BCS Rankings Week 13: Ranking the Conferences
Now that Week 13 of the BCS Rankings have come out, we can once again debate which teams are overrated and which teams are underrated.
Similarly, we can use them to answer the age-old question of which conferences are the best. Are all the BCS conferences better than the non-automatic qualifying conferences?
Is the SEC the best in the land? Or does that title belong to the Big 10 or Big 12? How far has the ACC fallen?
Read on to find out how the conferences stack up.
No. 8-28: Those Without a Team in the Rankings
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Of the 28 conferences in college football, including the IA Independents and the IAA Independents, only seven have schools included in the BCS Rankings this week.
For the sake of convenience and space, I'm just going to list the remaining 21 here in no particular order so you know why they aren't included later on:
Big East, Big Sky, Big South, CAA, Conference USA, Great West, IA Independents, IAA Independents, Ivy League, MEAC, MId-American, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot League, Pioneer, Southern, Southland, Sunbelt, SWAC.
No. 7: Atlantic Coast Conference
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The ACC currently has three teams in the BCS Rankings.
The North Carolina State Wolfpack are ranked No. 23, jumping into the rankings after being unranked last week.
The Florida State Seminoles are ranked one spot higher at No. 22, a three spot jump from No. 25 last week.
Finally, the Hokies of Virginia Tech stayed put at No. 16.
It's most definitely a down year for the ACC.
No. 6: Western Athletic Conference
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The WAC only has two teams in the rankings, but they're ranked much higher than those in the ACC.
The Nevada Wolfpack are the lower-ranked of the two at No. 19. They've moved down one spot since last week.
Way up in the rankings at No. 4, although many feel like they should be higher, are the Boise State Broncos.
One team is sure to move down soon though as they have yet to play each other.
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No. 5: Mountain West Conference
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The Mountain West also has just two teams in the rankings, and in fact, they have the same average ranking as those ranked from the WAC. But, because they lay claim to the highest ranking of the bunch, they get to sit at No. 5 in the conference standings.
The Utah Utes rose three spots in the rankings from No. 23 to No. 20, but they still trail TCU by a significant margin.
The Horned Frogs of TCU are just one slip-up by Oregon or Auburn away from playing for the national championship. They sit pretty at No. 3 in the BCS Rankings.
No. 4: Big Ten
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Here's where it gets a little tricky.
The Big Ten has four great teams in the rankings, but none of the truly elite ones.
The Iowa Hawkeyes, after a tough loss to Ohio State, fell from No. 20 to No. 24.
After a big jump in the rankings from where Iowa sits, Michigan State moved up from No. 12 to No. 10.
Only slightly higher are the Ohio State Buckeyes. After the victory over Iowa, Ohio State moved from No. 9 to No. 8.
One spot ahead of Ohio State is Wisconsin. The Badgers remained in their No. 7 spot.
No. 3: Pacific-10
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Despite having one fewer team than the Big Ten, the Pac-10 gets the nod because of the presence of elite teams. Two of the Pac-10's schools are ranked above the entire Big Ten.
Bringing up the rear are the Arizona Wildcats at No. 21. They moved down one spot from last week.
At a much more lofty ranking is the Stanford Cardinal. The team stayed put at No. 6.
Finally, there isn't a team ranked any higher than the Oregon Ducks. They remain No. 1 for yet another week.
No. 2: Big 12
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Because of sheer volume, the Big 12 gets the nod over all but one of the conferences.
The Texas A&M Aggies are the lowest ranked team in the Big 12. They jumped up to No. 17 this week after beating the next team listed on this slide.
Two spots above them sit the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who fell precipitously from No. 8 to No. 15 after a loss to Texas A&M.
One spot above Nebraska is Missouri. The Tigers rose one spot to No. 14.
Making it three in a row for the Big 12, the Oklahoma Sooners sit at No. 13. They also moved up one spot.
Finally, the Oklahoma State Cowboys similarly rose one spot from No. 10 to No. 9.
There aren't any truly elite teams in the conference this year, and the Texas Longhorns are missing from the rankings during a down year, but the conference itself is still elite.
No. 1: Southeastern Conference
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This is sure to create some controversy, but the SEC is currently the top conference in college football, at least according to the BCS Rankings in Week 13.
They boast more teams in the top 25, six, than any other conference.
The lowest of those teams is also the lowest in the entire rankings. The Bulldogs of Mississippi State sit at No. 25 after falling four spots.
Seven spots above Mississippi St. are the South Carolina Gamecocks. South Carolina moved down one spot from No. 17 to No. 18.
Then we have the Arkansas Razorbacks at No. 12. They, unlike the two aforementioned teams, actually moved up one spot.
One spot above Arkansas is Alabama. The Crimson Tide have a chance to shoot up the rankings with the upcoming Iron Bowl against Auburn.
The second-highest ranked team in the SEC is LSU. The Tigers remain put at No. 5 for another week.
Speaking of Tigers, the ones from Auburn remain at No. 2 for yet another week. A win over Alabama should put them into the national championship game.
It's tough to argue with the SEC this year.
Recap
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Just to recap, here are the top conferences that have a team in the rankings:
No. 7: ACC
No. 6: WAC
No. 5: Mountain West
No. 4: Big Ten
No. 3: Pac-10
No. 2: Big 12
No. 1 SEC
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