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Week 11 Conference Comparison
By Garrett Strunk
SouthernPigskin.com
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Amazingly, Big 12 teams have lost a combined four games against non-conference opponents this season.
The story of this past weekend was undoubtedly Alabama losing to SEC newcomer Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide's loss puts the SEC in an unfamiliar position of needing some help to get back into the National Championship Game for the possibility of winning the title for the seventh time in a row. I don't know how the BCS computers work, and nobody else seems to know either, but it may be possible that a one-loss Alabama can still jump ahead of an undefeated Oregon, Kansas State or Notre Dame. Case in point, notice that two-loss South Carolina, Texas A&M and LSU are ahead of a few other one-loss teams. The computers love the SEC, so maybe Alabama is still in control of its own destiny after all.
Louisville also played over the weekend, picking up its first loss of the season versus Syracuse. Other than a vanity ranking, it does not change the circumstance. The Cardinals were not going to the National Championship Game even if they went undefeated, but they are still in control of their destiny to win the Big East. Even though Louisville has very little appeal as a football power, they do seem to give the Big East the best shot in a BCS game behind one of the best QBs in the nation - Teddy Bridgewater.
ACC B1G B12 BEC PAC SEC FBS FCS Total
Week 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1
Overall 1-1 0-3 3-4 0-1 1-1 8-6 13-0 26-16
B1G ACC B12 BEC PAC SEC FBS FCS Total
Week 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Overall 1-1 0-1 3-0 1-3 1-1 20-8 6-0 34-14
B12 ACC B1G BEC PAC SEC FBS FCS Total
Week 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Overall 3-0 1-0 0-0 0-1 1-0 12-3 9-0 26-4
Big East ACC B1G B12 PAC SEC FBS FCS Total
Week 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0
Overall 4-3 0-3 0-0 0-1 2-0 9-5 8-1 23-13
PAC ACC B1G B12 BEC SEC FBS FCS Total
Week 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Overall 1-0 3-1 1-0 1-0 0-2 11-6 7-1 24-10
SEC ACC B1G B12 BEC PAC FBS FCS Total
Week 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0
Overall 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-2 2-0 24-2 7-0 37-7
“FBS” denotes the teams in non-AQ conferences and Independents.
“FCS” denotes all teams in the FCS division or lower.
Over the weekend, as Florida escaped from being upset by Louisiana-Lafayette, I got to thinking about the Sun Belt Conference, the upsets that they have caused and the many hours of amusement I have received from reading the meltdowns on the upset team's message boards.
We'll recount this season's history starting with the upsets: 49-28 MTSU over GT, 34-31 La-Monroe over Arkansas, 32-31 WKU over Kentucky and 41-31 Troy over Navy. They also hold a decisive advantage over C-USA, holding a 6-2 record against teams from that conference.
And now, the near upsets: 28-31 Auburn over La-Monroe, 47-42 Baylor over La-Monroe, 27-20 Florida over La-Laf, 30-24 Miss St over Troy, 55-48 Tennessee over Troy, 24-17 Navy over FAU and 28-21 Louisville over FIU.
Many of the teams in the Sun Belt Conference were not even playing FBS or Div.1-A level football 15 years ago, and here they are going toe-to-toe with the big boys of the SEC and ACC. Contributing to the Sun Belt's success, you may hear familiar names of former top assistant coaches to the likes of Carl Pelini and Gus Malzahn who are now cutting their teeth as head coaches in the Sun Belt. And let's not forget the abundance of talent in the deep south that trickles down to these schools that will keep them competitive with the big conferences for many years to come.
