2009 Strongest Conference...Bowl Results

Iowa did great this year, and hopefully they will do even better next year to help make our conference stronger. Congrats on a bowl win....at least someone won.. lol

 

not sure i understand your post...no one said that BYU is in the pac-10 or two pac-10 teams played each other in the bowls. just who did the pac-10 teams matchup against in the bowls.

 

Your post implied that BYU was part of the Pac-10. Sorry if I misconstrued it.

 

No problem. No implication. Just bowl matchups. It was an informational post from the LA Times. I see your point, though.

 

While the Pac 10 looked very impressive in the games they played and really suprised alot of people, it most be noted that they did only get 5 teams in bowl games. The only confrence with less than that was the lowly Sun Belt. While their play in bowl games was without a doubt outstanding, I can't say their overall preformance was anything above decent, due to their poor attendence in this bowl season.

 

the and is what did it

 

I can't say I'm floored by these opponents.

 

I think this thread points to the interesting debate of today's college football world without a playoff, and should continue to fuel the fire. Yes, I think USC will conveniently use this next year as fodder for its case. But, I think that is fair--what we often find is that pollsters are hindsight 20-20 and next year's rankings are based upon this years' bowl performances--maybe the Pac10 will get some love next year. Hence GA's ridiculous starting point as No.1 this year, a convincing win over an overrated Hawaii team.

I'd add to this mix, however, that I think the educated voters will still look to a "body" of work. It's an inexact science for sure. Does this mean that the SEC is a worse conference than the Pac-10, absolutely not. It's not an apples to apples comparison. However, does it overall speak to the Big 12 perhaps not being as good? The ACC or the Big 10 not necessarily holding its own? Perhaps.

The Utah win over 'Bama will hurt SEC optics, but remember this is just #6 in the BCS beating #4. USC's dominant performance, reflects #5 over #8. If this was the basketball tournament, these upsets would be common place and more often than not, it's the match up that dictates the type of game that is played. If 'Bama played Penn State in the Sugar Bowl, perhaps they would have beat them handily. You also have to look at a lot of the bowl geographies. Most of the Pac10 games matched up teams from the Pac10 in west coast locales. The factor of having to travel and play also comes into factor (e.g., the Sugar Bowl was a factor for LSU's wins, the Rose Bowl for USC's, etc.).

But, if you look at the body of work of a conference, I see the Pac-10 wins as good (and I'll be the first to admit that the conference as a whole is underrated in the nation's eyes), but the 5-0 record, is again somewhat misleading:

#5 beating #8, but USC playing in a home field was as expected.
Oregon (#17) beats Ok state (#14) in a close game (arguably a wash)
Arizona (unranked) beats BYU (#16) (this is Pac10's signature win)
Cal (unr) beats Miami (unr) (not sure what this proves--played in SF)
Or St (unr) beats Pitt (#20) (note that this is two 9-4 teams playing to a 3-0 win).

If you look at the SEC wins, the Utah loss is not, on paper anyway, a huge disgrace, the #6 team beating the #4 team. The South Carolina loss to Iowa, two unranked teams--again, not sure what it proves. The Georgia win is to be considered a wash. What's interesting is the LSU, Vandy and Ole Miss wins. All unranked or considerably lower ranked SEC teams with 4 or more losses, beating ranked opponents. In the case of LSU and Ole Miss--beating significantly "better" opponents, on fields that favored their opponents. Moreover, these are "middle of the pack" SEC teams that not only won, but won handily over Texas Tech and Georgia Tech, who were at the top of their conferences and ranked highly in the BCS.

So, overall, I think these standings are interesting to talk about, but that's about it. I think the nutshell here was the Pac10 had a good solid performance (if I remember correctly, last year they sort of underperformed), the SEC shows the depth of their league, the Big 12 has yet to prove themselves despite big talk, and the ACC and Big 10 disappoint and show why they are overrated conferences. I'd venture to say that the Mountain West will also continue to gain traction in the polls come next year.

 

Excellent post. I agree it's the matchups that you have to look at, not just the records. I was also glad to see you mention location of the bowl game as a factor. Not that it's a deciding factor, but I would love to see a bowl game here in Columbus. Sadly, I don't see the "grey skies, ****ty cold weather bowl" drawing a ton of enthusiasm.

Go Bucks!

 

In the opinion of many OU and UF espn.com bloggers, tonight well settle the question of which conference is the strongest.

I disagree, but the argument will be made. Some are counting Texas' 52-10 regular season victory over Arkansas. (very unfair matchup). That's like Florida playing Iowa State.