The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

ACC Bowl eligible teams: 10 of 14 (71.4%) Record vs. Power 5 (and Notre Dame): 9-13 (.409) 9 wins ACC teams: 77-33 (.700) ACC opponents: 61-47 (.565) Difference: +0.135 Combined score: 312-152 (average of 34.7 - 16.9 = +17.8) 13 losses ACC teams: 72-81 (.471) ACC opponents: 109-48 (.694) Difference: -0.223 Combined score: 272-500 (average of 20.9 - 38.5 = -17.6) Overall ACC teams: 149-114 (.567) ACC opponents: 170-95 (.642) Difference: -0.075 Combined score: 584-652 (average of 26.5 - 29.6 = -3.1) Big XII Bowl eligible teams: 8 of 10 (80.0%) Record vs. Power 5 (and Notre Dame): 4-6 (.400) 4 wins Big XII teams: 37-13 (.740) Big XII opponents: 26-23 (.531) Difference: +0.209 Combined score: 170-89 (average of 42.5 - 22.3 = +20.2) 6 losses Big XII teams: 34-38 (.472) Big XII opponents: 42-31 (.575) Difference: -0.103 Combined score: 157-201 (average of  26.2 - 33.5 = -7.3) Overall Big XII teams: 71-51 (.582) Big XII opponent...

ACC Bowl eligible teams: 11 of 14 (78.6%) Bowl record: 8-3 (.727) Record vs. Power 5: 15-9 (.625) 15 wins 4 home, 3 away, 8 neutral ACC teams: 143-56 (.719) ACC opponents: 111-83 (.572) Difference: +0.147 Combined score: 552-299 (average of 36.8 - 19.9 = +16.9) 9 losses 2 home, 3 away, 4 neutral ACC teams: 66-50 (.569) ACC opponents: 70-45 (.609) Difference: -0.040 Combined score: 219-317 (average of 24.3 - 35.2 = -10.9) Overall 6 home, 6 away, 12 neutral ACC teams: 209-106 (.663) ACC opponents: 181-128 (.586) Difference: +0.077 Combined score: 771-616 (average of 32.1 - 25.7 = +6.4) Big XII Bowl eligible teams: 6 of 10 (60.0%) Bowl record: 4-2 (.667) Record vs. Power 5: 5-8 (.385) 5 wins 2 home, 0 away, 3 neutral Big XII teams: 50-15 (.769) Big XII opponents: 38-27 (.585) Difference: +0.184 Combined score: 177-104 (average of 35.4 - 20.8 = +14.6) 8 losses 2 home, 4 away, 2 neutral Big XII teams: 55-46 (.545) Big XI...

We're rapidly closing in on bowl season in the world of college football, so as we ask around this time every year, "How do the Power 5 conferences compare to one another? Is one superior to the other four?" While the SEC has been seen in the eyes of many as the best conference in recent years, with the Pac-12 being the runner-up, these same individuals have claimed that the SEC has played second fiddle to the Big Ten this year. So is that the case? Let's look at the numbers... ACC Bowl eligible teams: 11 of 14 (78.6%) Record vs. Power 5 (and Notre Dame): 12-8 (.600) 12 wins 6 home and 6 away games ACC teams: 97-47 (.653) ACC opponents: 71-72 (.497) Difference: +0.156 Combined score: 432-260 (average of 36.0 - 21.7 = +14.3) 8 losses 4 home and 4 away games ACC teams: 48-36 (.571) ACC opponents: 49-46 (.516) Difference: +0.055 Combined score: 223-312 (average of 27.9 - 39.0 = -11.9) Overall 10 home and 10 away games ACC teams: 145-83 (.636) ACC ...

For those whom missed it, the SEC went 0-4 against the ACC this past weekend, which will negate them the opportunity of having two representatives in the four-team playoff. In fact, if Missouri upsets Alabama in the SEC Championship on Saturday, the conference could go without having any representatives in the playoff. If that happened, that'd be perfectly fine with me. While the media has appeared to fall in love with the SEC in recent years, never has that been more the case than this season, when at one point, some analysts were calling for the four-team playoff to be comprised of nothing but SEC West teams. Yes, I realize the SEC has dominated as far as national championships are concerned over the past several years. However, I still don't think it's right for the media to assume a conference is superior due to history, as opposed to treating each season as a different one and forcing each and every conference to prove themselves year in and year out. We can best judge...

Going into the final weekend in the college football regular season and with all the non-conference games out of the way (excluding the coming bowl games, of course), I thought I'd do my best to rank the six major conferences. The rankings could change depending on the bowl outcomes, of course. First off, I'll run down the conference standings. To the left of the team's standing in the conference will read one of the following symbols: * (bowl eligible), ? (bowl eligible with win this next week, bowl ineligible if they lose) or x (bowl ineligible). Here we go... ACC *1. Virginia Tech (11-1) *2. Clemson (9-3) *3. Florida State (8-4) *3. Georgia Tech (8-4) *3. Virginia (8-4) *6. North Carolina (7-5) *6. North Carolina State (7-5) *8. Miami (Florida) (6-6) *8. Wake Forest (6-6) x10. Boston College (4-8) x11. Duke (3-9) x12. Maryland (2-10) Big XII *1. Oklahoma State (10-1) *2. Kansas State (9-2) *2. Oklahoma (9-2) *4. Baylor (8-3) *5. Texas (7-4) *6. Miss...