Best Conference In 05

[Z06Vol]

Again, Sporting News:

What will be the best conference in 2005?


I spent six months last year campaigning for the ACC as college football's superconference and was sort of let down. Then again, it was a bad year for every league in 2004 as no one, outside of the Big XII South, was particularly great. 2005 will be a bounce-back year as the SEC, Big XII and Big Ten look better than ever.


1. SEC : Call this a squeamish pick and I won't argue if you want to say it'll be the ACC, Big XII or Big Ten. The top is really loaded while the middle isn't all that bad. Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and LSU are national title contenders, Auburn and Alabama are a shade below, South Carolina and Arkansas are a step below them, Ole Miss and Mississippi State aren't going to be horrible, and Kentucky and Vandy will be Kentucky and Vandy. Ten above-average to superior teams makes for a killer league.


2. ACC : Miami and Florida State weren't nearly as bad as many made them out to be last year and they'll be at least as good in 2005. Virginia Tech is even more loaded than last year's title team. Georgia Tech and Virginia will have two of the nation's top defenses, Clemson won't be bad, and Maryland and NC State are sure to regain their pre-2004 form. Add a very, very, very good Boston College team to the mix and this league will be hard to beat.


3. Big Ten : The Big Ten could quickly vault to the top if Wisconsin reloads, Penn State finds an offense and Illinois finds its mojo under Ron Zook. Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa are all tremendous, while Purdue and Minnesota will be in the hunt for the title. Michigan State will be fun and Northwestern will ruin at least one team's season.


4. Big XII : The North still might not be all that great, but a ton of experience returns. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will take a mini-step back weakening the league, but Texas A&M and Texas Tech should be better. Do you really believe in Texas? The game at Ohio State will go a long way to determining where the Big XII ranks in the overall pecking order.


5. Pac-10 : The Pac 10 stunk last year and will be average this season. Of course USC is unbelievable and Arizona State looks great, but there's not a whole bunch else to get jazzed up about. Oregon, Cal and UCLA should be solid and Arizona and Stanford should be improved.


6. Mountain West : Big East fans despise this sort of talk and the Mountain West did nothing to earn top six status last year. Utah won't do that again, but it'll still be strong. BYU returns so much experience it's scary. New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado State have the potential to be very good and the addition of TCU helps.


7. Big East : Pittsburgh and Louisville will duke it out for conference superiority and Syracuse will be in for a rebound year. You can have the rest of the league. West Virginia and Cincinnati replace just about everyone, and South Florida and Rutgers are no big whoop. UConn probably deserves more respect than it's getting here.


8. WAC : Only because Fresno State and Boise State will be legitimate top 20 teams.


9. Conference USA : There are plenty of big names, but no killers this year. The addition of Marshall and UTEP will help a league without a big toe now that Sergeant Hulka (Louisville) is off to the Big East. Watch out for UAB and Tulane.


10. MAC : Bowling Green will flirt with the top 15 all year, Toledo and Miami are solid, and Northern Illinois will be great until it comes up with it's annual loss to Toledo. Without Marshall, the rest of the league takes a dip.
11. Sun Belt : You don't get better by adding Florida Atlantic and FIU.

 

[TBALLVOL]

I agree, SEC all the way baby! But FL and GA national title contenders? What's he smokin? Oh! and the PAC 10 at #5, that seems about right huh Milo?

 

[milohimself]

Originally posted by TBALLVOL@Feb 11, 2005 11:48 AM
I agree, SEC all the way baby! But FL and GA national title contenders? What's he smokin? Oh! and the PAC 10 at #5, that seems about right huh Milo?

This is how I would rate it, in tiers:

Tier 1

ACC - Virginia Tech is the only real national title contender, and Miami has an outside shot at it... But top to bottom, it will be an extremley difficult conference.

Tier 2

SEC - The only NC contender is Tennessee. Georgia will be the only other high-end team guaranteed, and LSU or Florida will make it up there but I doubt both as they underwent huge coaching changes. But, in the rare event LSU and Florida both do amazing, and the conference's mid-level does well, then move SEC into the top tier.

Big Ten - Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State. All NC contenders. By far the most top-heavy conference in the country. If the mid-level teams turn out decent, then move the Big Ten to the top.

Tier 3

Big XII - It's all Texas next season. The only NC contender in the conference. Oklahoma will be good but not great, and Texas A&M should be decent. Texas Tech lost Sonny Cumbie, Oklahoma State might do decent with Vernand Morency back for his senior season as RB. Oh yeah. The north. Terrible.

Pac-10 - USC is the obvious one here, but the conference could be either pretty tough or just mediocre. next season. Oregon has the capability of a great season if Belotti can straighten things out in Eugene, Arizona State will have an absolutely amazing offense and should be lethal if they can build a half-way decent defense, Tedford should keep things rolling in Berkley, and Mike Riley usually has something up his sleeve. Washington, Arizona and Stanford all appear to be turning themselves around, and Wazzu should be back on its feet. So the Pac-10 won't have any bad teams, but will need some great ones to step up. Between ASU, Oregon and Cal, if two of those teams step up, I'd put the Pac a notch above the Big XII.

But, in all honesty, I think trying to judge conference strength is the stupidest things ever.

 

[#10_Ainge_#10]

ACC #1?? Come on Milo we all know that the SEC is the best conference in the country.....ACC would be pulling a tight #2.....ACC has more week teams than the SEC has...we usually only have 2 or 3 a year and ACC has 3 or 4...Towards the bottom of the list of course but IMO the SEC is the best conference in the nation

 

[milohimself]

I think the SEC has a bit more top end to it, but top to bottom, ACC is just edging out the first spot.

But, like I also stated, I think trying to judge conference strength in anything but a retrospective form is a waste of time. The only true distinguishable difference in strength is between BCS and non-BCS conferences. Other than that, they are all just different, not truly tougher than one another. I give credit where it's due, and the SEC is a rockin' conference. Some great football. I just root on Pac teams because I am a west coast boy.

 

[#10_Ainge_#10]

Originally posted by milohimself@Feb 12, 2005 4:05 AM
I think the SEC has a bit more top end to it, but top to bottom, ACC is just edging out the first spot.

I just root on Pac teams because I am a west coast boy.

That's probably why I root for my SEC teams....With the exception of Bama and Florida :moon2: LOL

 

[kiddiedoc]

Originally posted by Z06Vol@Feb 11, 2005 2:02 PM
Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and LSU are national title contenders

Did I miss something? I mean, I pull for the SEC all the way, but I'm not so sure about the national title chances of a let-down Georgia squad and a Florida team that will be settling in to a new coach.

 

[vols2345]

Well if we just go by the top three teams in the conference, I would say it would look something like this:


1. sec (Tennessee, LSU, and either Florida or Georgia)

2. ACC (Miami, VT, and Florida State)

3. Big Ten (Michigan, Ohio State, and Iowa)

4. Big 12 (Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M)

5. Pac 10 (USC, Arizona State, UCLA)

6. Big East (West Virginia, Louisville, and Pittsburg)

 

[Z06Vol]

Originally posted by milohimself@Feb 12, 2005 4:05 AM
But, like I also stated, I think trying to judge conference strength in anything but a retrospective form is a waste of time.

Well, you sure do spend alot of time explaining why the SEC is NOT the toughest conference.

 

[TNFanBornandRaised]

the funny thing is.....I know people mostly girls lol that know nothing about football and they know that the SEC is the toughest conference by far......if the big XII had better "mid-major" excuse the wording......they would be up there with the SEC.....ACC is up there but nowhere near the SEC......I've never heard anyone outside of a Hokie fan or FSU fan say the ACC is better........its all an opinion until you look at the facts and the kids in the conferences then we are by far the best.....just check out where the best recruits went this year......SEC.......they know where the real football is

 

[milohimself]

It's top to bottom. The lower teams in the ACC are a lot tougher than the lower teams in the SEC, I think. And even though I say that ranking conferences is arbitrary, if Florida, LSU and Georgia show strongly this year, and two or more mid-level teams come out well, perhaps Arkansas or SoCar or Bama, then I would put the SEC ahead of the ACC.

But I don't believe conferences are tougher, just play differently.