Grading College Football Conferences So Far

College football season this year is concluding its final weeks, and it seems like a good time to grade the conferences. What better way to grade conferences than by how they've done with their out of conference schedules?

Included in the rankings are the number of teams who have been ranked at one point during the season, as well as teams that are currently ranked. Three teams have been removed from consideration of their rankings: Clemson, Arizona St, and UCLA. This is because each team started the season ranked but have since gone on to losing records.

SEC

Out of conference win percentage of 80 percent. Five teams currently ranked with 58 percent of teams in conference that have been ranked at one point during the season.

Big 12

OOC win percentage of 79 percent. Five teams currently ranked with 50 percent of teams in the conference that have been ranked at one point during the season.

ACC

OOC win percentage of 77 percent. Two teams currently ranked with 58 percent of teams in the conference that have been ranked at one point during the season.

Big Ten

OOC win percentage of 72 percent. Three teams currently ranked with 60 percent of teams in the conference that have been ranked at one point during the season.

Mountain West

OOC win percentage of 69 percent. Three teams currently ranked with 33 percent of teams in the conference that have been ranked at one point during the season.

Big East

OOC win percentage of 68 percent. Two teams currently ranked with 63 percent of teams in the conference that have been ranked at one point during the season.

WAC

OOC win percentage of 49 percent. One team currently ranked with 22 percent of teams in the conference that have been ranked at one point during the season.

Pac-10

OOC win percentage of 45 percent. Two teams currently ranked with 40 percent of the teams in the conference that have been ranked at one point during the season.

MAC

OOC win percentage of 43 percent. One team currently ranked with eight percent of the teams in the conference that have been ranked at one point during the season.

Conference USA

OOC win percentage of 38 percent. One team currently ranked with 17 percent of teams in the conference that have been ranked at one point during the season.

When looking at these numbers, some interesting things start to emerge. First, only three percentage points separate the top three divisions in terms of win percentage. In terms of wins over the season, it means that slightly more than one-third of a ball game separates the win percentages of these three conferences.

The ACC has had the most number of teams ranked during the course of the season. In my opinion, this would make the ACC the most competitive conference, with the MAC and WAC being the least competitive.

The SEC and Big 12 are both incredibly close in all three metrics: OOC win percentage, teams currently ranked, and percentage of teams that have been ranked. I don't foresee the latter two metrics changing a whole lot, but I do see the OOC win percentage changing. To me, that will decide which conference is clearly the better conference.

That is, if the very unlikely happens: The Big 12 and SEC DO NOT face off in the National Championship Game.