Bowl Conference Perf

With 31 of the 34 bowls completed, I decided to do a little more analysis of how the conferences have done in the bowl games, to see if my Pac 10 rant was backed up by facts. So, I did an expected (based upon Predictor ranking of Jeff Sagarin) win/loss record and compared it to the actual win/loss record for the conferences:

Conf / expected w-l / actual w-l

BCS eligible and MWC
ACC : 8-2; 4-6
Big 10: 1-5; 1-5
Big 12: 4-1; 3-2
Big East: 3-3; 4-2
MWC: 2-3; 3-2
Pac 10: 4-1; 5-0
SEC: 2-5; 5-2

Other conferences
Conf USA: 1-4; 3-2
MAC: 3-1; 0-4
Sun Belt: 1-1; 1-1
WAC: 1-4; 1-4

Instant comments from this:

• The Big 12 had just as good a chance at 5-0 as the Pac 10, but upsets by Oregon and Ole Miss did them in.
• If there's ever an effective argument against 34 bowl games, the fact that the ACC has 10 teams in bowl games has to rank high on that list.
• The MidAmerican Conference has not fared well this bowl season, and this doesn't bode well for Ball State vs Tulsa on Tuesday.
• Sagarin completely dissed the SEC, but as usual, they've proven out to be a formidable conference against non-Sun Belt Conference foes. They've gone 5-2 in bowl games even with the most surprising upset of the bowl season going against them.
• Pending games effect the SEC (1), Big 12 (2), Big 10 (1), CUSA (1) and MAC (1).