Ranking Strength of conferences

[ktrain]

I developed my own strength of conference rating that suggestd the MWC deserves and AQB.

Conference Quality Points
SEC 82.7%
Big 12 78.9%
PAC -10 69.3%
MWC 58.6%
Big 10 48.5%
ACC 44.3%
Big East 43.5%
CUSA 29.2%
WAC 29.0%
Sunbelt 18.8%
Independent 16.7%
MAC 10.4%

based upon the final criteria as follows:

1. Collective great team factor (50% of quality score)

Based upon the final AP rankings 1-25, with #1 receiving 25 points and #25 receiving 1 point - as shown below

team finish points conference
1. Florida (48) 13-1 1,606 1 25 SEC
2. Utah (16) 13-0 1,519* 2 24 MWC
3. USC (1) 12-1 1,481* 3 23 PAC
4. Texas 12-1 1,478* 4 22 B12
5. Oklahoma 12-2 1,391* 5 21 B12
6. Alabama 12-2 1,264 6 20 SEC
7. TCU 11-2 1,193* 7 19 MWC
8. Penn State 11-2 1,153* 8 18 B10
9. Ohio State 10-3 1,013 9 17 B10
10. Oregon 10-3 997 10 16 PAC
11. Boise State 12-1 938 11 15 WAC
12. Texas Tech 11-2 916 12 14 B12
13. Georgia 10-3 903 13 13 SEC
14. Mississippi 9-4 857 14 12 SEC
15. Virginia Tech 10-4 713 15 11 ACC
16. Oklahoma State 9-4 534 16 10 B12
17. Cincinnati 11-3 506 17 9 BEC
18. Oregon State 9-4 467 18 8 PAC
19. Missouri 10-4 435 19 7 B12
20. Iowa 9-4 317 20 6 B10
21. Florida State 9-4 246 21 5 ACC
22. Georgia Tech 9-4 223 22 4 ACC
23. West Virginia 9-4 144 23 3 BEC
24. Michigan State 9-4 138 24 2 B10
25. Brigham Young 10-3 137 25 1 MWC

Which resulted in the final points:

Conference Points points %
Big 12 74 100 .0%
SEC 70 94.6%
PAC -10 47 63.5%
MWC 44 59.5%
Big 10 43 58.1%
ACC 20 27.0%
WAC 15 20.3%
Big East 12 16.2%
CUSA 0 0.0%
Sunbelt 0 0.0%
Independent 0 0.0%
MAC 0 0.0%

Criteria 2 - Bowl game winning percentage (25% of quality score)

Conference Bowl winning %
PAC -10 100.0%
SEC 75.0%
CUSA 66.7%
Big East 66.7%
MWC 60.0%
Big 12 57.1%
Sunbelt 50.0%
Independent 50.0%
ACC 40.0%
WAC 20.0%
Big 10 14.3%
MAC 0.0%

Criteria 3 Percentage of conference in bowl game (25% of quality score) - proxy for depth of conference

Conference Bowl %
ACC 83.3%
Big East 75.0%
SEC 66.7%
Big 10 63.6%
Big 12 58.3%
MWC 55.6%
WAC 55.6%
PAC -10 50.0%
CUSA 50.0%
MAC 41.7%
Sunbelt 25.0%
Independent 16.7%

[OrangeHoof]

My only quibble is that great teams actually work against a conference having enough bowl eligible teams. The ACC, for example, was littered with bowl eligible teams because everyone went 7-5 or 6-6. The Big XII, by comparison, had fewer bowl eligible teams because Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech all went 11-1, meaning somebody had to lose all of those conference games, probably costing some a chance at bowl eligibility.

If you had the time, I would suffegt factoring in the W-L record of every conference in non-conference games excluding non-FBS teams (in other words, Division II opponents don't count). That, more than bowl record, should give you a better reflection of conference strength.

[broncos4life88]

My only quibble is that great teams actually work against a conference having enough bowl eligible teams. The ACC, for example, was littered with bowl eligible teams because everyone went 7-5 or 6-6. The Big XII, by comparison, had fewer bowl eligible teams because Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech all went 11-1, meaning somebody had to lose all of those conference games, probably costing some a chance at bowl eligibility.

If you had the time, I would suffegt factoring in the W-L record of every conference in non-conference games excluding non-FBS teams (in other words, Division II opponents don't count). That, more than bowl record, should give you a better reflection of conference strength.

This does make a good point, D-II teams should have no reflection on D-I teams' records or BCS points system. IMO D-I teams should not even play D-II teams!

[BroncoAV06]

High five for your work!

As a fan of the MWC and one who has season tickets for UNM, I think as a whole the MWC is still has to grow before they ever get a shot at a BCS bid. Utah, BYU, and TCU are sure to be able to compeat with anyone but AFA is the next best and they would struggle IMO against a BCS team, UNM/WYO/SDSU are all rebuilding and CSU is starting to improve...

[BigDaddyBronco]

High five for your work!

As a fan of the MWC and one who has season tickets for UNM, I think as a whole the MWC is still has to grow before they ever get a shot at a BCS bid. Utah, BYU, and TCU are sure to be able to compeat with anyone but AFA is the next best and they would struggle IMO against a BCS team, UNM/WYO/SDSU are all rebuilding and CSU is starting to improve...
As a UNM Alumni I agree to a point, but if the Big East has a auto bid, then the MWC deserves one based off recent history.

Funny thing is that the conference with an autobid get $18M from the BCS, where the second tier conferences get $8M. Hmmmm.

[Nomad]

As a UNM Alumni I agree to a point, but if the Big East has a auto bid, then the MWC deserves one based off recent history.

Funny thing is that the conference with an autobid get $18M from the BCS, where the second tier conferences get $8M. Hmmmm.


Only difference BDB, is that the Big East has the east coast media to showboat them! BYU won a NT without the BCS in the late 80s or early 90s, can't remember and I know Utah or one of these other teams could do the same. So you know this BCS stuff is BS because of a few conference presidents and the ol' $$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!