(Written by kencraw)

Well now that the college football season is officially over with the predictably easy (although unpredictably starting) victory for LSU in the BCS championship game, let’s take a moment to review each conferences (BCS) performance and what it says about them. In order in which I think their performance leaves them:

1. SEC: 7-2
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • LSU handled Ohio St. 38-24
   • Tennessee beat Wisconson 21-17 in a mistake prone game that wasn’t as close as the score
   • Alabama beat Colorado 30-24 holding off a 2nd half charge
   • Auburn beat Clemson in an overtime thriller 23-20
   • Georgia creamed Hawaii, the most undeserving BCS team in history, 41-10
   • Kentucky beat a slipping from grace Florida St. 35-28 in a back and forth game
   • Miss St. beat a weak UCF 10-3 in a defensive yawner
   • Arkansas got blown out by a potent Missouri team 38-7
   • Florida lost to Michigan in a disgustingly mediocre game 41-35

   Overall, it’s hard to rank lowly a conference that wins 2 BCS games, even though one was a weak win at best, but also beats the 3rd place team in both the ACC and Big-10 as well as traditional powerhouse Florida St.. The biggest caveat to their successes is Florida’s abysmal performace against a weak Michigan team. However, one stinker in 9 games is to be expected.

2. Big-12: 5-3
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • Kansas beat Virginia Tech 24-21 in a game more in control than the final score
   • Missouri destroyed an outmanned Arkansas 38-7
   • Texas over-powered ASU 52-34
   • Texas Tech squeeked out a 31-28 come from behind win over Virginia
   • Oklahoma St. whipped Indiana 49-33 in a game that was worse than the score
   • Texas A&M collapsed after being spotted 14 by Penn St., losing 24-17
   • Colorado lost 24-30 to Alabama unable to pull of the comeback
   • Oklahoma lost to West Virginia 48-28, seemingly complete unprepared for the spread

   I was a Big-12 doubter before the season started but the immergence of Missouri and Kansas in addition to the traditional powers made the conference a great deal stronger. If it weren’t for the Oklahoma collapse against West Virginia there would be a case to make the Big-12 out-performed the SEC, although the weak level of competition in their middle teir bowls (particularly Indiana and Virginia) hurts that cause significantly. As it stands, Kansas, Missouri and Texas carried the Big-12 to the number 2 spot.

3. Pac-10: 4-2
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • USC easily dismantled an un-BCS worthy Illinois 49-17
   • Oregon demolished South Florida 56-21, teaching them how the spread actually works
   • Cal beat Air Force by dominating after spotting them 21 points
   • Oregon St. got over their early jitters to beat Maryland 21-14
   • UCLA lost to BYU 16-17 unable to convert a last second field-goal
   • ASU got creamed by Texas 34-52

   If ASU had been able to hang with Texas, there might be a claim to leap-frog the Big-12 in these bowl rankings. Without it, the Pac-10 is marred by the weak competition across the board with the exception of Texas. Nevertheless, the 4-2 record along with USC, Oregon and to a lesser degree Cal carrying the Pac-10 to a respectable performance in their bowl games.

4. Big-10: 3-5
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • Michigan upset an absent Florida team, 41-35
   • Penn St. rebounded from their horrible 1st quarter to beat Texas A&M 24-17
   • Purdue won a shootout 51-48 over Central Michigan
   • Wisconson lost to Tennessee worse than the 17-21 score indicated
   • Michigan St. lost a tough one to Boston College, 21-24
   • Indiana was completely outmanned against Oklahoma St., 33-49
   • Ohio St. was a repeat BCS champ. punching bag losing 24-38 to LSU
   • Illinois lost 17-49 to USC in a game without hope

   The only thing saving the Big-10 is the toughness of their bowl schedule. Facing USC, LSU, Tennessee, Florida and to a lesser degree Boston College and Oklahoma State, gave the Big-10 probably the toughest bowl line-up. Nevertheless, if it weren’t for the Michigan upset of Florida, the Big-10 would be contending for the basement with their only to victories being against Central Michigan and Texas A&M.

5. Big East: 3-2
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • West Virginia handily upset Oklahoma, 48-28
   • Cincinnati beat Southern Miss. 31-21 in a game they mostly controlled
   • Rutgers owned Ball St., 50-32
   • Connecticut was shutdown my Wake Forest 10-24
   • South Florida was owned by Oregon, 21-56

   The Big East played a pretty weak schedule outside of the beat-down of Oklahoma and did mediocre in their victories and horrible in their loses. The only upside to the conference was West Virginia. One-trick ponies don’t do well in my rankings.

6. ACC: 2-6
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • Boston College won a tough fought victory over Michigan St.
   • Wake Forest shutdown Connecticut, 24-10
   • Virginia Tech was outplayed by Kansas 21-24 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score
   • Clemson lost an overtime nailbiter to Auburn, 20-23
   • Virginia lost a close one to Texas Tech., 28-31
   • Maryland lost 14-21 to Oregon St. despite being handed 14 early points
   • Florida State lost to Kentucky 28-35
   • Georgia Tech was beat 28-40 by a in control Fresno St.

   A conference can’t go 2-6 in their bowl games and expect to be well regarded. Both of the victories were over middle-teir programs in other weak conferences (based on bowl ranking). If there is a saving grace, it is that the ACC lost a lot of close ones, the Georgia Tech loss being the only one that really stinks. Nevertheless, there’s not a single marque victory nor a terribly difficult list of opponents to pull the ACC out of the BCS conference basement.

Looking at the overall picture, it seems there was a stark dividing line between the top 3 conferences and the bottom 3. While there is no doubt that the SEC was the best conference this year, at least based on bowl performance, both the Big-12 and the Pac-10 can definitely play competitively with the SEC. The Big-12 is definitely the positive surprise of the year, taking the number two spot away from the Pac-10, much higher than the number 4 or 5 spot I would have pegged them with at the beginning of the season.

As for the bottom half, the Big-10 is the most over-rated conference in the land. Everyone doesn’t expect much from the Big East and the ACC these days. Somehow the Ohio State/Michigan/Wisconson illusion continues to fool people. The fact that Illinois was able to rise to near the top of the conference and was obviously not in the same league as the big boys is proof enough to just how over-ranked the Big-10 is. Finally, as much as the Big East didn’t impress on it’s own, graded on a curve for expectations, they continue to rise. I expect in another 5 years for them to be much more respected as their young but talented programs continue to mature.