Power Ranking the BCS Conferences for the 2012 Season

There may still be a ton of football left but with majority of the year already over, it's time to look ahead to the 2012 season.

Many fans like to often argue about which conference is better. Some like to say the SEC is overrated, the Big Ten is better or the Pac-12 gets no love. Most of the time, you should check which team the person roots for who is saying these comments. Bias runs deep in college football.

As we look towards the 2012 season, which is still far away, here are the power rankings of each BCS conference.

6. Big East

With Syracuse and Pittsburgh leaving for the ACC and West Virginia going to the Big 12, the Big East is by far the worst BCS conference in college football. I think if the Sun Belt was a BCS conference, they would be higher than the Big East as well.

All joking aside, the Big East is a basketball conference and until Boise State, Houston and a few other schools join, they will have little respect. Your conference can't be taken seriously when your best team in the conference is Louisville.

Give it a couple years and we'll see how the Big East looks then.

5. ACC

There are some positive things to say about the ACC, but the lack of depth to this conference is not one of them. Clemson is a very exciting team and with the majority of the young players returning, they will remain flashy. Despite what Miami is going through, they have a great recruiting class and should be a lot better next year. Florida State and Virginia Tech will continue to remain solid.

Once you get down to the rest of the teams, it's just terrible. Ugly as the uniforms Maryland wears on a weekly basis.

Until we see more consistency out of this conference, this is where they will stay.

4. Big 12

This really isn't a diss to the Big 12, because they had an amazing conference this season. It's more of the respect you have to have for the rest of them.

The Big 12 will lose a lot of star power with Justin Blackmon, Brandon Weeden and possibly Landry Jones and Robert Griffin leaving. Adding West Virginia is a good addition, but don't think it's good enough to fill the void the Aggies are going to leave.

The Texas Longhorns should be a lot better this year with an extremely talented team returning, and it's great to see Kansas State improve as greatly as they did.

Questions about who returns and who doesn't will really determine how good this conference can be. Since a lot of those questions are unknown, this is where they stay, for now.

3. Big Ten

The Big Ten may play a boring style of football, but the rise of two historic programs helps the conference out a ton. College football is better when Ohio State and Michigan are winning. And with Brady Hoke doing a great job and Urban Meyer taking over the Buckeyes, they will be doing just that.

Michigan State has a young team that will remain solid. Nebraska is returning a lot of players and will stay competitive, as will Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin.

The Big Ten is on the rise and may begin to once again compete with the big boys.  

2. Pac-12

Surprised? Don't be.

The Pac-12 was already the offensive lover's favorite conference and with the additions of Mike Leach and Rich Rodriguez, it's about to get even better. Would you have ever watched Washington State or Arizona play this season? Bet you will now with the addition of those high-scoring coaches.

USC is off punishment and they will once again rise to the top of college football. California has a underrated, talented team that should be better. Of course Oregon will stay the high-flying, exciting team they've been the last couple of years.

The Pac-12 is on the rise and if they play up to expectations, they will make a lot of noise in 2012.

1. SEC

With the addition of Texas A&M, the SEC just became that much stronger. Many people may not like it, but this is by far the best conference in college football. They've won the last six national championships and have a consistent amount of players go to the NFL every year.

LSU and Alabama will remain the cream of the crop. Teams like Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Arkansas, Auburn and even Vanderbilt are on the rise once again.

Don't really have to explain much here as the resume speaks for itself.

The SEC is the best conference in college football and will remain so heading into next year.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]