Phil Steele from ESPN Insider. One of the more exciting things about ranking college football conferences is that the order tends to change on an almost a yearly basis. However, there is no doubt that the SEC has dominated recently, winning seven of the past eight national titles. It has held the top spot in my season-ending conference ratings for the past eight years. Phil Steele Week Get access to Phil Steeles football analysis and find his 2014 preview magazine at PhilSteele. • Projecting Top 25 teams • Preseason Top 5: FSU No. 1 • Top QBs | RBs • Top 10 Heisman candidates • Top 10 surprise teams for 2014 • Most improved teams for 2014 • Ranking every conference in CFB There have been a lot of conference changes in the past several seasons, this year included. A total of 12 teams will be either jumping up to the Football Bowl Subdivision level or playing in a new conference in 2014. These realignments have created some major shifts in power. There isnt an exact science for picking the toughest conference. You cant rely strictly upon how many bowl wins a conference racks up during the postseason or its overall record in nonconference play because some leagues nonconference slates are much tougher than others. Some of the components that go into my formula of ranking the toughest conferences are overall nonconference record, record against BCS conferences, bowl record, how many teams finished in The Associated Press Top 10 and 25 and the total number of draft picks in the NFL draft. Most important, I use my nine sets of power ratings to evaluate the teams in the conference for the upcoming season. They break down the strength of the top three teams in each conference, the top five teams, the top eight teams and the overall strength of the entire conference. With that in mind, here is my ranking of how every FBS conference will stack up this season. 1. SEC Was there any doubt as to which league would rank No. 1? The SEC had four teams in last years final AP top 10, had the best nonconference record in the regular season (47-9) and also the best bowl record at 7-3 despite two BCS bowl losses. This year, the SEC has six teams that rank in my preseason top 20, led by Alabama, my No. 2 team. The SEC also has four teams in the top 11 of my plus/minus power ratings and nine teams in the top 22 of my Power Poll, which is a combination of all nine sets of my power ratings. For the ninth consecutive season, the SEC reigns supreme. 2. Pac-12 The Pac-12 has made a move recently as the clear No. 2 conference in college football. Last year its nonconference record and bowl record were second only to the SECs and it had the most Top 25 teams in the final AP poll in their history (six). This year, both UCLA and Oregon figure to be in the hunt for the first College Football Playoff while USC, Stanford and Washington all made my preseason top 30. The only thing holding back the conference is winning a national title, which it hasnt done since USC won it all in 2004. 3. Big 12 After surprisingly having the best nonconference record (53-7) of any conference in 2011 and 2012, the Big 12 slipped last year to fourth best (22-8) and had only three teams finish in the AP Top 25. This year they could be in store for a banner season, as both Oklahoma and Baylor rank in my preseason top 10 and five teams rank in the top 30 of my Power Poll. TCU is my No. 1 most improved team in the country this year and Texas could finally play up to its talent level with new head coach Charlie Strong. T-4. ACC Like the Pac-12, the ACC has begun to make a move up in these rankings. After going just 1-11 in BCS bowl games from 2000-2011, the conference is a perfect 3-0 the past two years, highlighted by Florida States win over Auburn in last years national title game. The conference also set a record, sending 11 teams to bowls. This year, the Seminoles are the clear No. 1 team in the country while North Carolina, Clemson, Louisville and Virginia Tech all rank in my preseason top 30. T-4. Big Ten The Big Ten has slipped in the conference rankings recently primarily because of poor bowl performances. They went just 2-5 last year, marking their fourth consecutive losing bowl season. The conference did go 37-11 in nonconference action, which was third best. This year they have three teams that rank in my preseason top 13 in Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin, while Northwestern, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska and Maryland also are in my top 35. 6. American Athletic The former Big East has gotten a makeover in the past two years with the departures of Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse and additions of former Conference USA members East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and UCF. There clearly is a large gap between the top five conferences and the American, but the conference has gone 6-3 in major bowls the past nine years, including UCFs win over No. 6 Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl last year. This season, the Knights again look to be the best team in the league, but Cincinnati and Houston also rank in my preseason top 40. 7. Independents While not officially a conference, the independents deserve this ranking as they include a top-20 team in Notre Dame and a top-40 team in BYU. This also could be the best Navy team in years as three of my nine sets of power ratings call for them to win 10 games in the regular season. Army also returns 16 starters this year and is one of the most improved teams in the country, meaning all four of these programs will be playing in a bowl game. 8. Mountain West The Mountain West has clearly taken a hit in conference realignment, as it has lost the likes of BYU, TCU and Utah in the past couple of years. Last year the conference went just 1-18 against teams from BCS conferences in the regular season. That included a 1-12 mark against the Pac-12, which is noteworthy as the Mountain West went 21-19 against the Pac-12 from 2007-2012. After a subpar 8-5 season last year, Boise State looks to be back among the best non-Power Five conference teams in the country. They rank No. 22 in my preseason rankings. T-9. MAC Last year, the MAC came within one game of having Northern Illinois make back-to-back BCS bowl appearances. The conference did finish a disappointing 0-5 in bowl games, but on the bright side, they have had a player taken in the first five picks of the NFL draft in each of the past two years. This season the MAC has three teams that appear in my preseason top 50 in Northern Illinois, Toledo and defending champ Bowling Green, but unlike the previous two years, none of these teams look Top 25-caliber. T-9. Conference USA C-USA has taken a major hit in conference realignment as they have lost East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and UCF to the American Athletic while adding many former WAC and Sun Belt programs. They have gone just 32-72 in nonconference play the past two years, which is the worst mark of any conference. However, they do boast one of the best non-Power Five conference teams in the country this year as Marshall comes in at No. 19 in my preseason poll and has a great chance at going 12-0. 11. Sun Belt Last year the Sun Belt went 19-21 in nonconference action, which was the best mark in their history and a better overall record than the Mountain West, C-USA and MAC. They also have gone 4-2 in bowl games the past two years as Louisiana has won three straight New Orleans Bowls. This year the Ragin Cajuns are the class of the league and are attempting to win at least nine games for the fourth consecutive season.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 18:38:14 +0000
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