College football: Final bowl standings

The final bowl standings are set, and some normalcy returned down the stretch. The SEC reigns supreme. Here are the final standings.

1. SEC 6-3. Best win: Alabama over Notre Dame. Worst loss: Florida against Louisville. Most impressive: Texas A&M over OU. Biggest disappointment: LSU against Clemson. Other wins: Georgia over Nebraska, South Carolina over Michigan, Vanderbilt over North Carolina State and Ole Miss over Pittsburgh. Other losses: Mississippi State vs. Northwestern.

2. ACC 4-2. Best win: Clemson over LSU. Worst loss: Duke against Cincinnati; the Blue Devils were in control. Most impressive: Outside of Clemson, Virginia Tech fought its way past Rutgers to forge a winning record. Biggest disappointment: N.C.State against Vanderbilt; the Wolfpack showed how far below a mid-level ACC program is against a lower-to-mid-level SEC program. Other wins: Georgia Tech over Southern Cal and Florida State over Northern Illinois.

3. Big East 3-2. Best win: Louisville over Florida. Worst loss: Rutgers against Virginia Tech. Most impressive: Besides Louisville, Syracuse over West Virginia. Biggest disappointment: Cincinnati against Duke. Other losses: Pitt against Mississippi.

4. Pac-12 4-4. Best win: Oregon over Kansas State. Worst loss: Oregon State against Texas. Most impressive: Arizona’s comeback against Nevada. Biggest disappointment: UCLA against Baylor. Other wins: Arizona State over Navy, Stanford over Wisconsin. Other losses: Southern Cal against Georgia Tech, Washington against Boise State.

5. Big 12 4-5. Best win: Texas over Oregon State. Worst loss: OU against Texas A&M. Most impressive: Baylor over UCLA. Biggest disappointment: West Virginia against Syracuse. Other wins: OSU over Purdue, Texas Tech over Minnesota. Other losses: Kansas State against Oregon, Iowa State against Tulsa, TCU against Michigan State.

6. Big Ten 2-5. Best win: Northwestern over Mississippi State. Worst loss: Purdue against OSU. Most impressive: Michigan State over TCU. Biggest disappointment: Wisconsin against Stanford, the Badgers’ third straight Rose Bowl loss.

Now, for the minor conferences:

1. Western Athletic 2-0: San Jose State beat Bowling Green and Utah State beat Toledo.

2. Conference USA 4-1: Best win: Tulsa over Iowa State. Worst loss: East Carolina against Louisiana-Lafayette. Most impressive: SMU over Fresno State. Other wins: Central Florida over Ball State, Rice over Air Force.