AP Poll released

[Used 2 B Hu]

2014: 4 teams in the preseason top 25, 6-5 in Bowl games, won the National Title (WHOA!)
2013: 5 teams in the preseason top 25, 2-5 in Bowl games, Rose Bowl and Gator Bowl
2012: 5 teams in the preseason top 25, 2-5 in Bowl games, Gator Bowl and Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
2011: 4 teams in the preseason top 25, 4-6 in Bowl games, won the Sugar bowl
2010: 4 teams in the preseason top 25, 3-5 in Bowl games, won the Sugar bowl
2009: 3 teams in the preseason top 25, 7-0 in Bowl games (WHOA!)
2008: 5 teams in the preseason top 25, 1-6 in Bowl games, won the Outback bowl

These are interesting figures.

What it suggests to me is that, in years when the league was expected to be strong, their teams were somewhat over-rated and as a result they wound up in unfavorable bowl matchups, leading to poor bowl records. We might actually see similar figures from other conferences for the same time period.

Of course the figures are very different for the Playoff Era; with the new setup, when you get a team in the playoffs, the rest of your teams slide up a notch in the bowl pecking order, which could also lead to poor bowl results. So I guess the main takeaway is: can't really use bowl performance as an indication of conference strength.

 

[crimsontater]

anybody that paid attention would know that the b1g had 4 bowl games against the lowly pac12 last year. and if memory serves me, they only had 2 bowl games with teams ranked higher than them. we'll call it the conference wide gift from the selection committee for leaving tosu out of the playoffs

 

[Sgt Brutus]

anybody that paid attention would know that the b1g had 4 bowl games against the lowly pac12 last year. and if memory serves me, they only had 2 bowl games with teams ranked higher than them. we'll call it the conference wide gift from the selection committee for leaving tosu out of the playoffs

Ahh yes. The lowly Washington and USC