College Football: Predicting BCS Conference Winners

As the 2011 college football season gets into full swing, the favorites in each BCS Conference will begin to emerge. It is a great honor for a school to earn the championship crown in their respective conferences.

With the addition of a Big Ten championship game, most conferences now have a game between the winner of the two divisions that each conference has.

The winner of that game decides who wins the conference title. Here are predictions for BCS conference winners. 

SEC

The Alabama Crimson Tide will win the Southeastern Conference. They have all the tools in place to go undefeated in 2011.

Their main challenger in the conference is the LSU Tigers who looked really good in beating the Oregon Ducks last week.

The November 5th matchup between Alabama and LSU will probably be the deciding factor as to which team makes it to the SEC Championship game.

Alabama has the talent on both offense and defense to make it to the SEC Championship game and beat any team from the SEC East.

Probable SEC Championship game match-up: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. South Carolina Gamecocks

Big Ten

The Ohio State Buckeyes will win the first ever Big Ten Championship game.

Despite all the scandal and controversy that the Buckeyes faced in the offseason, they are still one of the most talented teams in the Big Ten.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers, new to the Big Ten this season, should also have a strong showing in the conference.

Ohio State is as dominant on defense as ever and they have enough offensive weapons to easily win the Leaders Division in the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers should have no problem winning the Legends Division.

The October 8th match-up between Ohio State and Nebraska will likely be a preview of the first Big Ten Championship game. Both teams will also have to get past a tough Wisconsin Badgers team to make it to the big game.

Probable Big Ten Championship game match-up: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Big 12

The Oklahoma Sooners will win the Big 12 Conference. The Sooners are also a favorite to make it to the BCS National Championship game.

There is no Big 12 Championship game, so the team in the conference with the best record earns the conference title. Oklahoma's main challenger in the conference are the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

They have an overpowering offense thanks to the quarterback/wide receiver duo of Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon.

OK State's high-caliber offense could make things interesting in the Big 12, but Oklahoma should come out on top.

The two teams play each other on December 3 in what will undoubtedly be a huge game for both teams.

PAC-12

The Stanford Cardinal will win the new-look PAC-12 Conference.

The additions of both Utah and Colorado to the PAC-12 South Division increased the conference from ten team to 12.

However, both main teams of interest in the conference reside in the North Division. Those two teams are the Stanford Cardinal and the Oregon Ducks.

The Cardinal have Andrew Luck playing quarterback. He is considered the best player in all of college football.

The Ducks have a dynamic offense and great speed on defense that took them to the BCS National Championship game a year ago.

The Cardinal are considered by most to be slightly behind the Ducks talent wise, but Oregon suffered a huge loss in their first game of the season.

That one loss might just give Stanford the edge they need to make it to the PAC-12 Championship game.

Probable PAC-12 Championship game matchup: Stanford Cardinal vs. Arizona State Sun Devils

ACC

The Virginia Tech Hokies will edge the Florida State Seminoles for the ACC Championship crown.

The Hokies will be integrating a new QB after Tyrod Taylor graduated after last season. The new QB will have the benefit of arguably the most talented set of wide receivers in the conference.

If the Virginia Tech defense can be a solid part of the team, the Hokies should once again make it to the ACC Championship game.

Florida State and Virginia Tech also met in last season's ACC Championship game, which the Hokies won by a score of 44-33.

Expect a very similar conference championship game this season because both teams are very talented.

Probable ACC Championship game match-up: Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Florida State Seminoles

Big East

The West Virginia Mountaineers will win the Big East Conference.

There is no championship game in the Big East, so the team with the best record will win the conference title.

The Mountaineers are simply the best team in the conference on paper and should have no problem winning the conference.

West Virginia may get a run for its money from the South Florida Bulls who are coming off a big victory over Notre Dame.

If the Bulls can carry that momentum late into the season, then the matchup between the two teams on December 1st could be very interesting.

Especially since West Virginia has a challenging game against the highly ranked LSU Tigers on September 24.

Mountain West

The Boise State Broncos will win the Mountain West Conference title.

The only team that could challenge the Broncos for the title is the TCU Horned Frogs.

However, the Horned Frogs already suffered a loss in their first game against the Baylor Bears. Needless to say, Baylor is nowhere near as talented as the Broncos.

Boise State and TCU have a game against each other on November 12. However, there is very little standing in the way of the Broncos winning the Mountain West Conference.

Conference USA

The UCF Knights will beat out the Southern Miss Golden Eagles for the Conference USA title.

The Knights went an impressive 10-3 in the regular season last year. They then went on to earn a stunning victory over the Georgia Bulldogs in the Liberty Bowl.

The Knights have a solid QB in Jeff Godfrey and enjoy a solid running game. They will face the Golden Eagles this season on November 12 and will be looking for redemption after losing to them least year.

Probable Conference USA Championship game matchup: UCF Knights vs. SMU Golden Eagles

WAC

The Hawaii Warriors will win the WAC Conference this season.

The WAC is yet another conference with no championship game. Hawaii won 10 games last season and are returning their starting quarterback.

Most of the other teams in the conference are starting from the bottom so Hawaii will not have much competition in the WAC.

This season is pretty much the last hurrah for the WAC as they will lose Hawaii, Nevada, and Fresno State to the Mountain West in 2012. They will rejoin Boise State which left the WAC last season.

MAC

The Northern Illinois Huskies will be the surprise winners of the MAC Conference. The current favorites to win the MAC are the Miami (OH) Redhawks and the Toledo Rockets.

However, the seven home games that the Huskies enjoy as well as talented quarterback Chandler Harnish should lead them to the MAC Championship game.

The Redhawks should easily win the MAC East division and face off with the Huskies in the title game.

Probable MAC Championship game matchup: Miami (OH) Redhawks vs. Northern Illinois Huskies

The Sun Belt

The Troy Trojans will win the Sun Belt Conference title. There really isn't not much competition for Troy in the Sun Belt this season.

The Florida International Golden Panthers could make a run for a share of the title, but no other teams in the conference have much to offer.