Latest Conference Rankings from ESPN

[DBM78]

Conference Rankings
By Mark Schlabach
ESPN.com
Ranking the BCS conferences after three weeks of the 2010 college football season:



1. SEC

The SEC has six teams ranked in the top 17 of the AP Top 25 poll, and No. 1 Alabama looks as if it's balanced enough and good enough to repeat as BCS national champion. The SEC race should begin to sort itself out Saturday, when the Crimson Tide play at No. 10 Arkansas and No. 12 South Carolina travels to No. 17 Auburn.


ESPN Stats & Info: Conference Rankings
Conference AP Rank Computers Rank Rating
SEC 1 1 98.3
Big 12 4 2 89.2
Pac-10 2 4 89.1
Big Ten 3 3 88.9
MWC 5 7 68.1
WAC 6 8 50.6
ACC 7 5 39.6
Big East 8 6 31.0
C-USA 9 9 16.3
MAC 10 10 12.7
Sun Belt 11 11 9.9
• ESPN Stats & Info blog

2. Big Ten

The Big Ten probably lost a BCS Championship Game contender when Iowa lost at No. 14 Arizona 34-27 on Saturday night, which dropped the Hawkeyes from No. 9 to No. 18 in the AP poll. No. 2 Ohio State continues to play very well, but No. 11 Wisconsin barely survived in a 20-19 victory over Arizona State. The league's other three ranked teams -- No. 21 Michigan, No. 23 Penn State and No. 25 Michigan State -- have to get better to challenge the Buckeyes and Badgers.



3. Big 12

The Big 12 is more top-heavy than in recent seasons, with three teams -- No. 6 Nebraska, No. 7 Texas and No. 8 Oklahoma -- ranked in the top 10. There isn't another Big 12 team ranked in the AP poll, but Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M are each unbeaten after three games. The Big 12 race doesn't get interesting for another week.



4. Pac-10

The Pac-10 has five ranked teams and picked up a couple of impressive nonconference victories, with Arizona upsetting Iowa and UCLA upsetting then-No. 23 Houston 31-13. No. 16 Stanford looks like No. 5 Oregon's biggest threat after blasting Wake Forest 68-24 at home Saturday night. No. 24 Oregon State has a chance to improve the Pac-10's stock with Saturday's road game at No. 3 Boise State.



5. ACC

The first three weeks of the season have been a disaster for the ACC, which has a 1-9 record in games against opponents from other BCS conferences. No. 19 Miami is the only ACC team ranked in the AP poll. Preseason favorites Virginia Tech and Florida State got back on track with impressive victories over East Carolina and BYU, respectively.



6. Big East

The Big East's reputation continued to take some hits, with defending league champion Cincinnati falling to 1-2 with its 30-19 loss at NC State on Thursday night. Connecticut, which lost 30-16 at Temple on Saturday, also fell to 1-2. After blasting rival Maryland 31-17, No. 22 West Virginia is the only Big East team ranked in the AP Top 25 poll.

 

[Jetjockey]

Ok. So let me get this straight. The Pac 10 is 2-1 against the Big 10, yet the Big 10 is still a better conference? How about this, the Pac 10 # 3 or 4 team beats the Big 10 #2, and a bottom of the barrel Pac 10 team nearly upsets the Big 10# 3, yet the Big 10 is still a better conference even though they have a losing record against the Pac 10? Heres something that looks a little more like the REAL conference rankings. Thank god for the Sagarin ratings.

http://bcscentral.info/blog/?p=2366

 

[Madsnooker]

Ok. So let me get this straight. The Pac 10 is 2-1 against the Big 10, yet the Big 10 is still a better conference? How about this, the Pac 10 # 3 or 4 team beats the Big 10 #2, and a bottom of the barrel Pac 10 team nearly upsets the Big 10# 3, yet the Big 10 is still a better conference even though they have a losing record against the Pac 10? Heres something that looks a little more like the REAL conference rankings. Thank god for the Sagarin ratings.

http://bcscentral.info/blog/?p=2366

Relax, it's only 3 games in. The season will play out and we will see in the end. Don't be surprised though if Iowa ends up ranked higher than Arizona by seasons end as they are the better team. The better team loses many times in games where they just don't play well. And Iowa played very bad in the first half.

The bottom line is these rankings mean absolutely nothing at this point. The pac 10 may very well be better than the Big 10 or they may not be. We will know after the last games are played this year just as we did last year.

 

[Jetjockey]

Don't be surprised though if Iowa ends up ranked higher than Arizona by seasons end as they are the better team.

Did you even watch the game? Arizona had more yards, a better first down percentage, and controlled the ball for over 4 minutes more then Iowa. They also turned the ball over 2 more times and had 43 more yards of penalties against them. If Iowa can't capitalize on 2 extra turnovers and 43 yards of penalties, they aren't the better team. The best team showed its metal in the 4th quarter. Arizona threw an interception that Iowa returned for a TD with 8 minutes left in the game to tie the score. Arizona turned around and drove the ball 72 yards and ate up 4 minutes of clock to go up again by 7. Iowa got the ball back with 4 minutes remaining to tie, or win the game. Arizona's defense turned around sacked Iowa 3 straight times and drove them back 22 yards. Arizona had 2 minutes to put the ball in the endzone and make the win look even more lopsided. Heck, they could have even kicked a field goal, but instead they gave Iowa the ball back with 3 seconds left for 1 last play. Iowa is not a better team then Arizona, and with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter and the score tied, they proved it. Iowa's D could have shut Arizona down, or their O could have scored a touchdown with 4 minutes left to win or tie the game. Instead, Arizona drove the ball down the field and scored, and thier D shut Iowa down.

 

[RipperIII]

the pac 10 rating is 89.1 which is ahead of the the Big ten rating of 88.9
so I would surmise that the "Packed-in" is ranked ahead of the big 10

 

[Jetjockey]

Ripper. Your correct. In the computer Rankings the Pac 10 is ranked higher, but Mark Schlaback from ESPN ranks the Big 10 at #2 and the Pac 10 at #4.. But then again, what do you expect from a biased east coast writer who graduated from UGA and spent 9 years with the AJC covering the SEC. The farther away from the east coast you get, the less games this guy probably watches. I guarantee he has no idea about football west of the Rockies, and it shows.

 

[irishleprechaun]

Ripper. Your correct. In the computer Rankings the Pac 10 is ranked higher, but Mark Schlaback from ESPN ranks the Big 10 at #2 and the Pac 10 at #4.. But then again, what do you expect from a biased east coast writer who graduated from UGA and spent 9 years with the AJC covering the SEC. The farther away from the east coast you get, the less games this guy probably watches. I guarantee he has no idea about football west of the Rockies, and it shows.

you mean there IS football west of the rockies? Well I'll be danged...

 

[Madsnooker]

Did you even watch the game? Arizona had more yards, a better first down percentage, and controlled the ball for over 4 minutes more then Iowa. They also turned the ball over 2 more times and had 43 more yards of penalties against them. If Iowa can't capitalize on 2 extra turnovers and 43 yards of penalties, they aren't the better team. The best team showed its metal in the 4th quarter. Arizona threw an interception that Iowa returned for a TD with 8 minutes left in the game to tie the score. Arizona turned around and drove the ball 72 yards and ate up 4 minutes of clock to go up again by 7. Iowa got the ball back with 4 minutes remaining to tie, or win the game. Arizona's defense turned around sacked Iowa 3 straight times and drove them back 22 yards. Arizona had 2 minutes to put the ball in the endzone and make the win look even more lopsided. Heck, they could have even kicked a field goal, but instead they gave Iowa the ball back with 3 seconds left for 1 last play. Iowa is not a better team then Arizona, and with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter and the score tied, they proved it. Iowa's D could have shut Arizona down, or their O could have scored a touchdown with 4 minutes left to win or tie the game. Instead, Arizona drove the ball down the field and scored, and thier D shut Iowa down.

Then you shouldn't have any problem letting me know I was wrong at seasons end after all the games are played.

 

[Jetjockey]

Well, Iowa will probably have a much better record, and a higher rank at the end of the year. My highschool team could end up ranked pretty high after playing Big 10 teams all season.

 

[MCBUCK]

Hey JJ...

"4. Pac-10"