ShareThisIt's mid-term time around college football. Here's how each conference shapes up:
-- SEC (B+): Yes, we know how mighty the top two of Florida and Alabama are. But what about the rest of the mushy league? No. 10 LSU probably should be 3-3 while Tennessee, Georgia and Ole Miss rate as sizeable disappointments. Only Arkansas and Auburn have exceeded expectations. After losing to Army, Vanderbilt's consecutive bowl streak is doomed to end at one. Only three top-20 teams and mixed non-conference results makes an A impossible.
-- Big 12 (B): Who would have ever thought Oklahoma could drag down the league's grade? But that's the price of the Sooners' non-conference losses to Miami and BYU. Five ranked teams are nice, but No. 15 Nebraska, No. 16 Oklahoma State have flunked non-conference tests. No. 17 Kansas (5-0 with wins over Northern Colorado, UTEP, Duke, Southern Miss and Iowa State) remains a curiosity. Kansas State, Iowa State, Colorado and Baylor are a combined 6-12 vs. D-I teams.
-- Pac-10 (B): With nine teams over .500, the surfer boys have the nation's best depth. But is anyone other than No. 6 USC really that good? Maybe No. 13 Oregon, who could get Mike Tyson-wannabe RB LaGarrette Blount back in November. A 15-8 non-conference mark vs. D-I teams bodes well for bowl season.
-- Big East (C +): Sure, only No. 7 Cincinnati and No. 21 South Florida are ranked. But nobody is really terrible though keep an eye on sinking Louisville (2-3) and dead man walking-coach Steve Kragthorpe. Watch out for Big Easties in the postseason (12-4 bowl mark since 2006).
-- Mountain West (C): We love the top four of No. 12 TCU, No. 18 BYU, Utah and surprising Wyoming (a combined 17-4). But outside of pesky Air Force, the rest (Colorado State, San Diego State, UNLV and New Mexico) are pretty bad (combined 6-16 vs. D-I teams). Here's hoping hot head New Mexico coach Mike Locksley gets his own reality show soon.
-- Big Ten (C): This is the toughest grade we've ever had. Simply put, the Big Ten's national image problem with ranks up there with George W. Bush among Europeans. Chalk it up to that 9-20 bowl record since 2005. Only three ranked teams (No. 7 Ohio State, No. 11 Iowa and No. 14 Penn State) makes depth suspect and there are a string of disastrous non-conference losses (Michigan State to Central Michigan, Purdue to Northern Illinois, Indiana's 47-7 clunker at Virginia) while Illinois' 7-game losing skid to D-I foes has fireronzook.com humming again.
-- WAC (C-): Guess who currently leads here? Not No. 5 Boise State. It's Idaho (5-1 with all wins over D-I teams). And yes, these are the same Vandals that were a combined 3-21 in 2007-08. But Nevada and Fresno State, both 2-3, need to pick it up because the rest (New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, Hawaii, Utah State and San Jose State) need a lot of help.
-- ACC (C-): Where do we start? How about Florida State (2-4) and North Carolina (4-2) both starting the season ranked and now are in last place in the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions? But it gets worse. Struggling Virginia (2-3) is in second place in the Coastal while woeful Maryland (2-4) is in third in the Atlantic, one spot ahead of Clemson (2-3), the only D-I team the Terps have beaten. Fortunately, exceptional No. 4 Virginia Tech, gritty No. 9 Miami and No. 19 Georgia Tech's splendid triple option give the league a passing mark. However, filling the league's eight bowl spots looks virtually impossible. But all is not lost. Basketball practice starts this weekend.
-- MAC (C-): After some down years, the MAC is back to its upset tricks (three wins over BCS conference teams). So why not a higher grade? There are seven winless I-A teams and three of them (Ball State, Miami of Ohio and Eastern Michigan) belong to the MAC. But we're rooting for East leader Temple (3-2) to grind its way to the Owls' first bowl trip since 1979.
-- Conference USA (D): So the 19-23 non-conference mark sounds ugly with punching bag Rice (0-6 outscored 266-99) doing most of the damage. But at least, Houston did win at Oklahoma State and Southern Miss got by Virginia.
-- Sun Belt (D): An 8-21 non-conference mark pretty much says it all. Then there's Florida Atlantic, Louisiana-Monroe and Florida International that make up three of the bottom six in D-I in attendance per game. These dregs pretty much exist to provide ESPN with weeknight programming.
UPSET PICK: Arkansas moved us to 4-2. With QB Sam Bradford back, No. 20 Oklahoma shows some pride and bounces No. 3 Texas, a 4-point favorite, Saturday in the Red River Shootout in Dallas.
MAD SCIENTEST STRIKES AGAIN: More proof of the beautiful mind for passing belonging to Texas Tech's Mike Leach. Take Saturday when, with Red Raiders starting QB Taylor Potts, who threw for 7 TDs in a win over Rice last month hurting, junior backup Steven Sheffield got the start throwing for 490 yards and -- you guessed it -- 7 TDs in a win over Kansas State. FYI, 49 D-I teams have not thrown 7 TD passes all season. That big-time schools (Tennessee, Auburn, Clemson, etc.) passed on hiring the quirky Leach is beyond baffling and into pathetic.
(E-mail John Lindsay at lindsayj(at)shns.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
