ACC - 4-7 (2-2 vs ranked) SEC - 7-5 (2-5 vs ranked) B1G - 5-5 (3-1 vs ranked) PAC12-6-2 (5-1 vs ranked) BIG12-2-5 (1-2 vs ranked)
10 of 14 teams in the acc had a top 50 defense last year. Clemson, as we all know was number 1, but of the other 9, 5 of them were teams from the ACC Atlantic. Which means that Clemson played all of them. its worth noting that Clemson went 5-0 against those teams, with (not including the games DW4 played the majority of the snaps) statistically one of our worst and most inconsistent offenses in recent memory.
Of the 8 teams in the SEC, only 3 of which were opponents that usuck played. its also worth noting that they went 1-2 in those games with statistically, "the greatest offense in their programs history."
Statistically, 7 of the 8 top 50 defenses from the SEC do rank in the top 25, but a little more perspective and research shows that only 3 teams from the SEC ranked in the top 25 in total offense. so its not exactly like the SEC defenses were playing world class offenses throughout their season as only 6 ranked in the top 50.
Before we go saying, "well of course the offenses arent in the top 25, their defenses are just that good and prevent them from putting up good offensive numbers," i investigated a little furhter. the bowl performances by the SEC west in my mind trump that argument, as 4 of the 5 teams to beat SEC west opponents in bowls ranked in the top 25 for total offense. this means that those vaunted SEC west defenses were not able to stop their supposed "equal" when actually going against top tier offenses.
In the east, we all know the east went 5-0 in their bowl games. the stats make it a little less impressive. all 5 opponents ranked in the top 50 in defense but only ECU and Miami rated in the top 50 in offense...and miami was 44th, and usuck beat them by 1 point.
make no mistake that almost all pundits would tell you that the SEC west is better than the SEC east, and that the whole conference lives vicariously through the SEC west. the sec west in fact posted and 11-4 record against the east.
while, yes, some teams in the sec ran over their opponents, some sec heavyweights got themselves run over in return. the striking number is in the bowl records vs ranked opponents (all of which happen to be from the sec west). the sec got humiliated to the tune of an overall 2-5 record vs ranked teams in bowls. it actually took missouri to beat minnesota to avoid being winless on new years day.
Again, im not trying to say any one conference is better than the other, but it seems to me that darling sec isnt truly all that special. even when the sec won 7 straight national championships, it was only 4 teams that won them. that is hardly representative of a 12-14 team conference.