The Sun Belt Conference comes in at number ten without any question. The Sun Belt only fields two teams this bowl season, which is the least of any conference. The best record of any team coming out the Sun Belt is UL-Lafayette at 8-4. This is easily the weakest conference in football.
Conference USA fields an impressive six teams and almost found themselves at No. 8. However, the difference was that the MAC has two teams that I feel are better than any team Conference USA has. Conference USA has a chance to make a name for themselves in their bowl games. Rice and Marshall both have chances to defeat teams from top conferences.
The Mid-American Conference fields fewer teams than C-USA, but the teams in the MAC are a lot better. Northern Illinois, Ball State and Bowling Green are three quality teams that can compete with the big boys. In fact, Northern Illinois probably would be in a BCS bowl if not for their late season defeat in the conference championship to Bowling Green.
I was tempted to put the Mountain West Conference above the American Athletic Conference, but the top teams in the AAC were the difference-makers. The Mountain West had six teams get bowl bids. For a conference that is considered one of the top 6, putting six teams in bowls is remarkable.Fresno State is by far the best team in this conference and has the best chance to stake a claim for the Mountain West. If Fresno St. can beat USC in their bowl game, that would be huge for the Mountain West.
Central Florida and Louisville make this conference better than the Mountain West, but not by much. I wouldn’t be surprised if the AAC lost every single bowl game. UCF gets to face Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl, and that game could get ugly. Louisville has a tough match-up against Miami(FL). Despite all the hate I’m giving this conference, the AAC could easily turn the tables and impress a number of college football fans this bowl season.
The Big Ten is definitely having a down year, but they are not that bad. Seven teams out of 12 made bowl games, which is impressive for a conference that’s supposedly bad. Michigan State and Ohio State both made BCS bowls and give the Big Ten a chance to prove people wrong. However, there are not a lot of good match-ups this bowl season for this conference, and the perception of the Big Ten as a weak conference may get even worse.
The Big 12 is a smaller conference and only has ten teams, but six made bowl games. That’s impressive. What’s even more impressive is that the Big 12 also has three teams ranked in the top 15. Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State give the conference three very strong teams that could make the Big 12 brand even better by winning their bowl games.
I changed the PAC-12 and the ACC a number of times before finally deciding to put the PAC-12 at No. 3. For me, the difference was that the ACC’s best team is Florida State and the PAC-12’s best team is Stanford. Stanford has two losses and Florida State has none – case solved. However, what made my decision tough were two things. First, the PAC-12 is favored in all their bowl games. If the PAC-12 were to go undefeated, fans of this conference could ultimately claim conference bragging rights. Secondly, the PAC-12 sent nine teams out of 12 to bowl games. That’s impressive.
The ACC makes the list at No. 2 for two reasons. The first reason is Florida State’s success this season. Florida State is the only team in the nation to not suffer a defeat this year, and as a result FSU is the No. 1 team in the country. Secondly, the ACC sent a NCAA record 11 teams to bowl games. If Florida State can beat Auburn in the National Championship, the ACC and its fans may even make their claim to be the No. 1 conference.
The SEC is the best conference in the country without question. Currently, the SEC has seven teams that are ranked, which is the most of any conference. The SEC also sends ten teams to bowl games, which is only one below the new NCAA record set by the ACC this year. When you mention the SEC to fans, one thing always comes to mind: championships. Until someone can end the SEC’s streak of seven consecutive national championships, SEC fans will continue to brag and boast about their conference. Can you blame them?
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