THE BEST CONFERENCE IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL ISN’T THE SEC, BIG TEN, OR PAC-12
by JOHN PUDNER28 Sep 2015Auburn, AL2
The CBS emblem during SEC games includes the words, “The Best Conference.” But the SEC lacks the edge crucial in final decision on college playoff invites.
Early last year the SEC ranked a touchdown better than every conference and talk centered on two or even three teams receiving invites. But it became acceptable to pick Ohio State after the SEC faltered and the Big Ten closed the gap (see Indiana’s win at Missouri).
Teams are graded from an “A” for performances that help their conference’s rating dramatically to “F” for a performance that hurts conference credibility. An “I” by their score means in intra-conference game that does not impact the conference rating.
This year the Big Ten ranks fourth and not far behind any conference, but the conference did not do enough to justify two playoff teams. Either No. 1 or No. 2 Michigan State or some other Big Ten team will make it but not both. The Big 12 is the top conference, and in an eight-team playoff they would be the one to deserve two teams in Baylor and TCU.
This is the last week with the big scoreboard in the final week of the conferences jockeying for position in games crucial to resumes of potential playoff teams.
ACC drops one to +7, 5th best conference
Indiana led the Big Ten past the ACC with a win over Wake Forest coupled with Boise State’s humiliation of Virginia and East Carolina beating Virginia Tech. At this stage, an ACC champ must go undefeated to have a chance to emerge from the fifth best conference and grab a playoff spot, but a Clemson win over Notre Dame next week would give the conference a better shot.
American stays +0, 6th best conference
ACC Pred Pwin Score/Conf Grade Opponent Opp Conf Boston College 3 57% 17-14 C N Illinois Mid-Am -6 Clemson 0% Idle Duke -7 28% 34-20 I Georgia Tech ACC +8 Florida St 0% Idle Georgia Tech 7 72% 20-34 I Duke ACC +8 Louisville 28 97% 45-3 C+ Samford Big Ten +8 Miami FL 0% Idle NC State 11 77% 63-13 A South Alabama SunB -14 North Carolina 31 99% 41-14 C Delaware FCS Pittsburgh 0% Idle Syracuse -18 11% 24-34 C+ LSU SEC +10 Virginia 0 50% 14-56 F- Boise St Mt West -13 Virginia Tech 3 60% 28-35 D East Carolina Amer +0 Wake Forest -3 43% 24-31 D Indiana Big Ten +8 6-4, +55 points 55 5.9 ACC Proj
East Carolina’s second straight win over Virginia Tech of the ACC was enough for the American to hold onto a strong +0 as easily the best Group of 5 conference and only a touchdown worse than the ACC overall. This gives the eventual champ a great shot to be the one team from the Group of 5 conferences to get a major bowl bid, and a separate post makes the case that an undefeated Memphis or Temple actually would deserve a playoff spot.
Big 12 stays +11, Best Conference
American Pred Pwin Score/Conf Grade Opponent Opp Conf Cincinnati -8 33% 46-53 I Memphis Amer +0 Connecticut -11 23% 18-28 I Navy Amer +0 East Carolina -3 40% 35-28 B Virginia Tech ACC +8 Houston 17 84% 59-14 B Texas St SunB -14 Memphis 8 67% 53-46 I Cincinnati Amer +0 Navy 11 77% 28-18 I Connecticut Amer +0 SMU 9 68% 45-48 D- James Madison FCS South Florida 0% Idle Temple 0% Idle Tulane 0% Idle Tulsa 0% Idle UCF -7 35% 14-31 C- South Carolina SEC +10 4-4, +16 points 16 4.3 Amer Proj
In the only inter-conference game West Virginia destroyed Maryland to keep the Big 12 as the No. 1 Conference in the final week for most conferences to prove themselves before conference play.
Big Ten improves one to +8, 4th best conference
Big 12 Pred Pwin Score/Conf Grade Opponent Opp Conf Baylor 28 97% 70-17 B Rice CUSA – 8 Iowa St 0% Idle Kansas -4 40% 14-27 C- Rutgers Big Ten +8 Kansas St 0% Idle Oklahoma 0% Idle Oklahoma St 1 51% 30-27 I Texas Big 12 +11 TCU 10 78% 53-48 I Texas Tech Big 12 +11 Texas -1 49% 27-30 I Oklahoma St Big 12 +11 Texas Tech -10 22% 48-53 I TCU Big 12 +11 West Virginia 16 82% 45-6 B Maryland Big Ten +8 4-3, +40 points 40 4.2 Big 12 Proj
Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Nebraska survived scares from non-Power 5 teams, but they won all three and Michigan thrashing BYU and Indiana beating Wake Forest of the ACC helped them nudge ahead of the ACC by a point for 4th place.
Big Ten Pred Pwin Score/Conf Grade Opponent Opp Conf Illinois 12 76% 27-25 C- MTSU CUSA – 8 Indiana 3 57% 31-24 B Wake Forest ACC +8 Iowa 31 99% 62-16 C+ North Texas CUSA – 8 Maryland -16 18% 6-45 D West Virginia Big 12 +11 Michigan -2 47% 31-0 A BYU ind +0 Michigan St 25 95% 30-10 C C Michigan Mid-Am -6 Minnesota 9 68% 27-24 C- Ohio Mid-Am -6 Nebraska 27 96% 36-28 D Southern Miss CUSA – 8 Northwestern 21 94% 24-19 C- Ball St Mid-Am -6 Ohio St 28 97% 38-12 C W Michigan Mid-Am -6 Penn St 17 87% 37-21 C San Diego St Mt West -13 Purdue -2 47% 28-35 C- Bowling Green Mid-Am -6 Rutgers 4 60% 27-14 C+ Kansas Big 12 +11 Wisconsin 30 98% 28-0 C Hawaii Mt West -13 10-4, +187 points 187 10.4 Indiana road huge
Originally Posted by badger
