Best Conference?

ksimpsc

ksimpsc

Pretty much a regular
What conference is the best at this point?

For damn sure is not the SEC. Looking at the SEC standings the Gamecocks have beaten all the dregs of the East and they themselves are a dreg of the east with UGA standing along. In the west you have Alabama.

Is it the Big 10? 3 of the current top 10 and has seen consistent play the last few years.

ACC? Defending national champions, 3 of current top 20.

Big 12?

Just interesting to think not but a few years ago the SEC was dominating and the narrative was as such even a few years after the decline, but now there is not really a narrative and only has the SEC been criticized when it did poorly in bowl season vs ACC.

I guess I am leaning ACC or Big10.
 
Big Ten West is brutal sans Wisky. Big Ten East is obviously pretty good with just Rutgers being awful.
 
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Depends on how you want to play this. I think the SEC has better athletes. Their coaching is bad.

BIG has the better upper echelon, with more viable teams. Coaching is much better.

PAC to me is the most competitive. Most teams have the ability to beat their conference opponent.

ACC is similar to PAC, aside Clemson. I think the coaching is on par with the BIG.

BIG 12 is the most entertaining. The most unpredictable to me.
 
It is funny too because 3-4 years ago the big complaint was the B1G had very few good coaches. Big upgrade at a few places.
 
The way I prefer to judge conferences is how hard it is to play team after team throughout the year and still have enough healthy players to win the title. The fact most conferences are split makes it harder to judge because a team can go through one of the split conferences and sometimes avoid every tough team in the conference until the title game.

I've always though it would be hardest to make it through the season in one piece in the SEC. Even with it down like it is this year teams still have to face the wear and tear on players of playing hard, physical football week after week in front of insane crowds. Playing in the Big 10 is tough if you have to play the four stud teams in the East, but there are some cupcakes there.

If you judge it based only on the best teams then the ACC joins the crowd.

Big 12 and Pac 12 are not as tough physically, but both are hard to go through undefeated because so many home teams put up points so fast. If you go into some of the stadiums in those two leagues and are flat or a little off you can be down four scores in the first quarter. That adds an element of unpredictability, but I don't think teams from those two conferences could survive the week-to-week physical pounding you get in other conferences.

I'm tempted to say the Big 10 because of all those good teams in the East, but then I remember that every team in the East that played in the post season lost last year so they still have to prove it.

That leaves the SEC and the ACC and with Florida State being down this year I will say the SEC--even with all the turmoil--is still the toughest conference to win in 2017.
 
Well the reason I asked was lamenting seasons past and how dominant the SEC was at the time and the rhetoric surrounding it. I was curious if we would see another conference step up into that same position as the SEC has declined some but you make a good point about the atmosphere in the SEC not changing even if the play has some.

Also, was just interested on the boards perspective at this point as I think we have all had shifting opinions over the last few years as the coaching and recruiting landscapes have changed.

There is something to be said for a conference that may not be as "good" but always produces competitive games that are enjoyable to watch.
 
You'll never see another run like the SEC had

The other conferences looked around....hired better coaches and started to recruit differently to catch up
 
Lot of parity this year
Or mediocrity, lol


Or it's Clemson and Bama again if Bryant doesn't get hurt?

I know this......pretty tired of Bama
 
Lol and I know you'll laugh at it ksimp

I think comparing conferences is something only SEC people do, like some short dick contest. It's all about matchups obviously, and just silly. But SEC! SEC!

That said, I hope the rest of my conference sucks and my team somehow is much the best. Kudos to Bama there...
 
twinkie13 said:
You'll never see another run like the SEC had

The other conferences looked around....hired better coaches and started to recruit differently to catch up
Click to expand...

The 6-8 years of SEC was pretty dayum good but I am sure there have been periods in other eras that have lasted as long or longer as far as strength.
 
BIG 10 will have 3 teams in top 12 before bowl season... but that is just how it shakes out...

SEC has maybe the two best teams at this point and will have a 1 game playoff for their spot in the playoffs but the rest of the league is bad or average...Auburn is on either side of the good to average line depending on the week...

B12 TCU/Okie Lite/WVU/ Oklahoma/ Tech....not bad...a few horrid teams too with the middlers...

ACC obviously the FSU injury hurt but Clemson still a playoff team most likely with Miami/Tech n Tech n NCST being good too...

PAC12 does not have a worthy candidate for the playoffs...

ND is wildcard...


Conferences as of now...

1. ACC
2. BIG
T-3 B12 and SEC


Only candidates for playoffs, IMO...

Clemson. Miami. Georgia. Alabama. TCU. Okie Lite. Okie. Ohio State. Penn St. Wisky(by default) and Notre Dame.

11 teams for 4 spots.
 
I would imaging Oklahoma and Nebraska had a helluva run at some point, no one else in the Big 8 was competitive for years and years but there were no scholarship restrictions then

Fuck everyone else in the conference. Hope they lose all bowl games...this isn't some regional war lol
 
Yeah, things were much different in 70's and 80's... lotta Big 2 in Big Ten and Big 8 with the little step-sisters behind them.
 
Fwiw my view today is Big 10 East would be best, ACC in general 2nd, SECW 3rd I guess, Big12 4th...then maybe Pac12 North but this is why...who fuckn cares. It's just not even fun really

Matchups matter
 
Lol, should be. They could do a Woody one for all I care with the ending obviously coming with the punch in bowl game.
 
I think the Big10 is down year over year. in fact, I am sure of it. Some improvement at the bottom I guess. PSU clearly not as good, Michigan clearly not as good, Minnesota clearly not as good, Indiana clearly not as good and TOSU about the same I guess and Wisconsin is a little better I suppose. The bottom got better though with Purdue, Rutgers, and Illinois all getting better. Terps doing their annual injuries and looked like they were going to be better this year but are pretty below average now. NW sucks.

That said, I think the Big10, Big12, SEC, ACC and Pac12 are all relatively even.

I think if you lined them up top to bottom, SEC would have the most favorites.

I am telling you though .. beware the independent.
 
And it is a really bad year for the mid-major conferences. The American, in particular, is way, way, way down compared to other years. CUSA is down, MW is probably the same as last year but last year was the worst year I can remember for that conference, the sun belt is worse, the MAC is a lot worse.

I think the Pac12 is a little underrated when you consider the fact that they have a lot of very difficult outs in that conference. Throw oregon state out ... and Cal maybe? ... I dunno ... pretty tough lineup to escape with a win every week.
 
B.A.R. said:
Only candidates for playoffs, IMO...

Clemson. Miami. Georgia. Alabama. TCU. Okie Lite. Okie. Ohio State. Penn St. Wisky(by default) and Notre Dame.

11 teams for 4 spots.
Click to expand...

What if NC State ran the table, or is the non-likelihood of that happening factored into your list? Next two games are at Notre Dame and home to Clemson. Gotta think if they actually took those and won out, the ACC title game against presumably Miami would be a de facto 1-game playoff for the playoff.
 
What if Kentucky runs the table? hahaha just kidding.

Considering past history, I would eliminate USF and UCF even if they go undefeated given their schedules.

NCST has a legit shot.
 
vk said:
I think the Big10 is down year over year. in fact, I am sure of it. Some improvement at the bottom I guess. PSU clearly not as good, Michigan clearly not as good, Minnesota clearly not as good, Indiana clearly not as good and TOSU about the same I guess and Wisconsin is a little better I suppose. The bottom got better though with Purdue, Rutgers, and Illinois all getting better. Terps doing their annual injuries and looked like they were going to be better this year but are pretty below average now. NW sucks.

That said, I think the Big10, Big12, SEC, ACC and Pac12 are all relatively even.

I think if you lined them up top to bottom, SEC would have the most favorites.

I am telling you though .. beware the independent.
Click to expand...

What did Penn State do to deserve "clearly not as good"

You also leave out Sparty's rise, obviously a huge step forward from last year
 
Ya I forgot about Sparty. obviously they are greatly improved.

PSU offense is not very good right now. One good game against a decent defense in Iowa .. and two games against Akron and Ga St .... their other three games they failed to reach 400 (the mendoza line).
 
I just think we'll see what PSU can (or can't do) when they face a good defense (like Michigan). It'd impress me just as little if they had squashed the likes of Pitt by 49 points
 
EFC1878 said:
What if NC State ran the table, or is the non-likelihood of that happening factored into your list? Next two games are at Notre Dame and home to Clemson. Gotta think if they actually took those and won out, the ACC title game against presumably Miami would be a de facto 1-game playoff for the playoff.
Click to expand...
Very good point.
 
SEC and b1g shoud both get 2 playoff teams right now

After that the b1g probly goes deeper in the top 5 like cub said
 
I never understood conference pride. I know that's not necessarily what this thread is about, but I've always been about my team and whatever else happens, happens. It's one of my wife's most embarrassing moments when after Alabama beat Clemson in 2008, I was drunkenly screaming at all the Alabama fans chanting "S-E-C"

I don't know if it's parity or that teams are just not as good, but I don't think there really is a "best" conference. Some are top heavy with pretty bad teams at the bottom (SEC,B1G), and some are more balanced, but may not have an elite team at the top (Big 12, Pac 12). Not sure what to call the ACC yet, Clemson I think is elite, but seems there is a bigger drop to #2 than any other conference. QB going down at FSU obviously killed that team, we'll see what we have with NCSt and Miami.

I think right now ,the Big 12 might be the most entertaining, even if defensive purists hate that particular brand. But I think it's the most evenly matched conference, although Kansas and Baylor are particularly bad.

In the SEC, I think Saban killed the conference. He's doing something unprecedented, but every other school seems to think that they should also be able to do what he's doing. So they fire good coaches for coming up short at one of the greatest runs in the history of the sport. Like at LSU. I know there were other issues, but Miles not beating Alabama was probably issue #1. Now they can't beat Troy or Miss St, and probably still won't beat Alabama. And while the big name schools (UF, AU, UT, LSU) are getting worse while trying to beat Alabama, the usual bottom feeders are improving enough to be competitive against the former elites. So it appears the conference is worse than ever, but it's more balanced with the exception of Alabama still being the top program. UGA looks the part, but the teams they've beaten in conference have a combined record (in conference) of 1-13. The Notre Dame win is a good one it appears, but I'm still waiting on UGA to show me they belong in the nationally elite category
 
The old Big 8 did something I don't think any other conference has ever done. They had three teams--I think it was Oklahoma, Missouri, and Colorado--finish 1,2,3 in the final poll.

It will never happen again.
 
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