| 1984 |
Rank |
2004 |
SEC
The SEC enjoyed some of its greatest prosperity during the early '80s, with Alabama and Georgia among the nation's elite, Auburn and Florida finishing high in the polls, and LSU and Tennessee producing nationally competitive teams.
|
1
|
Big 12
The Big 8 absorbed four teams from the now-defunct Southwest Conference in 1996, spawning a league that has produced three top 10 teams each of the past three seasons, with Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas State all among this year's preseason top five.
|
Big 8
With Barry Switzer at Oklahoma and Tom Osborne at Nebraska, the Sooners' and Huskers' rivalry continually captivated the country and affected the national title race while Oklahoma State was beginning to join them in the top 10.
|
2
|
SEC
No league has produced more top 10 teams since 1990 than the SEC's 27, most of them coming from among '90s flagship members Florida and Tennessee. Georgia and LSU have both crept up in recent years while prestigious Alabama appears to be in a funk.
|
Big Ten
Ohio State and Michigan continued their dominance of the conference during this time but did not field some of their more imposing squads, opening the door for brief breakthroughs by Illinois, Iowa and Michigan State.
|
3
|
ACC
Basketball takes a backseat next season with the addition of Miami, the nation's preeminent football power, as well as recent power Virginia Tech, to go with mainstay Florida State and rising programs N.C. State, Maryland and Virginia.
|
Eastern Independents
The media grouped the more than 20 unaffiliated I-A teams into two geographic clumps, this one retaining more glamour due to the presence of titans Penn State and Notre Dame as well as competitive Boston College and West Virginia.
|
4
|
Big Ten
The oft-criticized league has experienced a resurgence, thanks to Ohio State and Michigan's recent national titles as well as beefed up programs at Wisconsin, Purdue and Illinois, but it's not gotten quite the impact it expected by adding Penn State.
|
Southwest Conference
This was the modern heyday of the historic league, just before its corruption-triggered demise. SMU became a top 10 mainstay in the early '80s, briefly trumping more traditional powers Texas, Arkansas and Texas A&M.
|
5
|
Pac-10
No BCS league benefits from more parity than the Pac-10, with eight of its 10 teams reaching the Rose or other BCS bowl since 1996. But the lack of a lasting dynasty doesn't help its prestige, nor does just one national championship in 25 years.
|
Pac-10
Though not a deep conference by any means in the early '80s, the legacy of Tailback U. was still very much alive at USC while rival UCLA became a frequent Rose Bowl representative and Washington became a mainstay in the polls.
|
6
|
Big East
The 11-year old football conference took a big step forward by landing four teams in the final AP poll in 2002 but will take a huge step toward the rear next year with the loss of Miami and Virginia Tech. Only one remaining team, Syracuse, has made a BCS bowl.
|
Southern Independents
This clan was an afterthought until Miami captured its first of four national titles as an independent in 1983. Florida State showed a glimpse of things to come the next year with a top 20 finish, joined there by South Carolina.
|
7
|
Conference USA
This league could be in for a hit as well if, as expected, the Big East tabs Louisville and Cincinnati as replacements. Like the Cardinals, Southern Miss and TCU sometimes dabble in the national polls and 2003 addition South Florida is an upstart program.
|
ACC
Tobacco Road had yet to turn its attention to football, leaving Clemson, the 1981 national champ and frequent top 15 finisher, and Maryland, which enjoyed a couple of top 20 teams in the early '80s, to carry the conference banner.
|
8
|
Mountain West
Commissioner Craig Thompson likes to argue that his five-year-old league is closer to BCS status than any other, but that grossly overstates its accomplishments, which, besides Colorado State's occasional upsets and BYU's 12-2 2001 season are few and far between.
|
WAC
This renegade conference provided plenty of amusement for the rest of the country with its high-flying offenses, but outside of 1984 national champ BYU it made few inroads in the polls and wasn't taken too seriously.
|
9
|
WAC
The league doesn't quite enjoy the notoriety it did in the days of Robbie Bosco and Ty Detmer, but it does have a few programs that have made national waves recently -- Fresno State, Hawaii and Boise State, which finished last season ranked No. 15.
|
Pacific Coast Athletic Association
This 18-year experiment (1969-87) made only the slightest impression outside the West Coast with a couple stellar Fresno State teams and a brief annual bowl partnership with the long-defunct California Bowl.
|
10
|
MAC
The longtime football doormat raised its profile significantly with the 1997 addition of Marshall, which has produced NFL stars Randy Moss and Chad Pennington, and Toledo and Miami of Ohio are always capable of upsets, but it drops off fast after that.
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