It is the tenth week of the college football season, and the time has come to revisit our grand experiment of the summer: The SB Nation Conference Re-Draft Project. While the world has turned its icy glare to real-life realignment, we were the ones who really went all-in on the concept. Tradition be damned!
After nine weeks of football, the results are quite telling. Without further ado, here is the overall conference breakdown between the six fake conferences created this past summer.
Comissioners and Conference names: BCI: Twelve Pack; BHGP: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; TSK: The Empire; BECB: Conference TMZ; HoS: House of a Thousand Sanctions; RCR: The Cult Of Les Miles.
| Twelve Pack | W | L | Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants | W | L | The Empire | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Texas | 5 | 2 | 2. Florida | 4 | 4 | 3. Alabama | 8 | 0 |
| 12. Georgia | 6 | 2 | 11. Penn State | 8 | 1 | 10. Oklahoma | 7 | 1 |
| 13. UCLA | 4 | 4 | 14. Virginia Tech | 8 | 1 | 15. Nebraska | 7 | 1 |
| 24. Wisconsin | 6 | 2 | 23. Miami (Fla.) | 4 | 4 | 22. Texas A&M | 5 | 3 |
| 25. Washington | 6 | 2 | 26. Auburn | 6 | 3 | 27. Arizona | 2 | 6 |
| 36. Duke | 3 | 5 | 35. Kansas | 2 | 6 | 34. California | 4 | 4 |
| 37. Clemson | 8 | 1 | 38. Illinois | 6 | 3 | 39. UConn | 3 | 5 |
| 48. Virginia | 5 | 3 | 47. TCU | 6 | 2 | 46. Arizona State | 6 | 2 |
| 49. Boston College | 2 | 6 | 50. Colorado | 1 | 8 | 51. Oregon State | 2 | 6 |
| 60. Minnesota | 2 | 6 | 59. Indiana | 1 | 8 | 58. South Florida | 4 | 3 |
| 61. Purdue | 4 | 4 | 62. Texas Tech | 5 | 3 | 63. Hawaii | 5 | 3 |
| 72. Northwestern | 3 | 5 | 71. Villanova | 1 | 8 | 70. Fresno State | 3 | 5 |
| Overall W-L | 54 | 42 | Overall W-L | 52 | 51 | Overall W-L | 56 | 39 |
| Conference TMZ | W | L | House of a Thousand Sanctions | W | L | The Cult of Les Miles | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4. Ohio State | 5 | 3 | 5. USC | 6 | 2 | 6. LSU | 8 | 0 |
| 9. Florida State | 5 | 3 | 8. Notre Dame | 5 | 3 | 7. Michigan | 7 | 1 |
| 16. Louisville | 4 | 4 | 17. Oregon | 7 | 1 | 18. North Carolina | 6 | 3 |
| 21. Michigan State | 6 | 2 | 20. Tennessee | 3 | 5 | 19. Stanford | 8 | 0 |
| 28. West Virginia | 6 | 2 | 29. Syracuse | 5 | 3 | 30. Arkansas | 7 | 1 |
| 33. Maryland | 2 | 6 | 32. Kentucky | 3 | 5 | 31. Iowa | 5 | 3 |
| 40. Missouri | 4 | 4 | 41. Pittsburgh | 4 | 4 | 42. Oklahoma State | 8 | 0 |
| 45. Utah | 4 | 4 | 44. BYU | 6 | 3 | 43. South Carolina | 7 | 1 |
| 52. Boise State | 7 | 0 | 53. Vanderbilt | 4 | 4 | 54. Georgia Tech | 7 | 2 |
| 57. Cincinnati | 6 | 1 | 56. N.C. State | 4 | 4 | 55. Ole Miss | 2 | 6 |
| 64. Mississippi State | 4 | 4 | 65. Air Force | 4 | 4 | 66. Florida Atlantic | 0 | 7 |
| 69. Kansas State | 7 | 1 | 68. Georgetown | 7 | 2 | 67. Central Florida | 4 | 4 |
| Overall W-L | 60 | 34 | Overall W-L | 58 | 40 | Overall W-L | 69 | 28 |
For the breakdown of BCS rankings by conference and insightful analysis of the conferences, keep on reading. You won't be disappointed.
| BCS Rank | Team | Conference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU | The Cult of Les Miles |
| 2 | Alabama | The Empire |
| 3 | Oklahoma State | The Cult of Les Miles |
| 4 | Stanford | The Cult of Les Miles |
| 5 | Boise State | Conference TMZ |
| 6 | Oklahoma | The Empire |
| 7 | Arkansas | The Cult of Les Miles |
| 8 | Oregon | House of a Thousand Sanctions |
| 9 | South Carolina | The Cult of Les Miles |
| 10 | Nebraska | The Empire |
| 11 | Clemson | Twelve Pack |
| 12 | Virginia Tech | Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants |
| 13 | Houston | Nobody! |
| 14 | Kansas State | Conference TMZ |
| 15 | Michigan | The Cult of Les Miles |
| 16 | Penn State | Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants |
| 17 | Michigan State | Conference TMZ |
| 18 | Georgia | Twelve Pack |
| 19 | Arizona State | The Empire |
| 20 | Wisconsin | Twelve Pack |
| 21 | Texas | Twelve Pack |
| 22 | Auburn | Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants |
| 23 | Georgia Tech | The Cult of Les Miles |
| 24 | West Virginia | Conference TMZ |
| 25 | Southern Miss | Nobody! |
Clearly, The Cult of Les Miles knew something the rest of us didn't, shattering records and expectations by having an impressive seven teams in the Top 25 of the BCS rankings this week, including five in the top nine. THAT is what you call a power conference.
Conference TMZ, The Twelve Pack and The Empire all had four teams apiece in the BCS Top 25, while Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants managed to get three. After that, two teams (Southern Miss and Houston) weren't selected in the draft, which brings us to House of a Thousand Sanctions, which only has one team in the BCS Top 25.
Terrible, you declare! What an outrage! Well, not exactly. Georgetown, an FCS school, is 7-2 (despite that, they are somehow unranked in the FCS... whatever) and the majority of the schools in the conference are underachieving. Who really expected a 6-2 USC to be unranked when they are back at full strength? Nobody.
Still, there's something to be said for the metholodgy that The Cult of Les Miles used while selecting their member institutions. From the outset, the focus was football and they carried through in a big way. Their silly picking of Florida Atlantic may be their downfall, but at least the conference is very strong at the top.
I also give a lot of credit to The Empire, who went after powerhouses of 2011, not powerhouses of the 2000s (sorry, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but Colorado, Miami and Florida aren't really cutting the mustard these days).
In the end, we've learned one thing: don't ever, ever bet against Les Miles. Unless you're betting with money.
Tomorrow, BC Interruption will be breaking down the offenses, defenses, and attendance figures for each conference. You won't want to miss it!