Today I conclude my series of conference teams of the decade with a look at how each individual conference fared in the past decade in bowl games. To come up with a ranking system I included their overall bowl record, records against BCS conf teams, non-BCS conf teams, records against ranked opponents, the ranked teams’ records, and most importantly their BCS bowl record.

Here are the overall records for each conference and how I would rank each conference’s performance in the past 10 years in bowl games. Keep in mind this not my overall ranking on which conference is the toughest in the country but just one factor that goes into my ranking along with non-conf record, record against BCS foes, number of players drafted and number of top 10 finishes just to name a few.

Conference Bowl Rankings 2000-2009

The SEC was clearly the top performing conference in bowl games in the last ten years. Their overall 48 bowl wins were 10 more than any other conference and their win % was just behind the MWC and Big East. What really separated the conference from the others was their performance in BCS bowls and games against ranked teams. Their 32 wins over ranked teams was 13 more than the Big 10 and their outstanding 12-3 record in BCS games was clearly the best. The conference also went a perfect 5-0 in national title games!

Coming in at #2 is the MWC, which is very surprising but much deserved. Despite having less overall wins than several of the BCS conferences in many categories, their winning percentages were higher in nearly every category. Thier 63.2% win % was #1 as was their 61.1% vs BCS conf teams. The conference also fared well vs ranked teams and in BCS bowls and what put them over #3 was their 6-5 record (including 2-0 LY) against the Pac-10.

The Pac-10 also had a great decade in bowl games including a 9-3 mark in BCS bowls thanks in large part to USC’s 6-1 record. The conference would have been ranked higher if not for their sub-.500 record against non-BCS schools. The Big East comes in at #4 here with an overall 62.7% win % which was best among BCS conferences. While the conference did well in BCS games at 6-4, they did fatten up on the little guys with a 12-1 mark against non-BCS conferences. While it should be noted that they took care of business when they had too, the conference was just 20-18 against the other BCS conferences.

The Big 12 racked up 38 wins (2nd most) and were right around the .500 mark in several categories. The conference was 32-34 vs BCS teams, 6-5 vs non-BCS teams and their ranked teams were 19-20. The Big 10 is #6 on my list and it is shocking to see how poorly the conference did overall with just a 40.6% win %. The conference was just 19-27 vs ranked teams and 6-11 in BCS games. To the conference’s credit they did play the least amount of non-BCS teams with only three games and the Big 10 got a big boost last year with 4 wins over Top 15 teams in bowl games.

The ACC like the Big 10 did not have a great decade in bowl games. Despite having a better win % than the Big 10, their 1-9 mark in BCS bowls including 0-2 vs the Big 10 puts them at #7. Finally, the WAC deserves some mention here thanks to Boise St with 2 BCS wins and their .500 mark against ranked teams.

On the PhilSteele.com homepage, you can vote on the winner of each regular season conference matchup. When you select a conference you get the complete conference schedule for each team with the home team capitalized. All you have to do is vote on who you will think the winner will be in each game and the current voting tally appears. Remember you can only vote once and take your time by maybe doing one conference at a time. To vote you do have to register your e-mail address but this is just to make sure there is no stuffing of the ballot box. This is a great way for me to gauge on how the public looks at each game and I will look at how the current % are going so far in Monday’s Blog.

Also We just posted my 2010 FCS All-Conference and All-American teams on the homepage on Thursday and if you want to see if your favorite local team has any players on make sure to download them. Also please check PhilSteele.com everyday to get my FCS Top 25 Countdown, which continues with #11 Wofford. Thru July 20th, I will post both magazine pages on a new team ranked in the Top 25 and you can get an early look on how I breakdown your favorite FCS team. Remember those magazine pages are available for only 24 hours for you to download as the next team will be posted the following day.

Have a great weekend!