Ranking Every College Football Conference Post-Bowl Season

Ohio State beat Oregon in the College Football Playoff National Championship, bringing the national title to the Big Ten for the first time since 2002-03.

Does that make the Big Ten the best conference in America?

The above question would have seemed ludicrous three months ago, and it still doesn't feel right coming off the tongue. But at this point, how could it not be valid? The Buckeyes are national champions, and they beat the Pac-12 and SEC champions to get here.

That has to count for something…right?

Still, the best FBS conference must have more than one good team. This list ranks all 11 leagues on the whole, accounting for depth as much as top-heaviness. Bowl games were heavy factors, but they didn't erase what happened in the regular season.

Sound off below, and let us know what you think.

11. MAC

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Bowl Results (Record: 2-3)

• Air Force 38, Western Michigan 24 (Loss)
• Bowling Green 33, South Alabama 28 (Win)
• Marshall 52, Northern Illinois 23 (Loss)
• Western Kentucky 49, Central Michigan 48 (Loss)
• Toledo 63, Arkansas 44 (Win)

It was a dreadful end to a dreadful season for the MAC. Northern Illinois, which won the conference title game by 34 points over Bowling Green, lost its bowl game by 29 points to Marshall.

Toledo is the only team that can really feel good about the way it ended the season, although Central Michigan, despite losing to Western Kentucky in the Bahamas Bowl, did manage to go out in style.

Even when the league is down, #MACtion never dies.

10. Sun Belt

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Bowl Results (Record: 1-2)

• Louisiana-Lafayette 16, Nevada 3 (Win)
• Bowling Green 33, South Alabama 28 (Loss)
• Toledo 63, Arkansas State 44 (Loss)

Georgia Southern finished 8-0 in Sun Belt play but didn't represent the league in a bowl game; the Eagles were in their first year of an FBS transition and thus deemed ineligible for the postseason.

But the work Willie Fritz's team did in the regular season, during which it nearly beat NC State (impressive) and Georgia Tech (impressive), put the Sun Belt on the map in a way unlike any year before.

The same might be said of Louisiana-Lafayette, which finished the season with a fourth straight New Orleans Bowl title. Mark Hudspeth has built a consistently winning program, which is easier said than done—no matter what conference one plays in.

9. Mountain West

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Bowl Results (Record: 3-4)

• Louisiana-Lafayette 16, Nevada 3 (Loss)
• Utah State 21, UTEP 6 (Win)
• Utah 45, Colorado State 10 (Loss)
• Air Force 38, Western Michigan 24 (Win)
• Navy 17, San Diego State 16 (Loss)
• Rice 30, Fresno State 6 (Loss)
• Boise State 38, Arizona 30 (Win)

Boise State returned to glory with a Fiesta Bowl win over Arizona, capping off a season in which it appeared to be the top Group of Five program. Others (such as Georgia Southern) could make a claim, but the Broncos are a worthy flag-bearer for the smaller leagues.

The rest of their conference, on the other hand, struggled. No Group of Five team disappointed more this bowl season than Colorado State, which won 10 games during the regular season—playing so well that its coach got hired by Florida—but no-showed against Utah.

Traditional Mountain West powerhouse Fresno State didn't look much better, losing by 24 points against Rice to cap off a rare 6-8 season.

There are pieces in the MWC to build with, especially considering the improvement of Air Force and the sustained success of Utah State, but the league as a whole was average from start to finish. A bounce-back year from Fresno State would be a big help in 2015.

8. C-USA

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Bowl Results (Record: 4-1)

• Utah State 21, UTEP 6 (Loss)
• Marshall 52, Northern Illinois 23 (Win)
• Western Kentucky 49, Central Michigan (Win)
• Rice 30, Fresno State 6 (Win)
• Louisiana Tech 35, Illinois 18 (Win)

Conference-USA made great strides in 2014. It had a nationally relevant conference champion in Marshall, but it also had some depth with teams like Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech.

The Thundering Herd, Hilltoppers and Bulldogs all won their bowl games, and each looked impressive for different reasons. Marshall dominated from start to finish against Northern Illinois. Western Kentucky validated a season's worth of offensive success. And Louisiana Tech beat a team from the Big Ten (even if that team was Illinois).

Yes, UTEP lost to Utah State in a C-USA vs. Mountain West showdown, but the Miners are not as highly regarded in their conference as the Aggies are in theirs. It is not fair to say the Mountain West is better than C-USA based on that. Because in 2014-15, it wasn't.

7. FBS Independents

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Bowl Results (Record: 2-1)

• Memphis 55, BYU 48 (Loss)
• Navy 17, San Diego State 16 (Win)
• Notre Dame 31, LSU 28 (Win)

Notre Dame did what it had to do for the FBS Independents during bowl season, proving itself with a 31-28 win over LSU.

Navy followed suit with a wild win over San Diego State, and even BYU, which lost in overtime to Memphis, acquitted itself well with a backup quarterback against a team that split a conference title.

The fate of the Independents is murky for the time being. Navy moves to the American next season, Notre Dame is partially tied to the ACC, and BYU continues popping up in rumors for the Big 12, per The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel. Weird as it sounds, these past few seasons have been the golden years of FBS Independents; we just never took the time to notice.

(Any excuse to paraphrase Randall Jarrell.)

6. American

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Bowl Results (Record: 2-3)

• Memphis 55, BYU 48 (Win)
• NC State 34, Central Florida 27 (Loss)
• Virginia Tech 33, Cincinnati 17 (Loss)
• Houston 35, Pittsburgh 34 (Win)
• Florida 28, East Carolina 20 (Loss)

It was a decent but not great year for the American, which struggled to replace Louisville at the top.

With no alpha dog to speak of, it watched three teams (Memphis, Cincinnati and UCF) split the conference title, and then it watched two of those teams lose bowl games. The only co-champion that won was Memphis, which needed a wild comeback to beat BYU.

Also needing a wild comeback to win its bowl game was Houston, which erased a 25-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Pittsburgh. It scored 22 points in the final four minutes to tie the third-largest comeback in postseason history, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Every other AAC team lost.

Still, there's almost no way for the American to ever not be ranked No. 6. It is the bridge between the five best conferences and the five worst conferences, and it will remain the bridge for the foreseeable future.

5. Big 12

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Bowl Results (Record: 2-5)

• Texas A&M 45, West Virginia 37 (Loss)
• Clemson 40, Oklahoma 6 (Loss)
• Arkansas 31, Texas 7 (Loss)
• TCU 42, Ole Miss 3 (Win)
• Michigan State 42, Baylor 41 (Loss)
• UCLA 40, Kansas State 35 (Loss)
• Oklahoma State 30, Washington 22 (Win)

The Big 12 entered bowl season on the outside looking in. It ended bowl season on the way outside looking in.

Yes, TCU crushed Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl and gave the CFP selection committee something to feel guilty about, but in every other pocket of the conference, bad things happened.

Baylor choked away a game it should have won against Michigan State. Kansas State couldn't complete the comeback against UCLA. Texas and Oklahoma were equal parts the worst teams in bowl season, getting embarrassed by Arkansas and Clemson, respectively.

It was really, really painful to watch.

Things should get better next season, with TCU and Baylor both set to return as playoff contenders and Texas entering Year 2 of the Charlie Strong era. But for the time being, things are pretty rough.

4. ACC

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Bowl Results (Record: 4-6)

• Rutgers 40, North Carolina 21 (Loss)
• NC State 34, Central Florida 27 (Win)
• Virginia Tech 33, Cincinnati 17 (Win)
• Arizona State 36, Duke 31 (Loss)
• South Carolina 24, Miami 21 (Loss)
• Penn State 31, Boston College 30 (Loss)
• Clemson 40, Oklahoma 6 (Win)
• Georgia 37, Louisville 14 (Loss)
• Georgia Tech 49, Mississippi State 34 (Win)
• Oregon 59, Florida State 20 (Loss)

It's hard to feel great about a league whose undefeated champion, Florida State, lost its biggest game of the season 59-20. But when the Seminoles dropped the ball for the first time in two years, the second tier of their conference (also for the first time in two years) was there to pick up the slack.

Georgia Tech steamrolled Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl. Clemson embarrassed Oklahoma with its backup QB. And Virginia Tech, which finished the season with the only win over Ohio State, scored a thorough win over AAC co-champion Cincinnati.

The rest of the league didn't fare as well. Ranking the ACC outside the top three was an easy call. But there are things for this conference to feel good about, and those things extend past Tallahassee.

That is what we like to call progress.

3. Big Ten

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Bowl Results (Record: 6-5)

• Louisiana Tech 35, Illinois 18 (Loss)
• Rutgers 40, North Carolina 21 (Win)
• Penn State 31, Boston College 30 (Win)
• USC 45, Nebraska 42 (Loss)
• Stanford 45, Maryland 21 (Loss)
• Michigan State 42, Baylor 41 (Win)
• Wisconsin 34, Auburn 31 (Win)
• Missouri 33, Minnesota 17 (Loss)
• Ohio State 42, Alabama 35 (Win)
• Tennessee 45, Iowa 28 (Loss)
• Ohio State 42, Oregon 20 (Win)

Ohio State winning the national championship is good for the Big Ten, but that doesn't make it (even close to) the best conference.

The same goes for Michigan State beating Baylor, Wisconsin beating Auburn and Penn State beating Boston College. The Big Ten's best programs finished the year strong; the league is no longer a punchline. On the whole, this season was a smashing success.

Let's just not get carried away.

Illinois still lost to a team from C-USA. Iowa and Minnesota were beaten thoroughly by teams from the SEC East. Maryland and Nebraska gave up 45 points apiece against teams from the Pac-12.

The Big Ten had a redemptive season and is trending upward now that Jim Harbaugh has signed on at Michigan. But it's still outside the top two conferences in America. It is closing the gap fast, but the gap is still there (and it's still pretty big).

And anyone who says otherwise is overreacting.

2. SEC

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Bowl Results (Record: 7-5)

• South Carolina 24, Miami 21 (Win)
• Texas A&M 45, West Virginia 37 (Win)
• Arkansas 31, Texas 7 (Win)
• Notre Dame 31, LSU 28 (Loss)
• Georgia 37, Louisville 14 (Win)
• TCU 42, Ole Miss 3 (Loss)
• Georgia Tech 49, Mississippi State 34 (Loss)
• Wisconsin 34, Auburn 31 (Loss)
• Missouri 33, Minnesota 17 (Win)
• Ohio State 42, Alabama 35 (Loss)
• Tennessee 45, Iowa 28 (Win)
• Florida 28, East Carolina 20 (Win)

The SEC West was never as good as we thought it was, and the SEC East was never as bad. Together, the perceived best conference in America still did a lot of strong things this season.

It just didn't keep its spot on the throne.

This is true after a bowl campaign in which the top five teams in the West—Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Auburn and LSU—all lost as heavy favorites. The SEC lacked a true signature team. Seriously, which SEC contender considers the 2014 season successful?

Missouri and…that's about it.

"The SEC had a remarkable and unprecedented run of eight straight years in the title game, and I look forward to seeing SEC teams compete in the CFP for many years to come," said outgoing commissioner Mike Slive, per Zach Barnett of College Football Talk.

Slive is right to look forward to that. The SEC will be back. It just wasn't the best conference in college football this season.

It was close, but it moved down to No. 2.

1. Pac-12

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Bowl Results (Record: 6-3)

• Utah 45, Colorado State 10 (Win)
• Arizona State 36, Duke 31 (Win)
• USC 45, Nebraska 42 (Win)
• Stanford 45, Maryland 21 (Win)
• Boise State 38, Arizona 30 (Loss)
• Oregon 59, Florida State 20 (Win)
• UCLA 40, Kansas State 35 (Win)
• Oklahoma State 30, Washington 22 (Loss)
• Ohio State 42, Oregon 20 (Loss)

Yeah, yeah, yeah: Oregon got whipped by Ohio State. So did the best team in the SEC. The only team that beat Ohio State this season was Virginia Tech—a member of the ACC. Oregon beat the undefeated ACC champion by 39 points in the Rose Bowl.

The Pac-12 was the best conference in college football this season because it had the highest percentage of good teams. That is both a fair criterion and a hard claim to dispute. Utah went 5-4 in Pac-12 play, then beat a 10-win Colorado State team by 35 points. Stanford went 5-4 in Pac-12 play, then finished No. 18 in the F/+ ratings at Football Outsiders. Those were both "bottom-half" Pac-12 teams.

The gap between the SEC and the Pac-12—if a gap exists at all—is miniscule. All the way up until bowl season, I would have the SEC in first by a nose. But the way the Pac-12 closed gave it what essentially boils down to a tiebreaker; other than Arizona, its top teams all showed well in their respective bowl games.

One bad showing from Oregon doesn't change that.