HOW THEY DID 2012

HOW THEY DID 2012

December 3, 2012

There are two times during a college football season when a conference has a chance to improve the nation’s perception of it. One is the bowl season.

The problem with that is, much like the NIT in college basketball, they don’t mean the same thing to both sides. If you were one win away from playing for the national title and then lost, or if you felt you deserved a BCS bid and didn’t get one, you won’t be as excited to play as your opponent.

The other opportunity is the non-league portion of your schedule. Which league did the best? Which league did the worst? Here are the answers. With the help of my Happy Hour co-hosts Matt Markus and Mike Mreczko, we developed a point system for non-league games.

I’ll be the first to admit it’s not perfect. I took every FBS conference and scored their results. It’s nice to challenge yourself with tough games, but if you don’t win, how much credibility did you actually bring your conference. So, a loss was worth nothing.

Here is how we broke it down this year…

A win over a ranked team = 5 points (Rankings are based on the time of the game. Since the early polls are based on what was predicted for teams, any wins in September used the first Coaches poll of October.)

A win over a BCS conference team (or BYU) that finished over .500 = 4 points

A win over a BCS conference team that finished .500 = 3.5 points

A win over a BCS conference team that did NOT finish bowl eligible = 3 points

A win over a non-BCS conference team with 10 or more wins = 2.5 points

A win over a non-BCS conference team (or Navy) that finished over .500 = 2 points

A win over a non-BCS conference team (or Army) that finished .500 = 1.5 points

A win over a non-BCS conference team that did NOT finish bowl eligible = 1 point

A win over an FCS school = no points

A loss to an FCS school = minus 2 points

A win over a 4 or 5 point team on the road earned an additional bonus of 1 point

A win over a 3.5 point (or lower) team on the road earned a bonus of a half point

If the win came at a neutral site, cut the bonus point (or half point) in half.

Finally, divide the conference’s point total by the number of non-league games played by that conference (since some leagues play 4, some 5 and the Pac 12 plays 3 each) to get a final score

Here’s what we learned…

1. SEC - 1.3125 - Top scores = Florida, South Carolina & Alabama... Worst scores = Arkansas, Ole Miss & Kentucky... Best wins = Florida @ FSU, S Car @ Clemson, Bama v. Michigan, Tennessee v. NC State, LSU v. Washington, Mizzou v. ASU... League was 16-0 vs. FCS schools
2. PAC 12 - 1.305555 - Top scores = Oregon State, Stanford & Arizona... Worst scores = Colorado, Cal & Washington State... Best wins = Oregon State @ BYU & v. Wisconsin, UCLA v. Nebraska, USC v. Syracuse, Arizona v. Oklahoma State, Utah v. BYU... League was 8-1 vs. FCS schools (Colorado lost to Sacramento State)
3. BIG 12 - 1.2 - Top scores = Texas, Iowa State, Kansas State & TCU... Worst scores = Kansas, Oklahoma & Oklahoma State... Best wins = Kansas State v. Miami, Texas @ Ole Miss, Iowa State @ Iowa & v. Tulsa, TCU v. Virginia, Baylor @ LA-Monroe... League was 9-0 vs. FCS schools
4. BIG TEN - 1.088541 - Top scores = Northwestern, Michigan State & Ohio State... Worst scores = Indiana, Illinois & Michigan... Best wins = MSU v. Boise State, NW @ Syracuse, v. Vanderbilt & Boston College, Minnesota v. Syracuse... League was 10-0 vs. FCS schools
5. BIG EAST - 0.878205 - Top scores = Louisville, Rutgers & Cincinnati... Worst scores = Temple, South Florida & Pitt... Best wins = Louisville v. UNC & Kentucky, Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech, Pitt v. Va Tech, Rutgers @ Arkansas, UConn @ Maryland... League was 9-1 vs. FCS schools (Pitt lost to Youngstown State.)
6. MAC - 0.778846 - Top scores = Ball State, Kent State & Ohio... Worst scores = Eastern Michigan, Miami OH, Buffalo, UMass, Akron... Best wins = Kent State @ Rutgers, Toledo v. Cincinnati, Ohio @ Penn State, Ball State @ Indiana, Central Michigan @ Iowa... League was 10-1 vs. FCS schools (Eastern Michigan lost to Illinois State.)
7. WAC - 0.654761 - Top scores = Louisiana Tech, San Jose State & Utah State... Worst scores = Idaho, New Mexico State, UTSA & Texas State... Best wins = San Jose State v. BYU, San Diego St & @ Navy, La Tech @ Illinois & @ Virginia, Utah State v. Utah... League was 8-1 vs. FCS schools (Idaho lost to Eastern Washington.)
8. ACC - 0.640625 - Top scores = Clemson, Virginia, Maryland, FSU & NC State... Worst scores = Georgia Tech, Boston College & Wake Forest... Best wins = Virginia v. Penn State, Florida State @ South Florida, NC State @ UConn, Maryland @ Temple, Clemson vs. Auburn... League was 14-0 vs. FCS schools.
9. SUN BELT - 0.469512 - Best scores = LA-Monroe, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee & Troy... Worst scores = North Texas, Florida Atlantic & South Alabama... Best wins = Middle Tennessee @ Georgia Tech, LA-Monroe vs. Arkansas, Western Kentucky @ Kentucky, Troy v. Navy... League was 6-1 vs. FCS schools (Middle Tennessee lost to McNeese State.)
10. MOUNTAIN WEST - 0.398809 - Best scores = Boise State, Nevada & Fresno State... Worst scores = UNLV, Wyoming, Hawaii & Air Force... Best wins = Boise State v. BYU, Nevada @ Cal, Colorado State vs. Colorado, Fresno State v. Colorado... League was 7-3 vs. FCS schools (Wyoming lost to Cal Poly. Colorado State lost to North Dakota State, and UNLV lost to Northern Arizona.)
11. CONFERENCE USA - 0.208333 - Best scores = Rice, Central Florida & Tulsa... Worst scores = Memphis and East Carolina, Marshall, UAB, Southern Miss, SMU & Tulane... Best wins = Rice @ Kansas & v. UTSA, Tulsa v. Fresno State & Central Florida @ Akron... League was 5-1 vs. FCS schools (Memphis lost to Tennessee-Martin.)
• The SEC grabbed the top spot with some big road wins over ranked ACC teams over Thanksgiving weekend. 
• Wondering how Northern Illinois managed to get so high in the BCS? The MAC was great this year in non-league play with wins over Rutgers, Penn State, Indiana, Iowa, South Florida, UConn & Kansas.
• The Sun Belt, traditionally last in my rankings, took a big step forward by beating two SEC schools and Georgia Tech.
• Conference USA had a really down year. They only played six games against FCS competition, but they had trouble beating anyone at the FBS level.