🏈 Ranking Conferences

[Tide80]

This is an interesting rank on the conferences of college football.



http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/7184/conference-power-rankings-week-3

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Another non-thinking product from ESPN. They appear to only give credit to teams receiving votes in the top 25, and everyone else is considered equal. It would be better to use a ranking system of the whole universe of BCS teams like the (gasp) CBSsports 120. At least then you'd be able to determine that four of the nine Mountain West teams are ranked below #84 Vanderbilt (Utah State edges out Vandy 83 to 84) and that four of the nine WAC teams fail the Vandy test (Wyoming skates by at #77).

 

[Oiler99]

The ACC should just about be last. They are really stinking it up this season, thus far anyway.

 

[jdpas29]

imo, the SEC is having quite a down year. i'm not sure that, top to bottom, we have the best conference this year.

 

[ExiledTidefan]

Many have said that the SEC was down last year, and I even heard a rumble or two about the conference going back as far as 2007, when LSU won the whole thing with 2 losses on it's resume.

I actually think we are still the best conference top to bottom, but the gap between the top and bottom is growing. I'm afraid our mediocre 6-7 win teams don't cut the mustard against the best of, say, the Pac 10. That was always my mental measuring stick: sure our best team, Alabama, can beat anyone. But can the middle of the pack teams beat most of the teams from other conferences too? I can't say that I agree with that right now. I consider, for instance, UGA and Ole Miss to actually be middle of the pack. But they have both underperformed terribly. Tennessee is no better than middle of the pack this year, and they got shelled by Oregon, in totally uncompetitive fashion. Or course, Vandy and State are always near the bottom, and thus, I wouldn't expect them to be able to beat a Oregon State or a Oklahoma State, teams I consider to be middle of the pack in their own conferences.

In in a nutshell, I think our worst teams, which this year might be Ole Miss and Tenessee/vandy, truely do suck. Our midpack teams aren't great either (UGA, UK).

Hard to say three weeks into the year. Early on, the SEC is still best, but folks like Vandy and Ole Miss sure ain't helping things out.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Another often used measure of conference strength is bowl performance. However, bowl match-ups assume SEC superiority, sometimes to a fault, pairing lower seeded SEC teams against higher seeded opponents from other conferences. Also, if the SEC has a team playing for the NC, then all of the other teams move up one in the seeding (conference runner-up plays in the Sugar Bowl, etc.). That can make for some difficult opponents.

December 30, 2010 Nashville, TN
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl 6:30 pm ESPN
ACC No. 6 vs. SEC No. 7

December 31, 2010 Memphis, TN
AutoZone Liberty Bowl 3:30 pm ESPN
C-USA No. 1 vs. SEC No. 6 or No. 7 (Big East if no SEC team)

December 31, 2010 Atlanta, GA
Chick-fil-A Bowl 7:30 pm ESPN
ACC No. 2 vs. SEC No. 3, 4 or 5

January 1, 2011 Tampa, FL
Outback Bowl 1:00 pm ABC
Big Ten No. 3 vs. SEC No. 3, 4 or 5

January 1, 2011 Orlando, FL
Capital One Bowl 1:00 pm ABC
Big Ten No. 2 vs. SEC No. 2

January 1, 2011 Jacksonville, FL
Gator Bowl 1:30 pm ESPN2
Big Ten No. 4 or 5 vs. SEC No. 6

January 2, 2011 Arlington, TX
AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic 8:00 pm FOX
Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC No. 3, 4, or 5 (West)

January 8, 2011 Birmingham, AL
Birmingham Bowl 12:00 pm ESPN
Big East No. 4 vs. SEC (or MAC if no Big East or SEC)

BCS BOWLS

January 4, 2011 New Orleans, LA
Sugar Bowl 8:00 pm ABC
SEC No. 1 vs. BCS at-large

January 10, 2011 Glendale, AZ
BCS Championship 8:00 pm ABC
BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2

 

[psychojoe]

To an extent you can look at how the conferences fare outside their own league. Ditch all the games against D 1AA and below and go from there.

Interesting games from a conference comparison this weekend:

Well Miami drilled Pitt last night, and I really expect UNC, even as depleted as they are, to beat Rutgers. (The ACC sucks but the Big East is even worse.) How will a good WAC team (Fresno State) fare against a bad SEC team (Ole Miss)- I haven't made mu mind up about that one. What may be the best Big East team (West Virginia) takes on a strong SEC team in LSU (I like LSU, but their offense is fully capable of getting them beat.)

 

[Oiler99]

That James Madison over Virginia Tech loss just buries the entire ACC. At least for awhile.