College Football Bowl Projections: Which Conference Will Have Best Bowl Season?

It seems like just yesterday when we kicked off the 2010 college football season.  It has been a great year full of upsets and shockers as we close out the regular season.

Don't worry, though, because the best part of the season is yet to come: the college bowl season.

You know what is so good about the holidays, besides the family, food, and presents? You guessed it, a great serving of college football action that will have you on the edge of your seat. 

Here is a list of the major conferences and how they will fair in this season's college bowls.

James Evens is a Purdue student and Basketball/Football Featured Columnist for the Boilermakers, along with being a Writing Intern at Bleacher Report.  Follow him on Twitter or like him on Facebook.

The Big East

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LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 20: Noel Devine #7 of the West Virginia Mountaineers runs with the ball during the Big East Conference game against the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on November 20, 2010 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo b

By far the weakest conference this season, the Big East will struggle this season in the bowl matchups. The Big East is projected to get six bowl games this season.  

From analyzing some of the matchups, one can see the Big East going 2-4, 3-3 at best.

South Florida and Louisville have the best shots at victory for the Big East this season in the bowls.

With how even the Big East is this season, mostly bad, we really don't know where any of these teams are going to end up until after the champion is decided.  This should be a very interesting bowl season for the Big East as a conference as it tries to prove it deserves that automatic BCS berth.

ACC

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ATHENS, GA - NOVEMBER 27: Marcus Dowtin #38 of the Georgia Bulldogs tackles Orwin Smith #17 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Sanford Stadium on November 27, 2010 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The ACC has actually been somewhat decent this season.  Compared to years past when it was just full of a bunch of pushover schools, this season the ACC was a well-balanced conference, although still at the lower tier of the major conferences.

Expect the ACC to have some big victories and turn out fine in the bowls this season.  The main shots at victory are Georgia Tech, North Carolina State and Virginia Tech, if the Hokies are to meet West Virginia in the BCS game. Look for the ACC to go .500 in bowl-play this season with a record of 4-4.

Pac-10

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EUGENE, OR - NOVEMBER 26: Running back LaMichael James #21 of the Oregon Ducks points his way as he runs with the ball in the first quarter of the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Autzen Stadium on November 26, 2010 in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks won th

The Pac-10 is still looking to find out how many teams it will have playing in bowl games this season. Barring some crazy turn of events, it will have two representatives to the BCS in Stanford and Oregon. It knows it has four teams in bowls, but could possibly have a fifth after Arizona State's late-upset win over Arizona to become bowl eligible.

The bottom line is that the Pac-10 Conference has two of the best teams in the nation and beating them will be tough to do. Expect the 2011 BCS national champion to come out of this conference in the Oregon Ducks.  Although not a conference with a lot of depth, the Pac-10 should fair pretty well in the bowl games going 3-2.

Big 12

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LINCOLN, NE - NOVEMBER 26: Rex Burkhead #22 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers powers through the Colorado Buffalo defense during their game at Memorial Stadium on November 26, 2010 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska defeated Colorado 45-17 (Photo by Eric Francis/Ge

A very strong conference this year, the Big 12 will have eight teams in bowls this coming December and January.  Nothing is certain because the championship game has yet to be played, but most analysts are giving the slight edge to Oklahoma to be the BCS berth for the Big 12 Conference this season.

From my predictions, the Big 12 will end the bowl season with a record of 4-4 putting it at .500 for the postseason. Expect Oklahoma to be outmatched in its BCS bowl game and all the other matchups to be close.

Also, be on the look-out for Nebraska to beat on Arizona, as the Wildcats are extremely overrated. The record could really go either way. It just depends on who shows up and decides to play.

Big Ten

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IOWA CITY, IA - OCTOBER 23: Running back John Clay #32 of the Wisconsin Badgers is tackled by line backer Lance Tillison #50 of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes as he drove the ball up the middle of the Wisconsin Badgers during the second half of play at

The Big Ten has been one of the best conferences in the nation this season.  It had a three-way tie for first place which included Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State, all teams that ended the season with a record of 10-1.

The Big Ten will feature eight teams in bowl matchups this season including two in the BCS, Ohio State and Wisconsin.

From my predictions, the Big Ten will finish up this bowl season with a record of 5-3.  After watching the Big Ten play all season and mainly focusing on covering this conference, I don't see any of the top three teams losing in bowl games.  

After those three, the conference takes a dive for the worst at the bottom of the pack. 

The SEC

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TUSCALOOSA, AL - NOVEMBER 26: Quarterback Cam Newton #2 of the Auburn Tigers looks to the sidelines for a play call against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 26, 2010 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The SEC has been the toughest football conference in America this season.  It includes powerhouses Auburn, Arkansas, LSU and Alabama.  These teams really can play football and will give the SEC a great bowl record this season.

The SEC will have 10 teams in bowl games this season, the most of any conference.  It faces a lot of Big Ten teams in these bowl games and those should be great matchups to watch.

The SEC will go 7-3 in bowl games this season.

Although all of the attention is on Auburn as it hunts for a national title, I just can't see the Tigers beating the Ducks, although I'm hoping for a high-scoring, fun affair to watch.