Winners and Losers

With only four bowl games left, here are the current standings for the 2011-2012 bowl season:

Big 12: 6-1 (1 game left)
Big East: 3-1 (1 game left)
C-USA: 3-1 (1 game left)
MAC: 3-1 (1 game left)
SEC: 4-2 (3 teams left)
Sun Belt: 1-1 (1 game left)
Big Ten: 4-6
MWC: 2-3
Pac-12: 2-5
ACC: 2-6
WAC: 0-3
Notre Dame: 0-1

The big, big winner here, if I'm a computer reading this, is the Big 12. Remember, the Big 12 also had by far and away the best non-conference record during the regular season. At worst, the Big 12 will finish the bowl season with a .750 record. This is a little ironic because the Big 12 keeps threatening to rip itself apart, despite constant and consistent on-field success. In addition, even if you trade two of its bowl winners - Missouri and Texas A&M - for their expected replacements ; TCU and West Virginia - then the conference, in my opinion, gets even stronger. So, next year, even if all the humans agree that the SEC is the strongest conference, expect the computers to give their edge to the Big 12 in the polls.

At 2-5, the Pac-12 is a loser, but it could have been a lot worse. Everything, of course, is fine with me, because the Ducks won the Rose Bowl. Stanford lost, but it was in OT after two missed field goals. We knew that the rest of the conference was middling at best, but really only Cal was a disappointment: Utah won, Washington set offensive records in losing to #12 Baylor, Arizona State got their butts kicked by a Boise State that should've been in the Sugar Bowl, and UCLA was already 6-7. Consider, also, how the loss of USC affected the bowl schedule. Oregon and Stanford would get still BCS bids (assuming an Oregon revenge in the Pac-12 championship.) Then everyone else gets bumped down. USC should be favored against Baylor, and UCLA would get bumped in favor of, probably, Washington. Suddenly, the Pac-12 is 4-3 instead of 2-5. Don't get me wrong: The Pac-12 is still behind the SEC, Big 12, and Big Ten. But I don't believe the gap is all that large.

The big loser is the ACC, going 2-6 with two BCS losses. They lost at least once to every other major conference, with their victories coming against Louisville and Notre Dame. Furthermore, bringing in Pitt and Syracuse is unlikely to boost the conference's football chops anytime soon. Their best hope is for Florida State to start living up to their inflated expectations. A bowl win against the Irish helps, but I will reserve judgement before I proclaim the Seminoles to be "back".