Five Weeks Into The 2012 Season, The Big East Appears To Be Heading In The Right Direction

We’re not five games into the 2012 college football season and I think it’s safe to say that the Big East has done slightly better than a lot of people expected. The league still isn’t exactly where we’d like it to be, but with a three teams currently ranked in the Top 25 Coaches Poll, the 2012 season thus far has been a step in the right direction.

I’ve always thought that for the Big East to gain back some respect, teams like Louisville, Rutgers, Cincinnati and South Florida needed to do their part consistently be solid. So far in 2012, South Florida is the only one that hasn’t been pulling their weight. The addition of Boise State next season will help, but expanding the conference can only do so much.

Chip Patterson of CBS Sports published his week six Conference Power Rankings on Monday and the Big East climbed above the ACC and is currently ranked No. 6. Not only is it good to see the Big East getting some respect, but it’s also good to see someone call out the ACC. Florida State is one of the best teams in the country, but outside of the Seminoles, the league is extremely overrated.  Below is the updated conference power rankings.

Conference Power Rankings
1	SEC (previous: 2)	Top 25 Teams: 6 (both polls) Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 21-8 Nonconference record (Total): 29-8 Cumulative ATS record: 30-34-1 Team to Blame: Arkansas. In addition to being disappointments in the normal record books, they haven’t covered a single point spread all season. I consider that a repeated failure to meet or exceed expectations. SEC Power Rankings
2	Big 12 (previous: 1)	Top 25 Teams: AP: 5, Coaches: 6 Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 17-3 Nonconference record (Total): 26-3 Cumulative ATS record: 22-17 Team to Blame: Oklahoma. Unless West Virginia or Kansas State survive a few weeks of undefeated Big 12 play, the league has no representative in the BCS title discussion. Both teams can be, but they are still considered long shots by most. Big 12 Power Rankings
3	Pac-12 (previous: 3)	Top 25 Teams: AP: 6, Coaches: 4 Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 16-8 Nonconference record (Total): 23-9 Cumulative ATS record: 23-30-1 Team to Blame: Southern California, Utah, Cal, Washington State. Oregon State – one of the pleasant surprises of 2012 – is keeping this conference in the Top 3 Pac-12 Power Rankings
4	Big Ten (previous: 4)	Top 25 Teams: 3 (both polls) Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 25-13 Nonconference record (Total): 33-10 Cumulative ATS record: 27-30 Team to Blame: Wisconsin. The Leaders was there for the taking, but now the division is led by teams that cannot compete in the postseason. Big Ten Power Rankings
5	Big East (previous: T-5)	Top 25 Teams: AP: 2, Coaches: 3 Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 12-9 Nonconference record (Total): 19-10 Cumulative ATS record:14-18-1 Team to Blame: South Florida. Week 5 is always about the time the Bulls make everyone eat their “conference title contender” words. Big East Power Rankings
6	ACC (previous: T-5)	Top 25 Teams: 2 Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 13-12 Nonconference record (Total): 26-12 Cumulative ATS record:25-31-2 Team to Blame: Virginia Tech. Their second loss this season to a Big East team brought the head-to-head to 4-3 in favor of the Big East. Now all the ACC can do is hope for a Miami win against USF for the 4-4 split. ACC Power Rankings
7	Mountain West (previous: 9)	Top 25 Teams: AP: 0, Coaches: 1 Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 9-18 Nonconference record (Total): 15-21 Cumulative ATS record: 24-22 Team to Blame: Boise State. Dropped from the AP poll after Week 5′s narrow victory over New Mexico. More performances like that – even in wins – could get them bumped from the Coaches’ Poll as well.
8	WAC (previous: 10)	Top 25 Teams: 0 Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 12-11 Nonconference record (Total): 19-12 Cumulative ATS record: 22-9 Team to Blame: Idaho? I don’t know, hard to pin blame on the last seven members of a soon-to-be dissolved FBS football conference. Louisiana Tech should be ranked soon, which will help boost the WAC’s stock.
9	Sun Belt (previous: 8)	Top 25 Teams: 0 Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 9-17 Nonconference record (Total): 15-18 Cumulative ATS record: 28-14 Team to Blame: The schedule making administrators. The Sun Belt and the WAC have far exceeded expectations, but a 9-17 record against FBS competition does not deserve a high ranking. Even in my twisted world of upsets and against-the-spread calculations, it just won’t cut it.
10	MAC (previous: 7)	Top 25 Teams: 0 Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 11-21 Nonconference record (Total): 21-22 Cumulative ATS record: 31-30 Team to Blame: Eastern Michigan. Can’t blame UMass just yet, they just showed up to the FBS party. MAC isn’t really the “second worst” conference, they just are the fourth “third tier” conference this week.
11	C-USA (previous: 11)	Top 25 Teams: 0 Nonconference record (vs. FBS): 5-31 Nonconference record (Total): 9-32 Cumulative ATS record: 21-30-2 Team to Blame: Mostly Houston and Southern Miss. All of conference’s teams deserve blame, but those two teams won their division in 2011 and have not bounced back since losing their head coaches in the offseason.