Rank The Conferences!

[belcherboy]

My rankings:

1) ACC: Florida St and Clemson have proven that they are top 5 programs right now. Clemson should be down, but FSU is likely going to be VERY good. Miami is the sleeper in the bunch. Richt is bringing in some big talent, and we'll likely see some of it on the field this year. Louisville and VaTech both had a good run last year, and look pretty solid this year. Georgia Tech went 3-0 against the SEC East last year (Vanderbilt, UGA, and Kentucky). They open up with Tennessee, and I think they have a good chance of winning that game. So I would give the ACC the edge right now.

2) B10: With Penn St and Ohio St returning many key players to teams that did great things in 2016, they both could easily be top 5 teams by season end. Michigan and Wisconsin both had great years last year, although Michigan has lost a TON of talent from the 2016 squad. They open with Florida, and I think they will beat Florida. What could really help the B10 is if MSU and Iowa return to somewhat look like they did in 2015.

3) SEC: Alabama is the CREAM of all college football. I believe they have been ranked #1 at sometime during the season for around a decade now. That's simply unbelievable. The rest of the SEC has really suffered the past few years (New coaches all over the place). The SEC East is a mess. Florida, Tennessee, and SCar all could easily lose games in Week #1. UGA is an underdog at Notre Dame in Week #2. Vanderbilt has KState in Week #3. The winner of the SEC East could easily have 4-5 losses AGAIN this season. There is a TON of talent in the SEC, so perhaps last year was just a bump in the road for the SEC, and they will return to the #1 status.

4) B12: Oklahoma has a new coach, and Texas has a new coach. Baylor and TCU have REALLY fallen hard after being two of the hottest programs in previous seasons. OK St and WVU had solid years last year, so there is potential for the B12 to be REALLY good, but unless Texas and Oklahoma come back hard this year, they are still the middle of the pack for Power 5 teams IMO.

5) P12: Washington surprised people last year, and there is no reason to think they can't be just as good. USC really looked good the second half of last year, and Stanford is usually pretty solid. Outside of those three teams, the rest of the conference is a huge question mark. Oregon and UCLA have had a lot talent, but had a terrible season last year. Colorado lost a lot of talent and is likely to fall back to earth after having a good year last year. In 2014 Arizona looked like Rich Rod was going to turn them around, last year makes me think he won't finish the 2016 season.

 

[ericd7633]

I'm curious to know why you guys have the Pac 12 ranked above the Big Ten.

Depth of the Pac 12 is better IMO. Speaking Specifically about teams 5 and down.

 

[4down20]

Based on last years results:

1. ACC
2. SEC
3. Big10
4. Pac12
5. Big12

SEC and ACC I would say are close.

 

[4down20]

Depth of the Pac 12 is better IMO. Speaking Specifically about teams 5 and down.

I don't think so. I think the Pac12 gets a lot of hype.

 

[outofyourmind]

I don't think so. I think the Pac12 gets a lot of hype.

Did they get an ESPN contract too???

 

[4down20]

Did they get an ESPN contract too???

Sorry, I don't make lame excuses for reality.

 

[ericd7633]

I don't think so. I think the Pac12 gets a lot of hype.

The B1G is dragged down big time by Illinois, Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland and Michigan State(at least last year). Those were 5 of the worst 12 P5 teams last year.

 

[Default2]

What about using number of teams in bowl games? SEC had 12 and ACC had 11. B1G had 10 while the two *12 conferences each had 6

 

[NolePride]

Here's the Standings of the Elite Bowl Games over the last 3 years, since the Playoff system began.

1- Gof5 2-1 .667
2- ACC 5-3 .625
3- Big10 5-5 .500
4- Pac12 3-3 .500
5- SEC 4-5 .444
6- Big 12 2-3 .400
7- N Dame 0-1 .000

Now, luckily for the SEC we've been informed that a committee is going to announce
them superior to everybody else and toss out the results of the games.

 

[4down20]

The B1G is dragged down big time by Illinois, Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland and Michigan State(at least last year). Those were 5 of the worst 12 P5 teams last year.

The Pac12 only had 6 teams with above .500 records.

And then you have teams like Colorado, who mostly lost OOC games, yet won the south. Or Washington St, who also lost many OOC games, and I'm thinking a FCS team was one of them.

And those are teams that are among the 6 with above .500 records.

 

[ericd7633]

The Pac12 only had 6 teams with above .500 records.

And then you have teams like Colorado, who mostly lost OOC games, yet won the south. Or Washington St, who also lost many OOC games, and I'm thinking a FCS team was one of them.

And those are teams that are among the 6 with above .500 records.

Not all schedules are created equal though. Even though a team like Cal finished 5-7, I'd say they were better than Maryland who finished the regular season 6-6.

 

[4down20]

Now, luckily for the SEC we've been informed that a committee is going to announce
them superior to everybody else and toss out the results of the games.

 

[4down20]

Not all schedules are created equal though. Even though a team like Cal finished 5-7, I'd say they were better than Maryland who finished the regular season 6-6.

Yeah, but losing every single OOC game you play, and then winning your division in your conference and/or finishing 2nd in division?

You know I'm all about some SoS, but they lost some bad games. And you named Maryland in the bad Big10 teams and here we are discussing 2 teams that finished #1 and #2 in their division.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

My rankings:

1) ACC: Florida St and Clemson have proven that they are top 5 programs right now. Clemson should be down, but FSU is likely going to be VERY good. Miami is the sleeper in the bunch. Richt is bringing in some big talent, and we'll likely see some of it on the field this year. Louisville and VaTech both had a good run last year, and look pretty solid this year. Georgia Tech went 3-0 against the SEC East last year (Vanderbilt, UGA, and Kentucky). They open up with Tennessee, and I think they have a good chance of winning that game. So I would give the ACC the edge right now.

2) B10: With Penn St and Ohio St returning many key players to teams that did great things in 2016, they both could easily be top 5 teams by season end. Michigan and Wisconsin both had great years last year, although Michigan has lost a TON of talent from the 2016 squad. They open with Florida, and I think they will beat Florida. What could really help the B10 is if MSU and Iowa return to somewhat look like they did in 2015.

3) SEC: Alabama is the CREAM of all college football. I believe they have been ranked #1 at sometime during the season for around a decade now. That's simply unbelievable. The rest of the SEC has really suffered the past few years (New coaches all over the place). The SEC East is a mess. Florida, Tennessee, and SCar all could easily lose games in Week #1. UGA is an underdog at Notre Dame in Week #2. Vanderbilt has KState in Week #3. The winner of the SEC East could easily have 4-5 losses AGAIN this season. There is a TON of talent in the SEC, so perhaps last year was just a bump in the road for the SEC, and they will return to the #1 status.

4) B12: Oklahoma has a new coach, and Texas has a new coach. Baylor and TCU have REALLY fallen hard after being two of the hottest programs in previous seasons. OK St and WVU had solid years last year, so there is potential for the B12 to be REALLY good, but unless Texas and Oklahoma come back hard this year, they are still the middle of the pack for Power 5 teams IMO.

5) P12: Washington surprised people last year, and there is no reason to think they can't be just as good. USC really looked good the second half of last year, and Stanford is usually pretty solid. Outside of those three teams, the rest of the conference is a huge question mark. Oregon and UCLA have had a lot talent, but had a terrible season last year. Colorado lost a lot of talent and is likely to fall back to earth after having a good year last year. In 2014 Arizona looked like Rich Rod was going to turn them around, last year makes me think he won't finish the 2016 season.

Washington St. finished 2nd in the PAC North last season and they most likely will again this year. Colorado is going to take a step back due to big losses including their DC.

 

[ericd7633]

Yeah, but losing every single OOC game you play, and then winning your division in your conference and/or finishing 2nd in division?

You know I'm all about some SoS, but they lost some bad games. And you named Maryland in the bad Big10 teams and here we are discussing 2 teams that finished #1 and #2 in their division.

You mentioned Colorado and Wazzu. Colorado lost at Michigan, no shame in that. Wazzu stunk it up OOC no denying that. But they were only the 5th/6th best team in the Pac 12 IMO. Washington State essentially did what Iowa did last year. Iowa was probably the 5th/6th best team so it's essentially the same.

 

[4down20]

You mentioned Colorado and Wazzu. Colorado lost at Michigan, no shame in that. Wazzu stunk it up OOC no denying that. But they were only the 5th/6th best team in the Pac 12 IMO. Washington State essentially did what Iowa did last year. Iowa was probably the 5th/6th best team so it's essentially the same.

Colorado I was off on, I was thinking they had more OOC losses and counted the conference championship loss as an OOC loss. So not quite that bad, but they did get handled by Michigan and by Oklahoma St. Colorado was extremely over-rated IMO.

 

[ericd7633]

Colorado I was off on, I was thinking they had more OOC losses and counted the conference championship loss as an OOC loss. So not quite that bad, but they did get handled by Michigan and by Oklahoma St. Colorado was extremely over-rated IMO.

They played Michigan pretty well until Liufau went out of the game, actually had the lead in the 3rd Qtr. when he went down(special teams also did them in big time). They did get handled against Oklahoma State though. I don't think they'll be as good this year, but should still be a 7/8 win team. Their offense has the potential to be explosive, but they lose a ton on defense(and their DC to Oregon)

 

[DHoey]

It would help the PAC, in terms of numbers and perception, immensely if they played 8 conference games and added that extra cupcake.

The 9th conference game guarantees a 6-6 record in those games. Whereas an extra cupcake would be 11-1, or 10-2 or something along those lines. 4 or 5 extra wins for the conference sure would help bowl eligibility.

 

[4down20]

They played Michigan pretty well until Liufau went out of the game, actually had the lead in the 3rd Qtr. when he went down(special teams also did them in big time). They did get handled against Oklahoma State though. I don't think they'll be as good this year, but should still be a 7/8 win team. Their offense has the potential to be explosive, but they lose a ton on defense(and their DC to Oregon)

I just think they are kind of like when Mizzou is winning the SEC East, it's more a sign of division weakness than it is a great team.

 

[4down20]

It would help the PAC, in terms of numbers and perception, immensely if they played 8 conference games and added that extra cupcake.

The 9th conference game guarantees a 6-6 record in those games. Whereas an extra cupcake would be 11-1, or 10-2 or something along those lines. 4 or 5 extra wins for the conference sure would help bowl eligibility.

That's only 6 extra wins maximum for your conference.