Ranking the "Power" Conferences II

And now here we have the gripping conclusion! Buckle up!

3. Big 12 - Usually recognized as one of the premier football conferences, the B12 has some of the most recognized and decorated teams in the country. However, they are only good enough for 3rd on my list, although it was a tough choice between them and my #2 conference.
4 year bowl record: 16-16 50%
vrs B10 6-3
vrs Pac12 8-2
vrs ACC 1-0
vrs Big East 1-3
vrs SEC 0-6
The B12 absolutely dominates the 4-6 conferences, but look at those records against the 2 that remain, the Big East and the SEC. The SEC can be summed up in two words COTTON BOWL. The SEC has won the last 4 and those games are consistently 2 of the best teams from both conferences. Throw in UT losing to Bama in a national championship and Texas A&M losing to Georgia in the Independence and you have the goose egg. What is hilarious to me is Texas A&M was 0-2 against the SEC in '09 and '10 and then promptly stomped Oklahoma in '12 after switching conferences. While this isn't completely shocking, the 1-3 against the Big East may surprise a lot of people. Here's the break-down.
2012
First time B12 contender West Virginia (7-5) loses to Syracuse (7-5). This is the same Syracuse that almost beat USC the same year. And we all know that the West Virginia the second half of the year was not the same the first half. All in all, shouldn't a 7-5 out of the prestigious B12 mean more than a 7-5 out of the Big East?
2011
Iowa State (6-6) loses to Rutgers (8-4). Lets be honest, this looks like a mis-match and Iowa St was a fluke to be here. They were 5-7 the year before and was 6-6 again with no bowl the year after. Rutgers meanwhile went 9-4 the year after the bowl.
2010
Kansas State (7-5) loses to Syracuse (7-5). Evenly matched bowl game by an up and coming K-State team and an up and down Syracuse who went 5-7 the year after and then 8-5 2 years after.
It should be noted that these 3 bowls were the Pinstripe Bowl; virtually an away game for the B12 and a home game for the Big East.
Oklahoma (11-2) beat Connecticut (8-4). The only win for the B12 took a dominating Oklahoma team to beat up on an over-matched UConn who was only there because of the BCS rules.
As anyone can see, the bowl games between these two conferences have not always been completely balanced, but if you take out what I believe to be the worst match ups (Oklahoma/UConn and Iowa State/Rutgers) the Big East is still 2-0 against the B12.
Conclusion: The Big 12 has definitly got some game, a 50% win percentage in 32 chances is the best we have seen so far. If they didn't have to play the SEC every year they would have a winning record. But like the SEC the B12 gets a lot of credit for being one of the toughest conferences in the country, so shouldn't their mid-cards who have been tested week after week have a better showing against a conference like the Big East? The answer to this lies in the discussion about the next conference on the list....

2. Big East - Maybe it's because it's where I live but I never hear about Big East football. I forget they are a football conference most of the season. Not anymore.
4 year bowl break down: 14-8 64%
vrs ACC 4-4
vrs B12 3-1
vrs SEC 5-3
A 64% win percentage in only 22 chances!!! By far the best bowl record we have seen. Look at the numbers against the two "toughest" conferences the SEC and B12: 8-4. They are the only conference in the last 4 years to post winning records in their bowl games. So the biggest question  is: is this record legit? Has the Big East feasted on the bottom-feeders from these conferences? As we saw with the B12 break-down, there might be a case for one such occasion. What about the ACC and SEC? Lets take a look, ACC first.
2012
Cincinnati (9-3) beat Duke (6-6) MIS-MATCH
Rutgers (8-4) loses to Virginia Tech (6-6) I would say Big East was upset here
2011
Louisville (7-5) loses to NC State (7-5) Could have went either way, but Louisville was on to bigger and better the next year
West Virginia (9-3) beats Clemson (10-3) The B12 wanted West Virginia for a reason, right?
2010
West Virginia (9-3) loses to NC State (8-4) Could have went either way and you never can tell with NC State
South Florida (7-5) beats Clemson (6-6) Could have been seen as a mis-match. These two teams have went in completely different directions since.
2009
Pittsburgh (9-3) beats North Carolina (8-4) Close
West Virginia (9-3) loses to Florida State (6-6) should have been a WV win, another good win for the ACC
This is what you would expect from a 4-4 record, won some, lost some, mid-cards battling mid-cards, you can't ever really tell.
Here's the SEC break-down
2012
Louisville (10-2) beats Florida (11-1)  Not as big of an upset in retrospect.
Ole Miss (6-6) beats Pittsburgh (6-6) SEC mid-card better than a Big East mid.
2011
Cincinnati (9-3) beats Vanderbilt (6-6) An obvious mis-match.
2010
Kentucky (6-6) loses to Pittsburgh (7-5) Could also be seen as a mis-match. Kentucky was lucky to be there.
2009
Florida (12-1) beats Cincinnati (12-0) in the Sugar. Two 12 win teams, went the way you would expect a 12 win Florida team to make it go.
UConn (7-5) beats South Carolina (7-5) Nicely balanced, best team wins.
So if we attempt to throw out the overly mis-matched games (Cincy/Vandy and UK/Pitt) the Big East has still battled the SEC to a 2-2 record. No other conference besides the ACC can claim a better showing. But is this conference still better than the B12 or are they lucky? The B12 dominates the Top 25 and the Big East is never there. Surely the Big East keeps getting lucky...Take a look at this breakdown of the Coaches Top 25 polls from the past 4 years:
From 2009-2012 the B12 has had 18 teams on the PRE-SEASON Top 25, in that same time span, when the Top 25 was released at THE END of the year the B12 only had 14 teams. That's a drop-off of 4 teams. The worst being in 2012 when they went from 6 to 3. Only in 2010 did they actually GAIN teams from beginning to end. Tough conference or overblown?
From 2009-2012 the Big East has had 3 teams on the PRE-SEASON Top 25 but ended up with 5 teams at the END of the season. The past 2 years they have had ZERO teams ranked in the pre-season but ended up withe 3 at the end. Weak conference or over-looked?
Conclusion: The Big East plays ball and the country needs to stop sleeping on them. The records against the SEC and B12 do not lie. And the polls at the end of the year show the Coaches "fixing it" at the end. They consistently over estimate the B12 and leave deserving teams out. It's not that the B12 beats up on each other because they are a "tough" conference (although at the top of the conference that can be the case) it's just they were over-ranked to begin with. I do think the Big East with its smaller conference DOES in fact beat each other up to the point that these teams don't get respect. But as the records show, the Big East can play with anybody and has proven they have the talent to beat those same anybodies. Not that this matters anymore since Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Louisville are leaving for the ACC, Rutgers is leaving for the B10, and this conference is going to look COMPLETELY different with a different name.

1. SEC - Is anyone surprised? If you are PLEASE leave a comment because I would love to hear it. Before I get into the reasons I put the SEC on top I am going to address the bowl record against the ACC. Yes, they are 3-5 in the past 4 years, but in that same time frame, the SEC is 18-7 (72%) against the ACC in the regular season. Now part of this number is muddled by the fact that Georgia has to play Georgia State EVERY YEAR, not that Georgia State is a slouch, but Georgia is 4-0 against them. Florida and Florida State are split 2-2 the past 4 years and South Carolina is 4-0 against Clemson. And once again if you take out the mis-matches in the bowls (UT/VaTech, UK/Clemson, UT/UNC) the 3-5 shits to a 3-2 in favor of the SEC. And just for fun, lets be honest, the best teams from the ACC are from the South...
So here are my reasons for putting the SEC first:
1. 4 year bowl record 22-14 61% No other conference with that many chances can post that kind of win percentage, it's not even close. They are 21-13 against the B12, B10, Pac12, Big East, and ACC a 62% win percentage. They have had winning records in their bowls 3 of the last 4 years with only one year at .500.
2. This is a TOUGH conference week in and week out. In looking at the Coaches Top 25 over the past 4 years we find that while they have suffered the same fate as the B12 (25 teams ranked in preseason, with only 22 ranked at the end) they have ended the last 3 years with having the MOST Top 25 teams. The biggest year for losing teams was 2011 when the SEC dropped from 8 ranked teams to only 5 at season's end. Part of the reason for the drop-off I believe is the coaches were  pissed that LSU and Alabama both made it to the National Championship that year. An 8-5 Auburn that beat VaTech in the Chic-fil-a bowl should have been ranked in 2011.
3. They play in the big bowls and take everyone's best shot. Everyone wants to hang an "I Beat an SEC team in a Bowl Game" trophy to their resume. So if you look at the last 4 years of the Sugar/Chick/Outback/Cap1/Gator/Cotton/National Championship bowls you will find the SEC with an
15-9 record and a 62% win percentage (and that includes the Bama/LSU Nat'l Champ Game which brings the percentage down because it counts as a win and a loss).
4. The top of the conference is deeper and better than any other conference. The Pac12 boasts Oregon and Stanford, the B12 has Oklahoma, OK State, Texas (coming back), K-State (going down), and TCU, the B10 has Ohio St, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State, the ACC has Florida State and Clemson, and the Big East has Louisville, Rutgers, and Cincinnati. The SEC has Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. These 6 teams have beaten almost all of the top teams from the other conferences (sometimes multiple times) over the past 4 years. These 6 teams are 14-7 the past 4 years in bowls for a 67% win percentage, with the LSU loss to Alabama. By comparison the B12 is 8-7, Pac12 is 4-4, the ACC is at 6-2 with bragging rights, the B10 is 8-10, and the Big East is 6-3.
5. Then you add in the mid-cards of Arkansas and Auburn (both coming off bad years), Mississippi State and an up and coming Vanderbilt and this conference is loaded.

I hope you have enjoyed this rundown of the top conferences in the country. As always please leave any comments on the blog or send them to collegefootballfanweekly@gmail.com. If you are enjoying this blog please be sure to follow and recommend to others can enjoy it to!!

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