Top 10 Strongest College Football Conferences
Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Arkansas, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Missouri - all these programs are dominant. The only bad team in this conference is Kentucky, and even they hang in games with good teams. The SEC is by far the best right now. Seven national titles in a row! BOOM! Roll Tide roll!
I am a Bama fan and I have a few things to say. First, you can't argue with a conference that has a team with 15 national championships (the most in college football). Second, the SEC recently had an eight-year national championship winning streak. And third, anyone willing to go against Alabama or, in that case, any SEC team, then they better prepare to get their butts kicked.
Generally, throughout history, the Big Ten has been the toughest. True, just not the most recent history. Especially Michigan. Nobody is a more winning team than them as far as total wins and percentage. I mean, them and Notre Dame fight for percentage, but their no-conference-having selves have used that to line up some powderpuff opponents in their schedules. It works to their advantage.
As far as the "what have you done for me lately" mentality, the B1G has some work to do. Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, and maybe even Penn State are all shaping out to be powerhouses, with the B1G East being one of the toughest divisions in College Football (3 Top 10 teams, 4 top 20 2016 recruiting classes).
With MSU, OSU, and UofM all on the rise, the B1G can only go up from here.
Big 12 is extremely underrated, but I think this is mostly due to being under-advertised and under-reported. They are sweeping the bowl scene right now, save for West Virginia's slip-up. The Big 12 always has top-tier quarterbacks and record-setting offenses. The defensive stats are skewed because of this. When high-powered offenses hit, the defensive numbers get squished in turn. It isn't because of poor defense, just really active and explosive offenses that keep you guessing. You blink, and you could lose, no matter the score.
Games really need to be watched to fully appreciate what the conference is doing on both sides. It is very different from what some of the stat lines show. In my opinion, SEC - due to Alabama's recent dominance, then a close second Big 12 followed by Big Ten.
The ACC has always dominated the conferences, second at times only to the SEC. The Big Ten is considered one of the weaker conferences with its football. Far from third place, even Ohio State, though dominating the Big Ten some years, struggles and loses to the ACC and SEC in bowl games - having won only against Miami in 2004.
The ACC has a long history of national championships, and every year there seems to be at least two to three ACC teams in the top 10. The ACC does not have the biggest list of flashy teams, but the ACC can beat any conference on any day.
First of all, it's the Pac-12 now. I'm an SEC fan, but the Pac-12 is a definite second ahead of the Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 in my opinion.
I'd say:
1. Southeastern Conference (SEC)
2. Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12)
3. Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
4. Big Ten Conference (Big Ten)
5. Big 12 Conference (Big 12)
6. American Athletic Conference (AAC)
I think the top three in the Big Ten are stronger than the Pac-12, but top to bottom, the Pac-12 might be just as good as the SEC. Having ten bowl-eligible teams last year in a 12-team conference is amazing.
The SEC blows. They play only eight conference games a year, unlike other conferences. So, while UCLA is grinding it out against Oregon, LSU is playing Florida Atlantic in week 10.
West Virginia is the only consistent school here. USF, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Syracuse have occasional good seasons.
This conference consists of Louisville, Rutgers, Cincinnati, Houston (those are the good ones), Temple, etc. (P.S. In the 2014 season, Louisville goes to the ACC and Rutgers goes to the Big Ten.)
Definitely the best G5 conference. Many teams end up upgraded. There is a good reason the Big 12 picked up UH, UCF, and Cincinnati.
Temple, Houston, Navy, Memphis, and USF are all great football teams and were all in the top 25 at some point.
Some good teams, mostly forgettable, and a feeder into higher conferences.
Every team in this conference is balanced. It's a mini version of the SEC, consisting of smaller schools instead.
Spawns the occasional hotshot but mostly a feeder for higher conferences.