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.

[Sea Ray]

From what I've seen of UK they have a horrible defense. If they end up losing to SC, Florida, Tenn and Ga then you have to question if they've made any progress at all. If they beat one of the four then their progress was marginal.

[Blimpie]

From what I've seen of UK they have a horrible defense. If they end up losing to SC, Florida, Tenn and Ga then you have to question if they've made any progress at all. If they beat one of the four then their progress was marginal.

In all truth, Kentucky's run defense is far more suspect than their pass defense.

Further their special teams coverage and kicking games are far inferior to most other SEC teams.

[Sea Ray]

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)

When it's all said and done I think the biggest non conference win will be Oregon over Mich. I think Mich will finish either 1 or 2 in the Big Ten this year. If you beat a BCS conference champion or runnerup on the road that's big.

Another big win could prove to be Cal over Tenn. UT is now in the driver's seat to take the SEC East title and play in the SEC championship game. Their main competition will be South Carolina but that game will be in Knoxville in front of 105 K fans. SC will be led by a freshman QB while UT has a four yr starter in SR Eric Ainge. I believe Ainge will be a 1st rd pick next Spring.

[IslandRed]

After I reviewed a little further, Miami has also played two BCS-level teams outside the league so far. And I wasn't thinking about Notre Dame (funny how starting 0-5 makes people forget), but if we're counting them as another BCS-league-level team, then a few others like Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA etc. have played two significant non-conference opponents so far.

[Sea Ray]

This year Notre Dame is in no way a BCS level team. With the recruits they get I am amazed that they can be that bad.

[Blimpie]

This year Notre Dame is in no way a BCS level team. With the recruits they get I am amazed that they can be that bad.

Yep. It is pretty bad when they beat an unranked UCLA and it is characterized as an "upset" by most pundits over the weekend...

[Sea Ray]

Yep. It is pretty bad when they beat an unranked UCLA and it is characterized as an "upset" by most pundits over the weekend...

Pretty bad weekend for college football in the city of Angels. I wonder if Bakersfield got beat?

[paintmered]

I may be missing a win but I just don't see these Big East teams beating or even playing top teams from other conferences.

UC has Ohio State, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Miami (Fla) and Oregon State on the schedule the next few years. There are also rumors they will sign a 1 and 1 deal with Michigan.

[WMR]

Are you talking punting, Blimpie? I've thought Sieber has done pretty well so far...

[bucksfan2]

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.

I am not trying to bash the scheduling because I know how tricky that is. When you have to schedule years in advance once glorious matchups end up being duds. My biggest complaint I guess is the big east is that their rise to prominance and having multiple teams ranked has nothing to do with them beating other teams rather it has more to do with them beating teams within their own division. Over the past 5 years the biggest win the conference had was WVU over Georiga in the BCS game. To note the only other quality win the conference has had was S. Florida over Auburn. Maybe my beef is more with the ranking system than it actually is with the teams. Until the Big East teams get their big wins out of conference I will still see them as an inferior BCS conference.

[WMR]

Razor, please provide your argument for the ACC being the most powerful conference in college football.

[paintmered]

I am not trying to bash the scheduling because I know how tricky that is. When you have to schedule years in advance once glorious matchups end up being duds. My biggest complaint I guess is the big east is that their rise to prominance and having multiple teams ranked has nothing to do with them beating other teams rather it has more to do with them beating teams within their own division. Over the past 5 years the biggest win the conference had was WVU over Georiga in the BCS game. To note the only other quality win the conference has had was S. Florida over Auburn. Maybe my beef is more with the ranking system than it actually is with the teams. Until the Big East teams get their big wins out of conference I will still see them as an inferior BCS conference.

Conference	Schools					Record	Percentage
Big East (5)	Cin,Lou,Rut,USF,WV			5-0	1.000
MWC (4)		BYU,NM,TCU,Utah				3-1	.750
WAC (4)		BSU,Haw,Nev,SJS				3-1	.750
SEC (9)		Ark,Ala,Aub,Fla,Ga,Ky,LSU,Ten,SC	6-3	.666
ACC (8)		BC,Clem,FSU,GT,Mary,Mia,VT,WF		4-4	.500
Pac-10 (6)	ASU,Cal,Ore,OSU,UCLA,USC		3-3	.500
Sun Belt (2)	M.Tenn,Troy				1-1	.500
Big 12 (8)	KSt,Mis,Neb,OU,OSU,Tex,TexA&M,TT	3-5	.375
Big Ten (7)	Iowa,Mich,Minn,OSU,PSU,Pur,Wis		2-5	.286
MAC (4)		CMich,NIU,Ohio,WMich			1-3	.250
C-USA (5)	EC,Hou,Rice,SMiss,Tul			1-4	.200
Independents (2)	Navy,ND				0-2	.000

Do bowl games count?

[MaineRed]

Those five wins were over: East Carolina, Western Michigan, Kansas State, Wake Forrest and Georgia Tech. Yes the Big East did what was asked of them in those games but they need to beat some better teams if they want people to really take notice. Are we really suppose to be impressed by UC beating Western Michigan?

Two wins over decent ACC programs, one of whom was the conference champ and a Big 12 also ran.

Meanwhile the SEC was playing: Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Houston.

That is big boy college football.

[paintmered]

Those five wins were over: East Carolina, Western Michigan, Kansas State, Wake Forrest and Georgia Tech. Yes the Big East did what was asked of them in those games but they need to beat some better teams if they want people to really take notice. Are we really suppose to be impressed by UC beating Western Michigan?

Two wins over decent ACC programs, one of whom was the conference champ and a Big 12 also ran.

Meanwhile the SEC was playing: Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Houston.

That is big boy college football.

I see you forgot West Virginia's win over Georgia in the 2006 Orange Bowl. Georgia was only the SEC Champs that year. But I guess that's not "big boy" either.