College Football Misconceptions

Recently you have probably heard that the Big 12 and SEC are great and the rest of the conferences are much worse.

The ACC and Big East are generally considered to be the worst 2 BCS conferences in the land. Which leaves the Pac-10 and Big Ten in the middle.

Who gets to decide this?

Records decide this you say....then I ask you this...Why are the SEC and Big 12 considered so good?

Have they played the toughest out of conference schedule?

Or is it just because there are lots of good offenses and good records in the conference?

Cause if you look at the BCS conferences records against OTHER BCS conferences you would see that the ACC is the best conference!

Let's examine shall we.

The SEC has played 11 games against the other BCS schools (the least of any conference). In those games they are 5-6. Not terrible but the record of those teams the 5 wins came against.....17-20 with only 2 of the wins against teams with winning records (Miami and Louisville).

The Big 12 has played in 15 games against the other BCS schools (the 2nd most). In those games they are 7-8 (about as good as the SEC). The record of those teams.....19-34 (including multiple games against Washington St and one game against Washington). How many of those 7 wins came against teams with a winning record? 2 of them, against West Virginia and Cincinnati.

How about the Pac-10. They have played 13 games against other BCS schools. They are only 5-8 in those games. But at least the 5 wins came against teams that have gone a combined 24-18 and includes wins against 3 winning teams (Virginia, Ohio State, and Michigan St). And 2 of those came from USC which means the other 9 schools have won a whopping 1 game against BCS schools with a winning record!

The Big 10 has also played in 13 games. They are 6-7 in those games. The victories are against teams with a 17-26 record and include 3 winning teams (Oregon State, Notre Dame, and Duke).

Now let's look at the Big East, one of the "worst" BCS conferences. They have played 14 games against BCS foes and are 7-7 in those games. The wins have come against teams with 28-28 records and include 3 winning teams (Virginia, Iowa, and Kansas).

And that leaves the ACC. The ACC has played in the most games against BCS foes, with 16. In those games they are 10-6. Those 10 wins came against teams with a combined record of 41-37 and include 4 winning teams (UConn, Notre Dame, Nebraska, and California).


So based on that the ACC has played the toughest schedule. Even more numbers to support my claim are that the 6 losses the ACC has suffered have ALL come against winning teams (Florida, USC, Alabama, South Carolina, USF, and UConn).

Now does this mean that Florida State should be in the top 5? Not necessarily since their only win was against Colorado and they are 4-4. But it does mean that maybe the ACC isn't as bad as you thought.


But is the Big 12 as good as the rankings suggest with 4 Top 10 teams??

I think the answer is NO they aren't that good. Against winning teams from other BCS conferences the Big 12 is a whopping 2-8!! Texas's big win is against a 3-5 Arkansas team, Oklahoma State's big win is against 1-7 Wazzou, Oklahoma gives some respectability with a win over 5-2 Cincy but they also beat 0-7 Washington. And Texas Tech....HASN'T even played a team from another BCS conference!!

I am not saying the Big 12 isn't home to the best teams. All I am saying is you outta consider that they HAVEN'T really beaten anyone but themselves.

This happens every year. A couple teams have good seasons in a conference and then the conference looks better than it is. This year it is the Big 12's turn. Texas, OU, Okie St., Texas Tech, and Missouri are all having good seasons. But are their seasons better than teams from other conferences....NO!

It will be interesting to see what happens when Bowl season comes and we get to see the Big 12 against the other conferences. I don't think they will fair so well when they go up against good teams that have defenses!