Final College Football Conference Power Rankings for the 2012 Season

There is no suspense at the top of this list.

None.

The SEC obviously leads everyone in the final conference power rankings of 2012.

With a seventh consecutive national title under its belt and a plethora of star athletes leaving their impact on the season, the SEC has led the way yet again this year.

But in spite of what some media outlets and fans would have you believe, there are several more conferences out there playing football at the FBS level, all of which you will find ranked in this list.

But there is still no suspense and the SEC is the best of the best, yet again.

Read on to find out the rest of the rankings.

11. Conference USA

Bowl Eligible Teams: Five

Bowl Record: 4-1

In spite of a .800 record in the postseason, Conference USA found its way to the bottom of these rankings for a reason.

Out of 12 teams, only five were eligible to play in a bowl game.

That's rough.

The conference fell below even the Sun Belt, which usually finds its home at the bottom of these type of rankings.

On the bright side, Rice won a bowl game, but even that wasn't enough to redeem an abysmal season for the conference.

10. Sun Belt

Bowl Eligible Teams: Five

Bowl Record: 2-2

The Sun Belt had a pretty decent season.

Arkansas State emerged as the team to beat in the conference, led by outstanding quarterback Ryan Aplin, and the conference showed marked improvement in their skill level during non-conference play.

It won't be long before the Sun Belt is on par with the MAC or MWC.

A .500 record in postseason play is certainly not something to brag about, but for a conference that perennially struggles to compete with the "big boys," it's a step in the right direction.

9. MAC

Bowl Eligible Teams: Seven

Bowl Record: 2-5

It was a roller coaster end to the season for the MAC.

Kent State and NIU duked it out for conference title bragging rights, and then NIU managed to sneak into the Orange Bowl.

Then things got ugly.

Jordan Lynch and the Huskies were handled by Florida State in the 2013 Orange Bowl, and the conference managed to lose five of its seven bowl games overall.

But those losses shouldn't wipe out a great season that saw two teams in the conference finish with 11 wins.

8. MWC

Bowl Eligible Teams: Five

Bowl Record: 1-4

Talk about a miserable bowl season.

The MWC had the worst bowl winning percentage of any conference.

Their losses even included a surprising upset by SMU over Fresno State, one of the better teams in the MWC.

But the conference continues to be one of the stronger non-automatic qualifying conferences, standing out with teams such as the 11-win Boise State Broncos.

7. WAC

Bowl Eligible Teams: Four

Bowl Record: 2-0

The conference won both bowl games that it participated in, and still had two teams (Louisiana Tech and UTSA) that finished four games above .500, but didn't play in a bowl game.

That is not bad for the WAC's final FBS season.

On top of that, Utah State and San Jose State both finished in the AP Top 25.

As the best of the non-automatic qualifying conferences in 2012, the WAC soon won't be a factor at this level.

6. Big East

Bowl Eligible Teams: Five

Bowl Record: 3-2

Teddy Bridgewater and Louisville was the highest-ranked team in the Big East heading into its Sugar Bowl meeting with Florida, and it showed us in that game that it should have been ranked higher.

The Cardinals knocked off the No. 3-ranked Gators 33-23, securing the second consecutive monster BCS bowl win for the Big East, and putting an exclamation point on the Cardinals' season.

But other than Louisville, the pickings are pretty slim.

While five conference teams made a bowl game, three of them lost, and the conference did nothing this season to help regain credibility—especially with teams bailing out left and right.

It was a tough season for the Big East, so the conference again finds itself at the bottom of all of the BCS conferences in these rankings.

5. Big Ten

Bowl Eligible Teams: Seven (Ohio State and Penn State were both banned from the postseason)

Bowl Record: 2-4

Yes, the Big Ten finished the year as the only conference that can boast an unbeaten team, but it did nothing to boost its image or reestablish itself as a national power.

Ohio State and Urban Meyer finished with an undefeated record, but they beat nobody of consequence.

Penn State finished the season with a surprising eight wins, but it was also banned from postseason play.

Michigan suffered a beatdown on a national stage from Alabama, Wisconsin plummeted from the rankings with early difficulty and Northwestern wound up being the most consistent team in the conference (other than Ohio State).

It looks as if there are some big things on the horizon for this conference, but 2012 was not kind to it.

4. ACC

Bowl Eligible Teams: Six (North Carolina and Miami were both banned from postseason)

Bowl Record: 4-2

The ACC did some really great things this season.

Clemson pulled off a bowl upset over LSU, and Florida State took care of business in the Orange Bowl.

Georgia Tech also took out USC this season, and the conference did some really solid things during the bowl season.

Even with two of the conference's top teams, Miami and North Carolina, banned from postseason play, the conference managed to send six teams to bowl games. They came away with four wins.

This was the conference's first winning bowl record since 2005, and the season was capped off with both Clemson and Florida State being ranked within the Top 15 of the final AP Top 25 poll.

It's finally done enough to sneak past the Big Ten in the power rankings, but the conference is still a long way behind the top three dogs on this list.

3. Pac-12

Bowl Eligible Teams: Eight

Bowl Record: 4-4

Before all you Pac-12 fans have a cow about being ranked behind the Big 12, there are a couple things to consider.

The Big 12 sent nine of ten teams to a bowl game, and the Pac-12 only sent eight of 12.

The Big 12 also won two of the three matchups between the conferences during the bowl season.

Even so, the difference between the two is not that large, and really, it was a toss-up.

USC did not pan out in any way like it was supposed to in 2012, but Oregon quietly put together a one-loss season with another BCS win. Stanford also punished opponents en route to a conference title and a Rose Bowl victory.

The separation between the Pac-12 and the SEC is narrowing, no matter how much SEC fans want to try and deny it.

2. Big 12

Bowl Eligible Teams: Nine

Bowl Record: 4-5

The Big 12 was very close to having a team in the BCS title game. This would have had them challenging the SEC for the top spot on this list.

Don't be deceived by the losing record in postseason play, either. The Big 12 was very good this season, with all but one team from the conference qualifying for a bowl game.

Collin Klein and the Kansas State Wildcats won the conference title, but they lost to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

As always, the conference was high-flying and loaded with explosive offenses, but West Virginia and Oklahoma couldn't get it done in the big games when it mattered.

If they had, the Big 12 might have found a way to get to the top of these rankings, but as it is, second is not bad at all—especially when the best conference is in the midst of the most dominant streak of football in recent memory.

1. SEC

Bowl Eligible Teams: Nine

Bowl Record: 6-3

The best coaches, players and teams can all be found in the SEC.

That said, is there really still a debate at this point?

Elite players such as A.J. McCarron, Sam Montgomery, Jadeveon Clowney, Johnny Manziel and Jarvis Jones flock to the conference in abundance, and fill it with players who absolutely dominate teams from opposing conferences when given the chance.

The conference finished the regular season with a ridiculous six teams in the final BCS standings, and with Alabama's destruction of Notre Dame in the BCS title game, it has captured the last seven consecutive BCS titles.

That's insane.

You may complain about the hype all you want, but this conference is legit and continues to dominate the college football landscape.