I'll not pretend that the Big 12 is the best football conference in America but I have to call bull when I see it. SI.com's Stewart Mandel discussed his conference rankings this week in the college football mailbag and he put the Big12 as the fifth ranked conference. Again, before you call me a homer for the Big 12 conference (which I am) let me point out that my beef is not that the Big 12 isn't #1. My beef is that he has the Pac 10, Big 10, and even the Big East ranked ahead of the Big 12. Here's what he had to say about the Big 12.
When compiling a conference power rankings list you have to consider the conference from top to bottom and not just the conference champion and runner up. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Compare the Pac 10 (Mandel's second strongest conference) from top to bottom against the Big 12.
| Conference Finish |
Pac 10 | Big 12 | My Pick Head-to-Head |
| 1 | USC | OU | USC |
| 2 | Cal | Nebraska | Cal |
| 3 | Oregon State |
Texas | Texas |
| 4 | UCLA | Texas A&M | UCLA |
| 5 | Oregon | Texas Tech | Texas Tech |
| 6 | Arizona State | Missouri | Missouri |
| 7 | Washington State |
Kansas State |
Kansas State |
| 8 | Arizona | Oklahoma State |
Oklahoma State |
| 9 | Washington | Kansas | Washington |
| 10 | Stanford | Baylor | Baylor |
The Pack 10 may be heavy at the top but from top to bottom I'll take the more balanced Big 12 over the top heavy Pac 10. The same goes for the Big 10 as well.
| Conference Finish |
Big 10 | Big 12 | My Pick Head-to-Head |
| 1 | Ohio State |
OU | OSU |
| 2 | Wisconsin | Nebraska | Nebraska |
| 3 | Michigan | Texas | Texas |
| 4 | Penn State |
TexasA&M | Penn State |
| 5 | Purdue | Texas Tech | Texas Tech |
| 6 | Minnesota | Missouri | Missouri |
| 7 | Indiana | Kansas State |
Kansas State |
| 8 | Iowa | Oklahoma State |
Iowa |
| 9 | Northwestern | Kansas | Kansas |
| 10 | Michigan State |
Baylor | Michigan State |
| 11 | Illinois | Iowa State |
Iowa State |
At least in my little conference ranking world the Pac 10 and Big 10 are competitive against the Big 12 and prove that they belong to be mentioned in the same breath but the same just isn't true for the Big East.
| Conference Finish |
Big East | Big 12 | My Pick Head-to-Head |
| 1 | Louisville | OU | OU |
| 2 | West Virginia |
Nebraska | West Virginia |
| 3 | Rutgers | Texas | Texas |
| 4 | South Florida |
Texas A&M |
Texas A&M |
| 5 | Cincinnai | Texas Tech |
Texas Tech |
| 6 | Pittsburgh | Missouri | Missouri |
| 7 | Connecticut | Kansas State |
Kansas State |
| 8 | Syracuse | Oklahoma State |
Oklahoma State |
Clearly the SEC is the best conference in the country and we really don't need a chart to back that up but in my opinion two, three, and four are all up for grabs to anyone but the Big East.