What is the most powerful conference in college football?

[IslandRed]

It really seems like there have been very few good non conference games this year. Games that looked good on paper 3 years ago when scheduled have been stinkers. Oklahoma-Miami, Cal-Tenn and LSU-Virginia Tech come to mind.

What are some big non conference wins by top teams? Are there any?

I think you've hit it on the head -- there are so few out-of-conference matchups between teams from the top half-dozen conferences that each result counts more than it probably ought, when it comes to comparing conferences. Yet there's nothing else to go on. Results within the Big East or SEC tell us how balanced those leagues are, or aren't, but nothing about how they compare to other leagues.

The problem that i have with the Big East is that except for S. Florida's win over Auburn they have no marquis wins. They have beaten each other but have not gone outside of the conference and beaten any to opponents.

See above. Who does have marquee out-of-conference wins? Take the SEC. There's LSU winning big at home against Virginia Tech. Very nice. Georgia beat a so-so Oklahoma State at home. Kentucky beat Louisville. Then... (crickets)

South Florida winning at Auburn is just one game, but it's one more out-of-conference big road win than the entire SEC has. That will likely change, since there are some rivalry games at the end of the year.

The only team I know for certain that's played more than one out-of-conference BCS-league team so far is Florida State. There might be more, I don't remember all the matchups.