College Football Predictions 2011: Predicting the BCS Conference Winners

For the first time in years, there really is no clear-cut championship favorite.

Yes, you do have a great deal of the media choosing LSU to win its third national championship since 2003. You also have a great deal of the media choosing Oklahoma to win its second national championship since 2000.

And then you have teams that have either won or at least come close to winning a national championship in the last few seasons, such as Alabama, Stanford, Oregon and even a new—but at the same time old—face in the Florida State Seminoles.

There are six BCS conferences in the nation. The SEC is obviously the powerhouse of NCAAF, having won the past five national championships. Coming in second—depending on your geographical region—is either the Big Ten, with the addition of top 10-team Nebraska, or the Pac-12, which contains national championship favorites in Oregon and Stanford, plus the addition of Utah.

After those three power conferences, you got the bottom three in the Big 12, ACC and the Big East.

In the Big 12, you have one legit contender in Oklahoma and a really good team in Texas A&M. You have the ACC, which was expected to be the dominant conference in NCAAF in 2004 when it added Miami to face off against FSU. That hasn't happened. Miami is on its way down with its problems, while FSU remains the only legit contender in the national picture, with Virginia Tech as a consistently strong team. The Big East, well, let's just say it's waiting for TCU to arrive in 2012.

In five of the six conferences, you have at least one legit national championship contender heading into the season.

The question is, who will finish the season as these conferences' winners? 

Big East

Let's start off with the worst of the bunch: the Big East.

The Big East has eight teams, and only one of them (West Virginia at 24) is ranked in the preseason AP Poll.

In the USA Today Coaches' Poll, the Big East has a grand collection of zero teams ranked in the top 25.

The Big East representative has lost three straight bowl games by increasing margins in BCS bowl games.

Now that I made my point just how bad the Big East is, let's look at the teams that have an actual chance at winning the conference.

West Virginia is the only legit top 25 team in the conference, with South Florida possibly entering that fold as the seasons progresses. Pittsburgh is also a possible candidate, but it has question marks after going through three head coaches in the month of December alone last year. Pittsburgh is on the way down, not up.

West Virgina has finished no lower than second in the Big East over the past nine years; it has a head coach in Bill Stewart who is the second longest tenured head coach in a conference known for its constanst coaching turnover.

It returns quarterback Geno Smith, who is a potential Heisman Candidate this season, having thrown for 24 TDs and completing 65 percent of his passes.

Although UConn is the defending Big East champion and BCS representative, UConn is going through a rebuilding process of its own with a new head coach (Paul Pasqualoni) and a new RB after the departure of Jordan Todman.

Expect South Florida to give the West Virginia Mountaineers a run for their money, but put your bets on the team that has been the most consistent Big East team over the past decade.

Big East Champions: West Virginia

ACC

Let's just get this out of the way right now. There are three teams that have a shot at winning this conference—two of them are favorites, and one of them is a dark horse.

Those three teams would be Florida State, Virginia Tech and Maryland.

Florida State is the sixth best team in the nation according to preseason polls. The Seminoles are the dark horse favorites as national champions and have a young rising head coach in Jimbo Fisher. They went to the ACC Championship game after barely finishing as bowl eligible in 2009 under the guidance of Bobby Bowden.

FSU returns every single receiver that caught a pass from last season, the RB trio of Chis Thomson, Ty Jones and Jermain Thomas and one of the most experienced secondaries in the league, led by Greg Reid.

The only question mark is at QB with E.J. Manuel, where they replace the best QB in the ACC of the last few years in Christian Ponder.

If Manuel is to play as he did in spot starts over the last few seasons as Ponder's backup, FSU should have nothing to worry about.

Virginia Tech stands as FSU's biggest threat in the conference and both of them should meet in the ACC Championship game once again. Expect FSU to come out on top this time.

Virginia Tech lost three of its skill position players in Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Williams and Darren Evans.

The Hokies remain the best team in the Coastal Division due to their supreme talent and coaching, but FSU simply has more than Virginia Tech.

Expect Maryland to make a strong run at FSU in the Atlantic Division, but the deciding game will be in Tallahassee on Oct. 22 between the two teams.

ACC Champions: Florida State Seminoles

Big 12

Is this really much of a question?

You have two teams that have a shot at winning this conference: Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

Oklahoma is being touted as the national championship favorites by the media and in the preseason polls, ranking No. 1 in both the AP and USA Today Coaches' polls.

Texas A&M is a top 10 team entering the season, but many expect the Sooners to be too strong for the Aggies to overtake them for dominance in the Big 12.

The Sooners have the entire package, with an experienced QB entering his junior year in Landry Jones. Jones ranks 11th in passing efficiency amongst returning QBs, and his 38 TDs in 2010 ranked second only to Hawaii's Bryant Moniz.

The Sooners return possibly the best receiver in the country and consensus All-American Ryan Broyles, who had 131 receptions for 1,622 yards and 14 TDs in 2010.

A&M does have a complete team, but it lacks experience at the QB position with Ryan Tannehill and it doesn't have near the firepower that Oklahoma has with Broyles. A&M does have RB Cyrus Gray, who ran for nearly 1,200 yards and 12 TDs last season.

In a conference that got worse this season with the departure of Nebraska to the Big Ten, Oklahoma shouldn't have much of a problem with Texas A&M in 2011, especially with a Nov. 5 meeting with the Aggies in Norman.

Big 12 Champions: Oklahoma Sooners

Big Ten

With the big story of the offseason unfortunately revolving around the Ohio State Buckeyes' scandal and the suspension of Terrelle Pryor, the move of the rising Nebraska Cornhuskers to the Big Ten was completely forgotten about.

By the time the 2011 season closes, the Nebraska Cornhuskers will be overshadowed no longer.

The Cornhuskers should coast to the Big Ten title, with their only real tough matchups being at Wisconsin, at Penn State and possibly at Michigan in their second-to-last game.

The Cornhuskers have a run-it-down-your-throat rushing attack and a stifling defense, recipes for success in a conference that contains teams with similar styles, such as the defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin Badgers.

Nebraska had the eighth best rushing attack in the nation last season and has one of the best dual-threat QBs in the country right now with sophomore Taylor Martinez.

The Cornhuskers return many of their key defensive starters from 2010, including their leading tackler Lavonte David and senior defensive tackle Jared Crick.

Ohio State is overrated heading into the season at No. 18; do not expect the Buckeyes to contend for the Big Ten title.

As for the new Big Ten title game, expect Wisconsin to unexpectedly emerge from the Leaders Division to face off with Nebraska from the Legends Division.

It will be a low-scoring, defensive effort filled with strong running games. Nebraska will unseat Wisconsin from the Big Ten throne in 2011.

Big Ten Champions: Nebraska Cornhuskers

Pac-12

The Pac-12 just keeps getting better and better each year.

With the addition of two new teams in Colorado and Utah, the Pac-10 has officially become the Pac-12.

In a conference that suddenly contains two national championship favorites in Stanford and Oregon and another top 25 team in USC with potentially Arizona State and Utah joining that fold as the season progresses, this conference is no joke.

Stanford has the best QB in the nation in Andrew Luck, and Oregon has the most dynamic offense in the nation.

The question is which of the two will prevail?

Luck is a fine quarterback.  He'll likely go No. 1 in the draft next season, and if not No. 1 will be the top QB taken, barring some sort of mental breakdown.

I can't help but think about the QBs that had a chance to being the top overall pick or one of the top overall picks in recent memory who had less than desirable returns in their final years in college. The names that I think of are Matt Leinart, Sam Bradford, Jake Locker....

Matthew Stafford was another QB who was entering his junior season with Georgia and just about everybody gave him the throne of best QB in the nation and leader of the national champion Georgia Bulldogs in 2008.

Quite simply put, every time a QB is put on this throne that Luck has been placed on, he always underachieves.

This season should be no different.

Although Oregon is playing at Stanford on Nov. 12 in game that will likely decide who plays in the Pac-12 championship game and who will be conference champions, Oregon just has too many threats to be contained.

The Ducks have one of the best dual-threat QBs in the country and the ultimate leader of the zone-option offense in Darron Thomas. His 151.0 efficiency rating was the 17th best in the nation. They have LaMichael James, who is the best RB in the nation and was a 2010 Heisman finalist.

To go along with that, despite playing in the offense- and possession-heavy Pac-12, Oregon's stifling defense only gave up 18.7 points per game last season.

Oregon plays Utah in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game, and the Ducks win big.

Pac-12 Champions: Oregon Ducks

SEC

As for the dominant brand in college football, the conference that has won the past five national championships, three of the past four Heisman winners, 25 teams ranked in the final AP top 25 in that span, 37 weeks as the AP No. 1, an 8-2 record in BCS bowl games and finally 37 bowl wins and 46 postseason appearances.

In all of those statistics, the SEC ranks first.

This season should be no different than the previous five.

Heading into this season, the SEC has six teams ranked in the top 25.

As for who should win the SEC, the question is a bit of a toss up.

You have your national championship favorites in LSU and Alabama; you have a dark horse in South Carolina because of the loads of experience it has and a coach named Steve Spurrier; and finally you have those in the second tier, such as Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi State and defending national champion Auburn.

Out of all of these teams, expect Alabama to win this conference.

After a heartbreaking 24-0 blown lead versus rival Auburn in the final game of the regular season, expect the Crimson Tide to outlast LSU in the West for the division title and eventually the conference title.

LSU returns many of its starters, but ultimately its lack of a true QB will cost the Tigers in the end. Jordan Jefferson has his own legal problems right now, which was the last thing the team needed, and even if he does start the entire season, it'll be a season of inconsistency.

Alabama also is inexperienced at QB with the loss of Greg McElroy, but regardless of whether it's A.J. McCarron or Phillip Sims at QB, Alabama should be fine with the return of Trent Richardson—a potential Heisman candidate—and the return of the majority of the offensive line.

South Carolina vs. Alabama in the SEC championship game, with Alabama coming out on top.

SEC Champions: Alabama Crimson Tide