DiderotsGhost
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What's the best conference in America? Sagarin has an answer.
Sagarin doesn't rate the conferences as a whole, but rather looks at the divisions. However, we can average out the division rankings to get a conference average. Here are the division rankings:
1. SEC West, 83.1
2. ACC Atlantic, 79.4
3. PAC-12 North, 78.16
4. Big 10 - East, 76.25
5. ACC Coastal, 76.09
6. Big 12, 75.06
7. Pac-12 South, 74.67
8. Big 10 - West, 73.94
9. SEC East, 73.4
When you use the "Simple Average" and average out the divisions, here are the overall results:
1. SEC, 78.25
2. ACC, 77.745
3. Pac-12, 76.415
4. Big 10, 75.095
5. Big 12, 75.06
Sagarin also has another measure called "central mean" which is slightly different. Instead of taking the "raw scores" for the teams, this measure puts more emphasis on the middle teams (i.e. reduces the impact of the outliers; the best and worst teams). Using this modified formula, the results differ slightly:
1. ACC, 77.93
2. SEC, 77.18
3. Pac-12, 75.815
4. Big 10, 75.47
5. Big 12, 74.92
So depending on how you look at it, either the SEC or the ACC was the best conference in America according to Sagarin. I've heard people on VN knock the ACC all season, but difficult to argue with the actual results, including an 8-3 bowl record this year.
On the other hand, this and the terrible bowl results (3-7 bowl record), seem to destroy the common media narrative about how "THE B1G IS THE BEST!" It's not even 2nd or 3rd best. Problem with B1G for a long time has been that it's top-heavy. It has a few great teams and a bunch of scrubs. This year, it supposedly had 4 great teams, but many of those "great teams" were exposed when put up against top competition. So much for the B1G IS THE BEST! narrative.
Though it is interesting the ACC may have finally caught up to the SEC. Remember back when the ACC added Virginia Tech and Miami (FL) back in 2004, there was talk of how the ACC could become more like the SEC. And then it never lived up to the billing. 12 years later, and you can make a legit case that the ACC and SEC are pretty close.
Sagarin doesn't rate the conferences as a whole, but rather looks at the divisions. However, we can average out the division rankings to get a conference average. Here are the division rankings:
1. SEC West, 83.1
2. ACC Atlantic, 79.4
3. PAC-12 North, 78.16
4. Big 10 - East, 76.25
5. ACC Coastal, 76.09
6. Big 12, 75.06
7. Pac-12 South, 74.67
8. Big 10 - West, 73.94
9. SEC East, 73.4
When you use the "Simple Average" and average out the divisions, here are the overall results:
1. SEC, 78.25
2. ACC, 77.745
3. Pac-12, 76.415
4. Big 10, 75.095
5. Big 12, 75.06
Sagarin also has another measure called "central mean" which is slightly different. Instead of taking the "raw scores" for the teams, this measure puts more emphasis on the middle teams (i.e. reduces the impact of the outliers; the best and worst teams). Using this modified formula, the results differ slightly:
1. ACC, 77.93
2. SEC, 77.18
3. Pac-12, 75.815
4. Big 10, 75.47
5. Big 12, 74.92
So depending on how you look at it, either the SEC or the ACC was the best conference in America according to Sagarin. I've heard people on VN knock the ACC all season, but difficult to argue with the actual results, including an 8-3 bowl record this year.
On the other hand, this and the terrible bowl results (3-7 bowl record), seem to destroy the common media narrative about how "THE B1G IS THE BEST!" It's not even 2nd or 3rd best. Problem with B1G for a long time has been that it's top-heavy. It has a few great teams and a bunch of scrubs. This year, it supposedly had 4 great teams, but many of those "great teams" were exposed when put up against top competition. So much for the B1G IS THE BEST! narrative.
Though it is interesting the ACC may have finally caught up to the SEC. Remember back when the ACC added Virginia Tech and Miami (FL) back in 2004, there was talk of how the ACC could become more like the SEC. And then it never lived up to the billing. 12 years later, and you can make a legit case that the ACC and SEC are pretty close.
