This Year's Most Overrated Conference

Year after year, the Big 10 has to be the most overrated conference of them all. I mean, when was the last time they won a big bowl game? OSU, Penn State, Illinois, and Michigan have had a tough time this decade to win anything. The exception of course is the 3OT thriller in the Fiesta Bowl (championship game that year) over Miami, and perhaps Wisconsin's Rose Bowl win on 1-1-00 over Stanford. Therefore, I find it way too easy to diss this "power" conference, and I need to move on to a different conference. The one that deserves the most "Are you kidding me?" reactions about how well it's top teams will do is none other than the... Moutain West. That's right, the same conference who's champion two years ago barely beat my beloved Bruins in the Vegas bowl by a point. Did I also mention how we were playing with a fourth-string QB? but I digress. Sure, a lot has gone on for the MWC that has helped build it a more reputable name. However, this preseason has been completely ridiculous. Without further ado (and more ramblings) let's examine each of their three ranked teams in order of rank:

17 TCU: The Horned Frogs had a very solid '08 season finishing with two losses, both to Top 10 schools, and had a nice upset of #9 Boise State in the bowl game. However, Boise State had nothing going for it except a win at Oregon, which while very impressive, cannot help you get a ranking that high. This year, 7 returning starters come back on offense and 4 on defense. The thing is, their defense was real good last year and let's be honest here, no way they can reload like U$C or any other big school.

18/19 Utah: Really? Sure they had a BCS win again, but the guy who led that team isn't back. Neither will their skilled positions with the exception of the TE position. On defense they return 7, but those are all guys that are good at best. This does not warrant such a high ranking. I honestly do not remember when a school with not that much talent, a new QB, and brand new receivers did well. Then again, the MWC is a mid-major, so good for them.

24/20 BYU: Just because their team is way older (silly Mormons), does not mean they are a top 25 school. Are they seriously better than Oregon State, Pitt, Illinois, and Texas Tech just to name a few? probably not. Yes, they will score a lot with Max Hall (pictured to the right) still taking snaps, but their defense is really thin and the fact of the matter is, how good has their recruiting been to replace a solid 25 team from a year ago? Just ask Big 12 teams not named Texas or OU about scoring a lot, and getting scored on a lot. Oh, and they lost to the Pac 10's 5th best team in the Vegas Bowl last year.

While I may be wrong about these three schools, the fact that the rest of the MWC is as good as Davon Jefferson's grammar, they have to beat the big dogs from other conferences to prove something. Also, notice how none of them really play the top 2 teams from other leagues. One match-up to watch though is when Utah plays Oregon, that will be fun.