illinois and Toledo don't look as dangerous as the league's best a few years ago. And the bottom is filled with patsies.

 

11. Sun Belt — Speaking of homecoming opponents and stat padders ... welcome to the Sun Belt, the only Division I-A league that did not have a player taken in the most recent NFL draft.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Yeah well whatever!!! The Big 12 will always be #1 in my heart!!! Oh and if you haven't heard "nation" Nebraska is going to be back!!!!

[DJR313]

Pac-10 shouldn't be ahead of Big 12. The Pac 10 is a pretty soft conference.

[huskernumerouno]

I dont hink that comparing confrenses is a good measure without taking into consideration the amount of teams making bowls and the win loss record also. this is a debate that could last for ever and never have a true winner

[gamecocks]

Hasn't the Big 10 had really poor bowl records the past couple of years. Last year I thought that they were like 2-6 or 3-5.

[pigsonthewing]

Hasn't the Big 10 had really poor bowl records the past couple of years. Last year I thought that they were like 2-6 or 3-5.

yeah they havent been that hot in the bowl season. Our conference was ok last year in the bowls, going 5-3. one of the best records conference bowl records.

[Aim9]

SEC and Big 10 should be #s 1 and 2, but I think the Big 12 should be #3. The pac-10? Are you serious? Every year they only have 2 teams that get ranked, Oregon and USC. Sometimes UCLA or Cal will sneak into #25 or something. The ACC is not all that tough either. I would have tha Pac 10 at #5 and the ACC at #4.

[TrueHuskerFan]

I think the Big 12 has been getting less respect nationally lately solely because of the seperation between the North and the South. After this year we will be getting more love. How many of the BCS years have we had someone in the championship game? Exactly.