Conference Power Rankings
Trying to make sense of the conferences as we know… for today at least.
After 4 weeks here is where the conferences stand
Against the BCS:
ACC (5-7)
Big East (4-7)
Big 10 (6-5)
Big 12 (6-2)
SEC (5-2)
Pac 12 (4-7)
Overall against FBS:
ACC (12-10)
Big East (13-9)
Big 10 (25-11)
Big 12 (20-2)
Pac 12 (12-10)
SEC (19-4)
At this point I would rank the conferences like so:
1) Big 12
2) SEC
3) Big 10
4) Pac 12
5) ACC
6) Big East
The ACC has a better win percentage than the Pac 12 but I think the top of the Pac-12 (Stanford and Oregon) is better than the top of the ACC (VT and Clemson) so I moved them up. The Big East has had a rough time but they still haven’t lost to an FCS opponent like the Pac-12, ACC, and Big 10 have. For all the talk of weak schedules, the SEC has only played 6 FCS schools, same as the Big 12 and Big 10. The ACC takes the crown with 10 FCS match-ups. Ouch.
The ACC might actually be weaker with Pitt and Syracuse. Pitt has no wins against non-conference BCS teams and Syracuse’s only BCS win came over Wake Forest… an ACC team.
Big 12 vs. SEC is an interesting question. The SEC is definitely strong at the top with Alabama and LSU but the bottom is also quite weak with Ole Miss, Miss State, and Kentucky. Traditional Big 12 bottom feeders Iowa State and Baylor actually look competitive while whether a top 15 team exists in the SEC east has yet to be proven. Texas A&M vs. Arkansas should tell us a little something about how these conferences stack up and I would love to see a BCS showdown between Oklahoma State and LSU.
Most teams are getting conference play kicked off so we won’t know much more about the how the conferences far against one another until the bowl season. At this point I’m betting a 1 loss Big 12 or SEC school would get the nod over an undefeated ACC squad (VT, Clemson, or GT) but that would be an interesting scenario. Still plenty of football left to play, so who know, perhaps the ACC will recover and make a good showing come BCS time.
