The Mountain West Conference has a bittersweet taste in its mouth after a roller coaster of an off-season.

The MWC landed, perhaps, the biggest BCS buster in the nation in Boise State, which could have given them a possible BCS bowl bid with three teams capable of beating the giants of the college football world.

But the MWC lost any progress they made as they lost a very talented Utah team to the Pac-10.

There will be a significant drop-off in the quality of play if the 2009 season trend were to continue.

Boise State and TCU would be the only true competitors for the MWC, which would hurt their already remote chances of gaining a BCS bowl bid in the future.

However, if either team, or anyone in the conference, can finish the season with a perfect record, they would be in strong consideration for a BCS bowl appearance.

The Big East was not a recipient or a victim of the college football realignments for the 2011 season, but return with a deep, talented pool of teams, all of which have a chance to make a big impact in the conference.

All eight teams are returning at least 13 starters, making it a dangerous conference to play in.

Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and last year's conference champion Cincinnati lead this young conference and will attempt to build on their 4-2 bowl season from 2009.

The Big East's quality of play will need to increase as Cincinnati, who received the conference's automatic BCS bowl bid, was blown out by Florida 51-24 in the Sugar Bowl.

With three new coaches now residing in the Big East, solid coaching and exceptional play may separate the good Big East teams from a BCS bowl-bound squad.

The quality of play in the Pac-10 has seen a slight decrease over the past few seasons, but with sanctions plaguing both the USC football and basketball teams because of violations of NCAA rules.

USC will be ineligible for post-season games for two years and will vacate 13 wins, including their 55-19 Orange Bowl victory over Oklahoma.

Oregon has also lost its play-making quarterback Jeremiah Masoli for the entire 2010 season because of his involvement in a theft at an Oregon fraternity.

There is not all bad news for the Pac-10.

The conference landed BCS giant killer, Utah, as well as added long-time Big 12 stalwart, Colorado, to make its conference eligible for a championship game, which is only given to conferences with at least 12 teams.

With problems concerning USC and Oregon, this Pac-10 race could be highly contested, but could have a team emerge that may not have the quality of other power conferences.

The ACC was also unaffected by the few teams that were realigned to different conferences, but have a deep group of teams ready to challenge incumbent Georgia Tech for the conference crown.

At least four teams are expected to be in the preseason top 25, with Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Miami as potential teams on the rise.

If any of these teams can survive the ACC gauntlet of a regular season unscathed, it would bring much needed national attention to the conference championship game.

Georgia Tech, as the ACC's representative in the Bowl Championship Series, lost their Orange Bowl match-up to Iowa 24-14, but will look to build from that loss.

This conference will be a tough one to win, as it will be a free-for-all within the coastal division of the ACC to determine who will play for the ACC Championship and a bard-earned BCS bowl berth.

The Big 12 is lucky to still be in existence after nearly losing half of its members to various conferences around the country.

Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe did everything he could to keep national powers Texas and Oklahoma, as well as Texas A&M and Oklahoma State in the conference.

That did not prevent the Big 12 from losing a few members, as Colorado was the first team leave the conference, departing for the Pac-10.

Shortly thereafter, Nebraska exited the conference and will be joining an already impressive Big Ten, both of which will not go into effect until the 2011 season.

However, with extremely potent offenses still residing in the Big 12, led by Texas, Oklahoma, and an improving Texas A&M squad, this conference is still capable of competing with other major programs.

Whoever exits this conference as champion, will be battle-tested and more than ready for a BCS game.

The Big Ten has significantly improved because of the emergence of Iowa and Wisconsin as credible threats to Ohio State.

All three finished with at least 10 wins last season, and Ohio State put forth a great performance in a 26-17 win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

Not only does the Big Ten look very credible right now, but will also be next season because of the addition of Big 12 power Nebraska.

Nebraska, who was literally one second away from winning the Big 12 Championship and earning a BCS bowl berth, will add its talent to an already stacked conference.

With 12 members in the conference, taking effect in 2011, the winner of the Big Ten Championship Game will not only be in line for a BCS bowl game, but perhaps the biggest BCS game in college football.

The SEC continues to be the best conference in college football.

Despite narrowly missing the opportunity of adding Texas A&M and possibly even Oklahoma, the SEC remains intact with national power Florida and last year's BCS National Champion Alabama leading the conference.

The SEC had seven of its 12 teams win at least eight games last season, including the undefeated champion Crimson Tide.

It will look to be another two-horse race for the SEC Championship this season, with Alabama and Florida on a collision course for an important Oct. 2 date, with early BCS implications on the line.

The SEC is a deep, talented conference but look for both Alabama and Florida to possibly be early favorites to play in Glendale, Ariz. for this season's BCS National Championship.