Ranking the BCS Conferences

So here we are at week 2 of the college football season. What we learned last week is: The ACC is still bad (see Duke and Virginia). Nobody really knows what to think about the Big East (no ranked teams in the opening polls). The Pac-10 is a two team race (USC and Cal). The Big 10 is the luckiest conference (Ohio St, Minnesota, Iowa). The Big 12 has the Heisman Front runner, and his name is not Bradford. The SEC is still the toughest conference.

Let's get to the rankings

1. SEC

Without a question. The top 2 teams from last season, Florida and Alabama, started off really strong. Florida started where they left off last season against Charleston Southern. Alabama had a very impressive win over a top 10 Virginia Tech team who many thought would give the ACC a chance to compete for a National Championship. Ole Miss blew out Memphis but didn't look like it would in the first half. Auburn and Tennessee started off there seasons with new coaches and both had very impressive wins against smaller schools. The conferences other top team, LSU, looked very shacky on defense against a Washington team that won a total of 0 games last season.

2. Big 12

Texas is the team to beat in the Big 12. Colt McCoy in my opinion is now the Heisman frontrunner. With the loss of QB Sam Bradford for a couple weeks and TE Jermaine Gresham for the season Oklahoma has some huge hurdles to overcome. Oklahoma State showed that it can compete for a Big 12 Championship this season and with an improved defense it might just do so. Baylor is not the Baylor of old with QB Robert Griffin. The Big 12 North teams are still the little sisters to the south but Missouri, with a suprise win over Illinois, wants to show everyone that they are not backing down. I think the north is Nebraska's to lose though.

3. Pac 10

USC is clearly still the favorite here, but they have a HUGE test this week at Ohio St. Cal hushed the critics with a very convincing win against Maryland, a team that embarrassed them last year. Oregon, who people thought could compete with USC this season, lost there opener to Boise St. Things got worse for the Ducks after leading RB LaGarrette Blount punched a Boise St lineman after the game and was suspended for the season. Teams like Stanford are on the rise, and after a winless season Washington almost pulled the unthinkable against LSU.

4. Big 10

Everyone thought the Big 10 would be down this year, and well they were right, for the most part. Ohio St has a chance to show everyone that last week was a fluke. They should have blown out Navy but escaped with a 31-27 victory. This week it's USC. But that's not all Iowa had to block 2 FG attempts in the final seconds to beat Northern Iowa 17-16, and Minnesota had to win in OT against Syracuse. Michigan showed that they do have an offense and coach Rich Rodriguez silenced the critics for one week at least. Penn St is playing great and looks to be the favorite in this league.

5. ACC

I should have put the ACC 6th in the rankings because of the horrible losses that happend last week. For starters the conference favorite, and National Championship contender Virginia Tech, was horrible on offense and defense against a great Alabama team. If it wasn't for a kick-off return for a TD and a couple bone head penalties this game would have been a blow-out. Duke and Virginia both lost to FCS (D1AA) teams, and Clemson was the only team to beat a FBS (D1A) team. The reason why I didn't put them 6th is because Georgia Tech and Miami are the top teams and Virginia Tech and Florida St are still in the mix for a conference championship. All four teams could be ranked at seasons end.

6. Big East

Last season's Big East champs, Cincinnati, showed they are still the team to beat. South Florida and Pitt could also contend. Pre season favorite Rutgers was destroyed by Cincinnati 47-15. West Virginia looked very unimpressive as well. Besides that there really isn't anybody that could step up and be a national contender. When the pre season polls were released a total of 0, yes 0, teams were ranked in the top 25. I think any of the top 3 teams (Cincinnati, South Florida, Pitt) could win this conference and still have 3 or more losses.

Extra Point

BYU beat Oklahoma last week 14-13. A very convincing win for the Mountain West Conference who is loaded this season with BYU at the top, TCU, and defending MWC champs Utah. I would put the MWC above the Big East, but this is a BCS Conference Ranking. All 3 teams are ranked in the top 25 as well. The same number as the Pac 10 and Big East COMBINED!