College Football: Power Ranking The BCS Conferences Post-Realignment

This summer the College Football world was turned on its head.

It seemed as if there were teams moving from one conference to another every single day. There was the Pac 16 conference that almost happened. Then the Big Ten almost turned into the Big 16.

Factor in that the SEC was ready to add on Texas A&M and some of the ACC teams; if the Pac-10 and Big Ten would have gained new schools. If all of these scenarios would have happened then we would have had three "super" conferences.

But what we saw was Texas and the rest of the Big 12 (aside from Nebraska and Colorado) back out from jumping to new conferences and the SEC staying the same. The ACC and Big East did not lose out on any schools; thus keeping them on the BCS level.

The Mountain West Conference (MWC) saw one of their top teams leave during the summer. As Utah made plans to leave the conference for the Pac-10. But with the departure of Utah, the MWC did add Mid-Major powerhouse Boise State.

Come the fall of 2011 all these new BCS-conferences will take shape. Who will have the best conference after the dust settles post-realignment?

Click through the slides and see which conference will reign supreme at the end of the 2011 season.

Honorable Mention: The Mountain West Conference (MWC)

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GLENDALE, AZ - JANUARY 04: Quarterback Kellen Moore #11 of the Boise State Broncos passes the ball in the second half as Jerry Hughes #98 of the TCU Horned Frogs rushes in during the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl at the Universtity of Phoenix Stadium on January 4

Yes, Boise State and TCU (pictured above) have played in a BCS-Bowl game in the last four years. However, that does not mean that their conference is any better.

With Utah leaving the MWC and Boise State now joining, this means that TCU and Boise State will not have to have a perfect season to be an at large bid BCS-Bowl game. Their new conference should help them in the computer polls when they factor in strength of schedule.

But does it make this new MWC conference better than the Big East and ACC? Other schools like: Air Force, BYU, and Wyoming all went to Bowl Games last year, but, the conference as a whole is not on the same level as the Big East or ACC.

Would TCU or Boise State attract the Big 12 or Pac 10 in a few years? This is highly doubtful, as why would a major conference want to add on a school that has a sub-50,000 seat stadium and no real major television market?

6. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)

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TAMPA, FL - NOVEMBER 28: Quarterback Josh Nesbitt #9 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets celebrates a victory against the Clemson Tigers in the 2009 ACC Football Championship Game December 5, 2009 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Al M

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) will be the sixth best conference by the end of next year. They do have the big schools that have college football history in: Miami, Florida State, Boston College, Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech. And they have the beginnings of a good program being started by Butch Davis in North Carolina.

But, after that the conference is a vast wasteland. Schools like: Duke (5-7), Virginia (3-9), Maryland (2-10), North Carolina State (5-7), and Wake Forest (5-7) put this conference as the weakest one of the BCS schools.

Since the inception of the BCS-Bowl games the ACC has gone 2-10. With their only two wins and one BCS-National Title coming in the 1999-2000 season when Florida State beat Virginia Tech.

5. The Big East Conference

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PITTSBURGH - DECEMBER 05: Members of the Cincinnati Bearcats celebrate following their win against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers on December 5, 2009 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

I am a Big East homer since I grew up in Pittsburgh.

Do I think they have a better future than say the ACC, yes I sure do. And why is that? For one they only have a eight-team conference. This eliminates some of the lesser talented college football programs like a Virginia or Duke.

But they also have more up and coming programs than the ACC. Connecticut and South Florida burst onto the Big East scene just a mere seven years ago (five years for South Florida). Since that time each program has contended late into the season for a Big East championship.

At the end of the 2011 season the Big East may have the Heisman Trophy winner, as barring injuries, Pitt's Dion Lewis has one of the best chances at winning the trophy.

Since the BCS-Bowl games began in 1998 the Big East has gone 6-6 with a National Title win in 2002 when Miami defeated Nebraska.   

4. The Pac-10 (or Pac-12)

Tom Hauck/Getty Images

EUGENE,OR - DECEMBER 03: Oregon Ducks mascot Puddles cheers after his team's 33-37 victory over the Oregon State Beavers after the game at Autzen Stadium on December 3, 2009 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

This year the Pac-10 had the chance to make the first ever "super" Conference.

They almost had a majority of the Big 12 as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas Tech, and either Oklahoma State or Kansas was on their way to the conference. But as I stated in the opening slide Texas got cold feet at the last minute and was the first team to back out of the Pac-10 deal, leading to the rest of the Big 12 schools to back out as well, except for Colorado.

That did not stop the Pac-10 from adding one more school, as Utah came over from the MWC to put the conference at 12 teams. Now there are numerous questions for this new conference. Such as, where will the conference championship game be held? Who will go where for the new divisions? And, most importantly, what the hell do we call this new conference?

For the Pac-10 though adding Colorado and Utah does not put them ahead as such conferences like the Big Ten, Big 12, or SEC.

Why?

For starters it was not so much as adding more teams, against adding the quality of teams.

Yes, Utah has been in a BCS game before and won both times. But what has Colorado done in recent years in the Big 12? Well, since '98 they have won one Big 12 title (2001-02), and that lone Big 12 title was their only trip to a BCS game, which they lost to Oregon 38-16.

As a whole, the Pac-10 has a record of 8-4 in BCS Bowls with their lone National Title coming in 2004 as USC defeated Oklahoma.

3. The Big 12

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ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 5: Head coach Mack Brown of the Texas Longhorns lifts the trophy after his teams 10-6 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the game at Cowboys Stadium on December 5, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Imag

I had a hard time thinking which conference should go as No. 3

With the subtraction of Nebraska, more so than Colorado, places the Big 12 as the third strongest conference post re-alignment. But what keeps the Big 12 ahead of such conferences as the ACC, Big East, or Pac 10 is that they have two of the most dominate programs in the last 12 years of College Football in Texas and Oklahoma.

Both teams have won a BCS National Championship. Both teams have had at least eight wins or better since '98. Since that time the Big 12 champion has been either UT or OU eight times out of 12 years.

That being said to keep this conference as one of the best, schools like Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, and Missouri need to step their programs up to a higher competition. Losing the division format and going straight to a nine game conference round robin style play could expose some of the former Big 12 North schools.

Since the inception of the BCS Bowl games the Big 12 has gone 7-11 with National Titles in 2000-01 as Oklahoma defeated Florida State, and 2005-06 as Texas defeated University of Southern California. 

2. The Big Ten

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LINCOLN, NE. - JUNE 11: Big Ten Conference Commissioner James Delany (C) University of Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osbourne (L) at a press conference announcing Nebraska accepting an invitation to join the Big Ten Conference June 11, 2010 in Lincoln,

The Big Ten was right there with the Pac-10 this off-season. They were rumored to be adding such schools as: Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Nebraska, St. John's, Missouri, and etc. However, only one of those schools rumored to be going to the Big Ten came true, as Nebraska ended their relationship with the Big 12.

What separates the Big Ten from the Pac-10 is that the Big Ten got the more historical and better program in Nebraska from the Big 12 sweepstakes. If Nebraska has the season that they are projected to have; then there is the chance that they may take the Big 12 title with them to the Big Ten next year.

Not to mention that the Big Ten has the usual pre-season top-five team, Ohio State, and two silent but deadly teams in Iowa and Wisconsin. Both Iowa and Wisconsin might not recruit the five-star talented kids, but both teams find their ways into the Top-15 at the end of the season.

Overall the Big Ten has gone 11-12 in BCS-Bowl games with their lone National Title win coming in the 2002-03 season as Ohio State defeated Miami. 

1. The South Eastern Conference (SEC)

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PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 07: Head coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrate with the BCS Championship trophy after winning the Citi BCS National Championship game over the Texas Longhorns at the Rose Bowl on January 7, 2010 in Pasadena, Calif

The SEC is the best BCS-Conference. There really is not an argument that can be made against that statement. But for argument sake let me run down the seven BCS Championship games and the winner.

03-04 season LSU defeats Oklahoma

04-05 season USC defeats Oklahoma

05-06 season Texas defeats USC

06-07 Florida defeats Ohio State

07-08 LSU defeats Ohio State

08-09 Florida defeats Oklahoma

09-10 Alabama defeats Texas

And if you would go back to the first BCS Championship game in 98, the SEC won that as Tennessee defeated Florida State.

To put it into perspective the SEC has six national championships in 12 years. The next conference t come close is the Big 12 with two; and the SEC is un-defeated in title games.

So there you have it, as the SEC is the top conference pre re-alignment and post re-alignment.

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