Now that the regular college football season has concluded, college football fans need a few topics to fill the conversation gap until the bowl games begin. Since all the prizes were awarded last week, they have to find another topic. The endless debate about the superiority of the conference always generates interest, if not heated discussion.
In an effort to determine the strength of the conferences against each other, I have devised a formula to objectively calculate how they rate. I’ve reviewed the non-conference matchups of the eleven member conferences of the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division 1-A).
The formula consists of teams contributing points to their conference totals with each win against other teams outside of their own conference. Teams do not receive credit for defeating members of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division 1-AA). However, conference members are penalized for losing to FCS/Division 1-AA teams. Wins on the road or at neutral sites are worth more than wins at home. Conferences earn bonus points if their members defeat the overall champions or division champions of other conferences. The score of 1,000 is the highest possible score for a conference whose members played all of their non-conference games at home; in this case, the conference won them all, beating only FBS opponents, none of whom won their conference or divisional championship.
After plugging all the numbers into my top secret formula, here are the results:
CONFERENCE NUMBER OF GAMES WITHOUT CONFERENCE SCORE
Southeast: 48,891
Grand Orient: 40,788
Pacific Ten: 30,617
Big Twelve: 48,578
Big Ten: 44,574
West Mountain: 36,535
Atlantic Coast: 48,521
Western Athletic: 38,434
Conference USA: 48,250
Median American: 52,231
Sunbelt: 36,083
The Atlantic Coast Conference had monumental victories. Virginia Tech’s victories over Big Twelve North Division champion Nebraska and Conference USA champion East Carolina earned some respect for the ACC. Additionally, North Carolina also defeated ECU. Boston College defeated Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan.
On the other hand, the ACC suffered several embarrassing losses. Virginia lost to William & Mary and Duke lost to Richmond; both winning teams play at the FCS level. The ACC fought mightily, 2-5, against the SEC. The only two wins came against the only two SEC teams to finish with losing records. The fact that both teams in the ACC title game lost to SEC teams that finished 7-5 further tarnished the ACC’s image. Ultimately, BC lost a game in the imploded program in South Bend, Indiana.
The Southeastern Conference racked up notable wins, but could have easily scored higher. Florida and Arkansas defeated Troy, the Sun Belt champion. Georgia’s victory at Georgia Tech combined with South Carolina defeating Clemson reinforced the SEC’s claim of superiority over the conference derisively regarded as “a basketball conference”. Additionally, Tennessee beat Ohio, the winner of the Mid-American Conference East Division. If nine of the members had played FBS instead of FCS opponents, including Mississippi beating two programs formerly labeled Division 1-AA, then the SEC’s point total could easily have topped 0.9, even if not all of those games were. wins for the SEC.
The Big Ten continued their cherished tradition of inviting members of the Mid-American Conference to serve as punching bags. Before kicking off intra-conference games or just filling in open dates later in the year, the Big 10 bullied the MAC in eleven of thirteen head-to-head contests.
The Pacific Ten responded positively after last season’s embarrassing regular season record of 1-6 against the Mountain West Conference. This year, the PAC 10 won all three games against the MWC. Fans might wonder if the fewer matchups between these two conferences contributed to the reversal. However, PAC 10 seems more balanced and improved than in 2008.
For those top rated conferences, be proud of your rankings. As for the rest, redemption can always happen in winning bowling games.
