GYBE wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I'm not going to dissect every game and how it makes one conference better, it's incredibly stupid to think a single match can dictate conference strength. It's a very wierd year and I don't think any of the BE/B10/B12/ACC have seperated themselves. Clemson has no good wins and you want them ranked? Alabama has the same record with wins over Tennessee and at Vanderbilt, both better wins than FSU and at NC State.
It's not just one game. And for you to continue to disqualify any argument by saying "I'm not going to look at one game in a vacuum" is just some lame justification for actually confronting the facts. Now, it finally looks like the Conference is getting the respect it deserves nationally. It has jsut as many teams in the BCS rankings (5) as ANY conference. And if you look a the polls, the ACC and SEC each have five teams in the top 25. The Big 12 has four, the Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 have three each and the WAC has two. The Big 12 has the most in the top 10, with three.
FSU beat BOTH Colorado on the road and Alabama at a neutral site. Their only losses are to ACC teams (Wake, who is quite good, Clemson, who is also quite good, and a rivalry game to Miami). I know you may not want to think that FSU could be better than "Bama and Colorado just b/c they lost to a non-traditional ACC power like Wake, but that doesn't change the fact that head-to-head, they defeated two very solid SEC/Big 12 programs on the road/at a netural site.
Here are some more games for you:
Clemson is now ranked, and if you don't think oblittering Maryland on the road is impressive, then I don't know what to tell you. Maryland went into Piscataway and handily defeated Rutgers and while the Terps are at best the 6th best team in the ACC, Rutgers is probably the 3rd or 4th best team in the BE. Again, big edge to the ACC.
Miami. Pummelled by Oklahom, though the game was close for 2.5 quarters until the wheels fell off, but they then in turn pounded A&M. I think their inconsistency speaks for itself--they can beat anybody and also lose to anybody. That's why they're ranked in the middle of the pack of the ACC. But the middle of the pack of the ACC beat the middle of the pack of the Big 12 pretty handily.
Duke. Stinks. Worst team in arguably all of the BCS conferences. Yet, they somehow managed to beat the 6th or 7th best Big Ten in Northwestern ON THE ROAD. Call the win a fluke all you want, but unfortunately, head to head, they proved that they're superior. Virginia beat UConn. etc. etc.
So, I'm not talking about just one game here. To argue that the ACC is only as good as the Big Ten or Big East really flies in the face of what has transpired on the field the last few weeks.
And btw, those Kentucky/South Carolina teams certainly don't look as good right now as they did last week eh? Maybe we shouldn't be overrating LSU's SEC wins and underrating BC's ACC wins, like GT, Wake and @ VT.
