Small conferences swarm college football's lower level

[TyBull]

Small conferences swarm college football's lower level

By Todd McShay

Scouts Inc.

With the exception of Baylor and Duke (affectionately labeled by Pat Forde as "square pegs in a round hole sport"), the dregs of society within the "Big Six" conferences reside in the "north of the basement" category (76-100).

No. 77 UConn was on the rise in 2004, when it won the Motor City Bowl as a first-year member of the Big East. Since then, consecutive losing seasons has robbed the Huskies of such momentum.

No. 82 Stanford, No. 83 Kansas, No. 84 Illinois, No. 94 Indiana and No. 98 Vanderbilt are more senior members of this unenviable club.

But one program's trash is another program's treasure. Last year's New Orleans Bowl between No. 85 Troy and No. 96 Rice served as an uplifting example for many of the have-nots attempting to scratch and crawl their way out of college football's basement.

A year ago, the odds would have been stacked a mile high in favor of Troy and Rice being buried in the bottom-20 crowd. But the 2006 season was a magical one for both the Trojans and the Owls.

Troy earned its first ever bowl victory with a 41-17 thumping of Rice in only its second bowl appearance since moving up to Division I-A in 2002. Rice enjoyed its first winning season since 1993 and made its first bowl appearance since 1961.

The vast majority of teams in this "north of the basement" category hail from the smaller conferences -- formerly known as the non-BCS conferences. In fact, 18 of the 25 are teams from Conference USA, the MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt or the WAC.

Troy is the highest-ranked program from the Sun Belt. In comparison, No. 91 Wyoming is the seventh-ranked team from the MWC, No. 76 Western Michigan is the fifth-ranked team from the MAC, No. 78 UCF is the fourth-ranked team from C-USA, and Nevada is the fourth-ranked team from the WAC.

So, according to these rankings, the power structure among the "Little Five" conferences since 1997 is:

1. Mountain West

2. MAC

T-3. C-USA

T-3. WAC

5. Sun Belt

There is more parity in today's college football game than at any previous point. Powerhouse programs still get the top recruits, but scholarship limitations prevent them from overstocking. Increased television coverage and an absurd amount of bowl games make it easier for smaller schools to recruit. And an additional BCS bowl game provides a greater opportunity for a team like Boise State to get a shot on the big stage.

But let's face it: While a few bottom-of-the-barrel programs from the "Big Six" conferences continue to lurk in the bottom-third of the nation's rankings, this territory always will be reserved for the five other leagues.

Like Troy in 2001, if a program in Division I-AA wants to get more serious about football, it makes the leap to the Division I-A. Similarly, if a program from the other five leagues (See: Louisville) wants to crank it up a notch, it makes a play to gain inclusion in one of the "Big Six" conferences.

The competition in the "Big Six" conferences is greater because generally speaking, the players, coaches and facilities are superior. While the line might continue to get blurred from time to time, the line between the haves and the have-nots in college football always will exist.