Aside from the National Championship Game, we have reached the end of bowl game season and the college football season. We now enter into the long off-season that will bring new changes and rumors to the sport.
Before we move completely on from the season, it’s important to take a look at how each conference did overall. In the past, bowl game records by conferences weren’t really a talking point. There may be an occasional tweet or mention of it, but in today’s college football atmosphere, where every conference is trying to expand and put themselves in a position to succeed in the future, this conversation is starting to really heat up.
Bowl Challenge Cup looks like it will come down to the CFP! Here’s how it looks with only the playoff remaining.
• 1-0: Independent
• 5-3: Big 12, SEC
• 4-3: Pac-12
• 4-4: Big Ten
• 3-3: AAC
• 2-2: CUSA
• 5-6: ACC
• 3-4: MWC
• 5-7: Sun Belt
• 2-4: MAC https://t.co/LwTLg1Ysbs— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 1, 2024
Ranking the Conferences Record in Bowl Games
The “official” ranking of the conferences can be seen in the Tweet above, but a simple win/loss record doesn’t tell the entire story. Below are the current rankings with other considerations such as matchups, storylines, and opportunity considered.
1. Big 10 (5-4)
The Big 10 doesn’t have the best record this bowl season, but they certainly won the bowl season. With Michigan able to knock off Alabama, and future member Washington taking down the Longhorns, the National Championship will feature two future Big 10 teams, a storyline that is going to dominate the media for the next week, and likely into the offseason.
Aside from the National Championship game, the Big 10 was very hit and miss. They conference started off 3-0 with the best win being Rutgers over Miami. An Ohio State loss to Missouri hurt in the Cotton Bowl, extending the Buckeyes’ terrible record against the SEC. Another few tough losses were Ole Miss taking down Penn State, Tennessee dominating against Iowa, and LSU taking down Wisconsin.
Overall however, the College Football Championship games trump all, and having both teams as future members carry enough weight to push the Big 10 into the top slot.
2. Big 12 (5-4)
The Big 12 had a solid bowl game season with the “hateful 8” teams going 5-1 overall and future Big 12 members Utah and Arizona went 1-1, with Arizona beating Oklahoma. The conference definitely started off hotter than it finished. At one point, the conference was 4-1 overall.
The reason the Big 12 is ranked as high as it is in large part is because if you only look at the teams who will be in the conference next year, the league ended up going 5-3 overall which would be the best overall winning percentage of any conference.
3. SEC (5-4)
Alabama losing the lead to Michigan hurts. The SEC going 5-0 in other January 1st/NY6 games really helps. The conference going 0-3 in the first three bowl games also didn’t set a great tone. Ultimately, it was a good bowl season for the conference as a whole, but not getting into the National Championship Game for the first time since 2014 bumps down the conference to third.
It also doesn’t help that Texas and Oklahoma lost their bowl games, putting the future SEC at a 5-6 bowl record.
4. Pac 12 (5-3)
For a league that was getting a lot of praise during the season, they certainly didn’t start off the bowl games well. Utah was a heavy favorite against Northwestern despite a lot of opt-outs, and Cal was never really in the game against Texas Tech.
The Pac 12 did finish well with Oregon and Arizona picking up really big wins for their programs, and was capped off with Washington beating Texas in the Sugar Bowl.
So why is this conference so low? They won’t exist in six months, so even with a successful bowl season, it won’t mean much going forward. It does make one wonder…had the Pac 12 had this season just one year ago, would they have gotten a media deal?
5. C-USA (2-2)
Western Kentucky may have had the most entertaining comeback of the bowl game season after coming back from a 35-14 deficit at the start of the 4th quarter against Old Dominion. Georgia State also had a nice win against Utah State 45-22.
Unfortunately for the conference, NMSU was the second best team in the conference, and this loss really puts a dent on the conference. Also, only having four teams make it to a bowl game is a weak sign for the conference.
6. AAC (3-3)
In a year where the American was left for dead, with Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati leaving the conference, the AAC started off really well, going 2-1 including a 45-0 win for South Florida against Syracuse. UTSA also had a great performance against Marshall blowing them out 35-17.
Unfortunately, SMU and Tulane lost their bowl games against P5 opponents. Memphis did have a nice win against Iowa State, being the only team this bowl season to knock off a “Hateful 8” Big 12 team. Overall though, it was a huge opportunity that for the most part was lackluster.
7. Sun Belt (5-7)
The Sun Belt finished their bowl season first. With a 5-7 record, they snuck into the 7th spot based on how the MAC finished, but with the top two teams losing (James Madison and Troy), despite getting five wins, the overall feeling for this league is a disappointment.
The biggest highlight of their bowl games was Texas St picking up their first ever bowl win and rushing the field to celebrate. This game reminded college football fans that for some teams, bowl games still matter.
8. MAC (2-4)
The MAC had a quiet year this past season with no team ever really breaking the Top 25. Their bowl performance also ended up being the worst winning percentage of any conference. The highlight to this point was Ohio’s 41-21 win over Georgia State in the first game of the bowl season.
Toledo had a chance to make a late push with the rare post-Christmas MAC bowl game, but ended up losing on a last second field goal against Wyoming.
9. Mountain West (3-4)
The Mountain West are trying to become the AAC of the past in the G5. With less P5 teams out west, the Mountain West has an opportunity to really elevate, but this bowl game season didn’t help. Utah State had an embarrassing loss to Georgia State in a game that favored the Aggies in almost every way. The top three teams of the league (Boise St, San Jose St, and UNLV) all lost their bowl games.
The lone highlights were Air Forces 31-21 win against James Madison and Wyoming winning their game at least put a slight positive push going into the offseason, despite being the most boring bowl game of the year.
10. ACC (3-3) – The Conference of Quitters
Good job Florida State. You single-handedly lowered your conference all the way down to the bottom on this list. Instead of accepting that you got dealt a tough hand, and dealing with and playing a good game, the team decided to complain and embarrassed yourselves, your conference, and the sport. Guess what? Georgia also felt they got dealt a tough hand. This team had won two national championships, and had only lost on a neutral field by a field goal in the SEC Championship game and were then told, “Never mind what you’ve shown for nearly three years, you’re not a Top 4 team anymore”. Well they showed up and kicked your butts 63-3.
Syracuse, you to! You got put up against a AAC school South Florida and decided not to show up. Guess what? You were one of two teams this bowl season to lose to a G5. And you lost by 45. North Carolina, what happened to you? Didn’t make a NY6 so you don’t care? Well you lost a game you shouldn’t have as well.
The rest of the conference, great job! Boston College had a great win against SMU, Clemson beat a really good Kentucky team, and Virginia Tech beat a sneaky Tulane team who won a NY6 just last year.
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