And the best conference in 2005 will be ... ?
A: 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.
http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2005/Ask_CFN/Prespring_Questions_2.htm
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