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Sox33OSU
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So there has been a lot of ballyhoo about conference strength this year, with opinions seemingly changing every week. It's been interesting seeing the back and forth, yet we seem to be in the same spot as always, with the SEC on top.
1. SEC - While there is a lot of argument about Bama being the best team in the nation, it's hard to say the conference isn't the best. The SEC West appears to be making a comeback, with Bama being elite and A&M and Auburn being very good. LSU has some work to do, as their game this weekend vs. Furman was not a good showing (Furman is a bad FCS team). SCar and Missouri look like they'd be in the top quarter of any conference. Injuries have crippled UGA, and Florida wasn't that good to begin with, but top to bottom, the SEC is clearly the best.
2. Pac 12 - Oregon is, IMO, the best team in the nation. We are likely to see them square off with Bama in the NCG, which is what the nation deserves at this point. Stanford is one of the best defensive teams in the nation. UCLA is very talented, Arizona State is a tough out for anyone, and even Washington and Oregon State have looked good at times, though both have also looked pretty bad at times. Overall, Oregon is elite, Stanford is very good, and there are other teams who could give most others teams a run for their money.
3. B1G - Ohio State is elite, and the conference is tied for 2nd most teams in the BCS top 25. While they have more teams than the Pac12, I still feel like the Pac is a better conference at this point. Wisconsin should be a top 10 team right now if not for the officiating at ASU (only other loss is a 7-point loss @ #4 Ohio State). Michigan State's defense is elite, and Michigan is a very good team when they can actually put together a full game.
4. ACC - Florida State is elite overall, but they aren't getting much help from the rest of the conference. Clemson is extremely inconsistent, barely escaping games with sub-.500 NC State and BC, and they were clearly outclassed by FSU. Miami was lucky to escape with a win over a bad Wake Forest team at home, and VT just lost to frickin Duke - who, while at 6-2, is still not a good team (their best win other than VT is Navy, and they were smoked by a mediocre GT team).
5. Big 12 - Baylor could be legit but the best team they've faced is Buffalo, the only team they've faced that has a winning record. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both have bad losses to unranked teams. Texas Tech is decent but was beaten by the only good team they've faced so far. They've faced the 4 worst teams in the Big 12, and played 3 horrible teams OOC. Texas has been a huge disappointment...again. There is a very realistic chance that they will not fill their bowl allotment (7 games).
6. AAC - Does this need to be explained?
There also doesn't appear to be a BCS buster-type team worthy of mentioning. Fresno State would be a .500 team in any BCS conference, and Northern Illinois is wildly inconsistent.
1. SEC - While there is a lot of argument about Bama being the best team in the nation, it's hard to say the conference isn't the best. The SEC West appears to be making a comeback, with Bama being elite and A&M and Auburn being very good. LSU has some work to do, as their game this weekend vs. Furman was not a good showing (Furman is a bad FCS team). SCar and Missouri look like they'd be in the top quarter of any conference. Injuries have crippled UGA, and Florida wasn't that good to begin with, but top to bottom, the SEC is clearly the best.
2. Pac 12 - Oregon is, IMO, the best team in the nation. We are likely to see them square off with Bama in the NCG, which is what the nation deserves at this point. Stanford is one of the best defensive teams in the nation. UCLA is very talented, Arizona State is a tough out for anyone, and even Washington and Oregon State have looked good at times, though both have also looked pretty bad at times. Overall, Oregon is elite, Stanford is very good, and there are other teams who could give most others teams a run for their money.
3. B1G - Ohio State is elite, and the conference is tied for 2nd most teams in the BCS top 25. While they have more teams than the Pac12, I still feel like the Pac is a better conference at this point. Wisconsin should be a top 10 team right now if not for the officiating at ASU (only other loss is a 7-point loss @ #4 Ohio State). Michigan State's defense is elite, and Michigan is a very good team when they can actually put together a full game.
4. ACC - Florida State is elite overall, but they aren't getting much help from the rest of the conference. Clemson is extremely inconsistent, barely escaping games with sub-.500 NC State and BC, and they were clearly outclassed by FSU. Miami was lucky to escape with a win over a bad Wake Forest team at home, and VT just lost to frickin Duke - who, while at 6-2, is still not a good team (their best win other than VT is Navy, and they were smoked by a mediocre GT team).
5. Big 12 - Baylor could be legit but the best team they've faced is Buffalo, the only team they've faced that has a winning record. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both have bad losses to unranked teams. Texas Tech is decent but was beaten by the only good team they've faced so far. They've faced the 4 worst teams in the Big 12, and played 3 horrible teams OOC. Texas has been a huge disappointment...again. There is a very realistic chance that they will not fill their bowl allotment (7 games).
6. AAC - Does this need to be explained?
There also doesn't appear to be a BCS buster-type team worthy of mentioning. Fresno State would be a .500 team in any BCS conference, and Northern Illinois is wildly inconsistent.