SEC and Pac 12 finish as top two conferences in college football

Florida State of the Atlantic Coast Conference won this year’s national title, but the two best college football leagues were the Southeastern and the Pac 12.

This conclusion can confidently be made after everything was said, played, tallied and done.

The SEC saw its seven-year streak of BCS titles stopped, yet still led all conferences with seven schools ranked in the final Associated Press poll.

The Pac 12 was second with six schools, followed by the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten and Big 12, with three each. The newly named American Athletic Conference had two.

The only school outside the six automatic-qualifier leagues to place a team in the final top 25 was independent Notre Dame (No. 20).

The SEC (7-3) and Pac 12 (6-3) also dominated the bowls, winning 13 of the 35 games, despite neither league winning a BCS game. The SEC lost the championship game and Sugar Bowl, while the Pac 12 lost the Rose Bowl.

The ACC was 5-6 in bowls, including Florida State’s title-game win, followed by the Big 12 (3-3), Big Ten (2-5) and AAC (2-3).

The only league that failed to win a bowl was the Mid American, which finished 0-5.

The final Sagarin Ratings also support the SEC and Pac 12 being the best two leagues. Sagarin is one of six computer polls used in the BCS standings.

Sagarin rates the top four divisions in college football as the SEC West, Pac 12 North, Pac 12 South and SEC East. The Big 12 (which has no divisions) was fifth, followed by the Big Ten Legends, ACC Coastal and Big Ten Leaders.

The ACC Atlantic, which produced national champion Florida State and Orange Bowl winner Clemson, finished ninth in Sagarin’s ratings.

In fact, every BCS computer index rated the SEC and Pac 12 first and second except Richard Billingsly, which had it SEC, Big 12, Pac 12.

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