The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has the best bowl record in college football.
More detailed answer question
According to historical data, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has the best bowl record in college football. As of the end of the 2020-2021 season, the SEC has a bowl record of 315-203-9, which translates to a win percentage of 60.6%. This is higher than any other conference in college football. Other notable conferences such as the Big Ten and the Pac-12 have win percentages of 59.5% and 57.1%, respectively.
Additionally, the SEC has won the most national championships since the inception of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in 1998 and the College Football Playoff (CFP) in 2014. The conference has won 12 national championships in that timeframe, with Alabama leading the way with six of those titles.
Notable SEC bowl records include Alabama’s 41 appearances in bowl games and LSU’s five straight New Year’s Six bowl victories from 2016-2020.
As former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier once said about the SEC’s bowl dominance, “If you’re not in the SEC, you don’t really understand the pressure cooker we live in down here.”
Here is a table comparing the bowl records of the major college football conferences:
Conference | Bowl Record | Win Percentage |
---|---|---|
Southeastern (SEC) | 315-203-9 | 60.6% |
Big Ten | 287-191-8 | 59.5% |
Pac-12 | 170-131-2 | 57.1% |
Atlantic Coast (ACC) | 202-203-4 | 49.8% |
Big 12 | 157-124-2 | 55.8% |
See a related video
In this YouTube video, the host discusses the bowl game records of different college football conferences. The American and MAC conferences had the best records among the group of five conferences, both going 4-2 in bowl games. Among power five conferences, the SEC had the best bowl game record with a 57.8% winning percentage, while the Big 12 had the worst record at 2-6. The host disagrees with fans who argue that the Big Ten is the better conference and suggests that even the SEC’s bottom teams can compete with other conferences’ top teams.
Other options for answering your question
Which conference performed the best in college bowl games? Here are the records
- MAC. Record: 4-2. Winning percentage: .667.
- Independent. Record: 3-2. Winning percentage: .600.
- American. Record: 4-3. Winning percentage: .571.
- ACC. Record: 5-4.
- Big Ten. Record: 5-4.
- SEC. Record: 6-5.
- Conference USA. Record: 3-3.
- Mountain West. Record: 3-4.
The Mountain West had the best bowl record of any conference. Nevada was the only team that lost, but the rest of the conference went 5-0. Fresno State beat UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl, Utah State defeated Oregon State in the LA Bowl, Wyoming won the Potato Bowl over Kent State, and San Diego State defeated UTSA 38-24 in the Frisco Bowl.
Even though the Mountain West still owns the best record out of any conference this bowl season, the SEC has quickly climbed up the rankings with three crucial wins. The Big Ten has one of the better records at 5-2, but Michigan’s loss to Georgia certainly stings.
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CONFERENCE (BOWL TEAMS) | RECORD | WINNING PERCENTAGE |
---|---|---|
AMERICAN (7) | 4-3 | .571 |
ACC (9) | 5-4 | .556 |
BIG 12 (8) | 2-7 | .222 |
BIG TEN (9) | 5-4 | .555 |
DALLAS – The Mid-American Conference (the MAC) won the 2022-23 Progressive Bowl Challenge Cup, posting a winning percentage of . 667 with a 4-2 record during Bowl Season. Created in 2002 by ESPN as a competition among the 10 FBS conferences during college football’s postseason, the MAC won its first outright title.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl | |
---|---|
Operated | 1989–present |
Conference tie-ins | Big 12, Big Ten |
Previous conference tie-ins | WAC (1990–1997) Big 12 (1998–2001) Big East (1998–2005) Pac-10 (2002–2005, 2013–2019) Big 12 (2006–2013) Big Ten (2006–2013) |
Payout | US$1,625,560 (2019) |