10-25-2005, 10:20 AM
Tuesday Question
Rank the BCS conferences
Pete Fiutak
Q: How good are the conferences? Rank the BCSers 1-6.
A: I wrote and rewrote this four times and I still can't quite decide who's the top conference. All six have their flaws, and all six have some very, very good teams. Keeping in mind that the difference is razor thin ...
1. ACC
The middle of the pack teams aren't as good as the Big 10's midsection, but the sheer bulk of good teams makes it the nation's top league. Virginia Tech is the superstar, while Miami and Florida State, flawed as they may be, aren't too far off. Boston College and Georgia Tech are each good enough to be contenders in just about any other league, while Clemson, Maryland and Virginia provide a strong weekly schedule. NC State and Wake Forest aren't much of a picnic.
2. Big 10
It's not as top-heavy as the SEC or the ACC, but it's deep. Very deep. Illinois stinks and Indiana isn't all that great, but Purdue is a great number nine team. Michigan State and Northwestern have the offenses to hang with just about anyone, Ohio State and Penn State have the defenses to hang with just about anyone, and Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin are rock solid.
3. SEC
Georgia and Alabama are legitimate national title contenders, while LSU isn't far off. Tennessee's defense is one of the best in the nation, while Auburn and Florida have as many athletes as anyone in the country. So why isn't the SEC higher? The other six teams stink.
4. Pac 10
No one outside of USC can play a lick of defense, but the offenses are unreal. When Arizona State is right, it can bomb away with anyone. Oregon, even without Kellen Clemens, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State are good enough to beat anyone on a given day. Of course, the L.A. teams at the top of the heap help the status immeasurably.
5. Big 12
There's Texas and ... Texas. Fine, so Texas Tech is scary and Colorado is underrated, but no one else in the conference, outside of Texas A&M on a good day, throws a scare into anyone. Iowa State had its big day against Iowa, but hasn't looked too great since. Missouri might be better than anyone thinks, but if Brad Smith is off, the team can't battle the big boys.
6. Big East
It's not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Louisville showed off its firepower against Oregon State and North Carolina, while West Virginia is far better than its getting credit for. Pitt's loss to Nebraska and Rutgers' loss to Illinois hurts the cause. Syracuse, UConn and South Florida are competitive.
Matthew Zemek
Q: How good are the conferences? Rank the BCSers 1-6.
A: How good are the conferences? What's the standard? Let's remember to point out that there's no one objective standard by which to measure conference superiority. With that in mind, you have to consider this question from different vantage points.
If you go by the best TOP THREE teams:
1 - Pac 10 (if Bama and UGA weren't injury-riddled, this might be different)
2 - SEC
3 - ACC
4 - Big Ten
5 - Big XII
6 - Big East
If you go by the best TOP HALF of a conference:
1 - SEC
2 - ACC
3 - Big Ten
4 - Pac 10 (if Oregon and ASU didn't have injuries, this would definitely be
different)
5 - Big XII
6 - Big East
If you go by the best top-to-bottom balance in a conference:
1 - Big Ten
2 - Big XII
3 - Big East
4 - ACC
5 - SEC
6 - Pac 10
John Harris
Q: How good are the conferences? Rank the BCSers 1-6.
A: 1. ACC – If you took Virginia Tech, Miami, Florida State and Boston College and matched them up one through four against any other conference in the nation, they’d be 3 and 1, at least. Clemson, at best, the fifth best team in the conference, beat Texas A&M, arguably the second best team in the Big XII. Georgia Tech went to Auburn and beat them like a drum. Up and down the list, there are tough teams to beat.
2. SEC – Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and LSU would rival those four from the ACC, but Tennessee and Florida have severely underachieved this year (in my estimation). Okay, so severely is a little harsh, but the dropoff is fairly immense after the top tier teams. This conference doesn’t score much, but they’ve got the best defenses in the nation, without question.
3. Pac 10 – This surprises everyone, I’m sure, but USC and UCLA aren’t the only quality teams in this conference. Arizona State has fallen off the face of the earth, but this conference is as offensively potent as any point in their history. Oh, did we mention that USC is in this conference? Oh, yeah, I did, but it bears repeating.
4. Big 12 – The North is like carrying dead weight, but even on that side of the conference, Iowa State dominated Iowa earlier this season, Colorado is playing much better and Missouri still has Brad Smith. Texas beat Ohio State on the road and Texas Tech and TAMU can be very difficult to stop on a good day. The depth may not ultimately be there like in past years, but matched up with the Big Ten, they’re probably a step ahead.
5. Big Ten – Depth wise, this conference will have eight teams bowl eligible, but the mediocrity of the past few weeks has really watered it down. Ohio State is probably still the best team in the league, and Penn State is maybe one year away from being purely dominant. But, the rest of the league? You don’t know what’ll you get, kind of like a box of chocolates, so they’re fifth.
6. Big East – I tried. I really did. I tried to find a way to move them up, but I had to try even harder to not allow them to fall to number seven behind the Mountain West. West Virginia showed that they can play with anyone – beating Maryland on the road and battling hard against Virginia Tech. But, take your pick for flop of the year – Louisville or Pitt (although they might still be the team to beat, you watch). Syracuse is, well, I can’t watch them much any more. Rutgers has improved mightily and will go to a bowl game, but a fifth or sixth place BCS conference team could beat them handily.
Mark Risley
Q: How good are the conferences? Rank the BCSers 1-6.
A: #1) ACC – The conference has four BSC-quality teams (FSU, BC, VA Tech, & Miami) and only one true dog (Duke). Many of the ACC’s mid-range teams have, at times, looked worthy of January bowls (Virginia, UNC, Clemson, GA Tech), but then seemed out of sorts during perplexing losses. There are some quality wins by the mid-rangers (GA Tech over Auburn, Clemson over Texas A&M), but there are also some significant hiccups (Wake’s loss to Nebraska, Maryland’s loss to West Virginia, and UNC’s spanking at the hands of Louisville), which leaves some question marks. Still, from top to bottom, the ACC boasts the most balance and should yield the most post-season berths.
#2) Big Ten – The top eight teams in the Big Ten probably stack-up better than any other conference’s top eight. The league is full of surprises this year (Wisconsin, Northwestern, and, to a degree, Penn State), which has resulted in the mass parity you see in the conference standings. Non-conference losses to Texas (Ohio State), Arizona State (Northwestern), and Iowa State (Iowa) have stained the overall shine somewhat, but a nice mix of offense and defense give this conference great balance. Purdue has been a disappointment, but the rise of the underdog has negated the struggles of Tiller’s bunch.
#2) SEC – The conference has only one true “quality
Rank the BCS conferences
Pete Fiutak
Q: How good are the conferences? Rank the BCSers 1-6.
A: I wrote and rewrote this four times and I still can't quite decide who's the top conference. All six have their flaws, and all six have some very, very good teams. Keeping in mind that the difference is razor thin ...
1. ACC
The middle of the pack teams aren't as good as the Big 10's midsection, but the sheer bulk of good teams makes it the nation's top league. Virginia Tech is the superstar, while Miami and Florida State, flawed as they may be, aren't too far off. Boston College and Georgia Tech are each good enough to be contenders in just about any other league, while Clemson, Maryland and Virginia provide a strong weekly schedule. NC State and Wake Forest aren't much of a picnic.
2. Big 10
It's not as top-heavy as the SEC or the ACC, but it's deep. Very deep. Illinois stinks and Indiana isn't all that great, but Purdue is a great number nine team. Michigan State and Northwestern have the offenses to hang with just about anyone, Ohio State and Penn State have the defenses to hang with just about anyone, and Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin are rock solid.
3. SEC
Georgia and Alabama are legitimate national title contenders, while LSU isn't far off. Tennessee's defense is one of the best in the nation, while Auburn and Florida have as many athletes as anyone in the country. So why isn't the SEC higher? The other six teams stink.
4. Pac 10
No one outside of USC can play a lick of defense, but the offenses are unreal. When Arizona State is right, it can bomb away with anyone. Oregon, even without Kellen Clemens, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State are good enough to beat anyone on a given day. Of course, the L.A. teams at the top of the heap help the status immeasurably.
5. Big 12
There's Texas and ... Texas. Fine, so Texas Tech is scary and Colorado is underrated, but no one else in the conference, outside of Texas A&M on a good day, throws a scare into anyone. Iowa State had its big day against Iowa, but hasn't looked too great since. Missouri might be better than anyone thinks, but if Brad Smith is off, the team can't battle the big boys.
6. Big East
It's not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Louisville showed off its firepower against Oregon State and North Carolina, while West Virginia is far better than its getting credit for. Pitt's loss to Nebraska and Rutgers' loss to Illinois hurts the cause. Syracuse, UConn and South Florida are competitive.
Matthew Zemek
Q: How good are the conferences? Rank the BCSers 1-6.
A: How good are the conferences? What's the standard? Let's remember to point out that there's no one objective standard by which to measure conference superiority. With that in mind, you have to consider this question from different vantage points.
If you go by the best TOP THREE teams:
1 - Pac 10 (if Bama and UGA weren't injury-riddled, this might be different)
2 - SEC
3 - ACC
4 - Big Ten
5 - Big XII
6 - Big East
If you go by the best TOP HALF of a conference:
1 - SEC
2 - ACC
3 - Big Ten
4 - Pac 10 (if Oregon and ASU didn't have injuries, this would definitely be
different)
5 - Big XII
6 - Big East
If you go by the best top-to-bottom balance in a conference:
1 - Big Ten
2 - Big XII
3 - Big East
4 - ACC
5 - SEC
6 - Pac 10
John Harris
Q: How good are the conferences? Rank the BCSers 1-6.
A: 1. ACC – If you took Virginia Tech, Miami, Florida State and Boston College and matched them up one through four against any other conference in the nation, they’d be 3 and 1, at least. Clemson, at best, the fifth best team in the conference, beat Texas A&M, arguably the second best team in the Big XII. Georgia Tech went to Auburn and beat them like a drum. Up and down the list, there are tough teams to beat.
2. SEC – Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and LSU would rival those four from the ACC, but Tennessee and Florida have severely underachieved this year (in my estimation). Okay, so severely is a little harsh, but the dropoff is fairly immense after the top tier teams. This conference doesn’t score much, but they’ve got the best defenses in the nation, without question.
3. Pac 10 – This surprises everyone, I’m sure, but USC and UCLA aren’t the only quality teams in this conference. Arizona State has fallen off the face of the earth, but this conference is as offensively potent as any point in their history. Oh, did we mention that USC is in this conference? Oh, yeah, I did, but it bears repeating.
4. Big 12 – The North is like carrying dead weight, but even on that side of the conference, Iowa State dominated Iowa earlier this season, Colorado is playing much better and Missouri still has Brad Smith. Texas beat Ohio State on the road and Texas Tech and TAMU can be very difficult to stop on a good day. The depth may not ultimately be there like in past years, but matched up with the Big Ten, they’re probably a step ahead.
5. Big Ten – Depth wise, this conference will have eight teams bowl eligible, but the mediocrity of the past few weeks has really watered it down. Ohio State is probably still the best team in the league, and Penn State is maybe one year away from being purely dominant. But, the rest of the league? You don’t know what’ll you get, kind of like a box of chocolates, so they’re fifth.
6. Big East – I tried. I really did. I tried to find a way to move them up, but I had to try even harder to not allow them to fall to number seven behind the Mountain West. West Virginia showed that they can play with anyone – beating Maryland on the road and battling hard against Virginia Tech. But, take your pick for flop of the year – Louisville or Pitt (although they might still be the team to beat, you watch). Syracuse is, well, I can’t watch them much any more. Rutgers has improved mightily and will go to a bowl game, but a fifth or sixth place BCS conference team could beat them handily.
Mark Risley
Q: How good are the conferences? Rank the BCSers 1-6.
A: #1) ACC – The conference has four BSC-quality teams (FSU, BC, VA Tech, & Miami) and only one true dog (Duke). Many of the ACC’s mid-range teams have, at times, looked worthy of January bowls (Virginia, UNC, Clemson, GA Tech), but then seemed out of sorts during perplexing losses. There are some quality wins by the mid-rangers (GA Tech over Auburn, Clemson over Texas A&M), but there are also some significant hiccups (Wake’s loss to Nebraska, Maryland’s loss to West Virginia, and UNC’s spanking at the hands of Louisville), which leaves some question marks. Still, from top to bottom, the ACC boasts the most balance and should yield the most post-season berths.
#2) Big Ten – The top eight teams in the Big Ten probably stack-up better than any other conference’s top eight. The league is full of surprises this year (Wisconsin, Northwestern, and, to a degree, Penn State), which has resulted in the mass parity you see in the conference standings. Non-conference losses to Texas (Ohio State), Arizona State (Northwestern), and Iowa State (Iowa) have stained the overall shine somewhat, but a nice mix of offense and defense give this conference great balance. Purdue has been a disappointment, but the rise of the underdog has negated the struggles of Tiller’s bunch.
#2) SEC – The conference has only one true “quality