Ranking the Conferences

All of the pundits believe that the SEC is the "best" conference, and winning the last 7 national championships is surely impressive, but us "in the fantasy know" aren't impressed.  We prefer defensively challenged conferences loaded with wide open offenses.  We want coaches that believe in getting their starters extra reps and won't hesitate to run up the score.  CFFL'ers also are looking for coaches with systems that consistently produce explosive offensive stats, and plug in new players year to year with no drop off in production.

Which conferences bring the fantasy heat?

11.  Independents -  Notre Dame no longer caries the fantasy cache of the Weis years leaving only BYU as a consistent fantasy produces (and the service academy QBs).  Old Dominion is the most interesting Independent in 2013, sadly our commish has already ruled Old Dom players ineligible (commish - you shouldn't disrespect Maine HS and college legend Bobby Wilder).  Don't worry Bobby, I have a feeling your Monarchs will be one of the CFFB "It" teams when you join C-USA in 2014.

10.  Sun Belt - The Roosters hate the Sun Belt, I know there is a perception among some CFFB'ers that you need to stash Sun Belt players perform in conference play, but I have tried this and I just don't like the Sun Belt.  Draft 2013 will be considered a success if I don't have a SB player on my roster (unless said player is RB W KY).
9.  AAC - One part auto-qual schools, one part C-USA, in theory this should a be a recipe for CFFL  gold.  In reality you have the dregs of the Big East that nobody wanted (or were picked last and have not yet moved) and a chunk of C-USA facing "increased"' competition.  After Louisville things are not very interesting.

8.  ACC - With the additions of Al Golden and Larry Fedora I do believe that the ACC is trending back up and will be ranked higher in 2014, but I want to see it on the field first.

7.  C-USA - This ranking may appear a little low, but CFFB stalwarts Houston, UCF and Memphis (stalwart as in you started your players every time you saw Memphis on the schedule) were poached by the AAC and former Sun Belt teams (FAU, FIU and North Texas) are currently i rebuilding mode.  Not to mention swapping Sonny Dykes for Skip Holtz was a loss for fantasy fans everywhere.  Still C-USA has ECU, Marshall and Tulsa and will be a fantasy contributor in 2013.

6.  SEC - While the SEC's "Real World" ranking is not reflected in it's CFFB ranking, there still are some good fantasy things going on in the SEC.  RB Alabama has become a perennial first rounder, Kevin Sumlin  brought C-USA offense to the SEC and the Georgia offense could be historic.  IF Malzahn can bring his fantasy magic back to Auburn and Bielema turns Arkansas into Wisc RB factory of the South the SEC will move up in the rankings.

5.  Big 10 - You're not going to find many top tier CFFB studs in the Big 10, but what you are going to find is the middle round meat and potatoes of you team.  The RB that starts vs. Purdue and Illinois.  Inconsistent play from stars like Denard Robinson and Taylor Martinez keep the rankings down.  All eyes will be on Wisc to see if the new coaching staff respects what RB Wisc means to fantasyophiles across the nation.

4.  Mountain West - With teams like Boise, Fresno and Nevada the Mountain West had become one of the go-to CFFB conferences with the addition of San Jose and Utah State they are even stronger in '13.

3.  MAC - Other than EMU and newcomer UMass the MAC is loaded with fantasy talent, including the #1 QB (QB NIU) and up to 10 RBs that will be on fantasy teams this fall.  Strong September scheduling keeps the MAC from being ranked higher.

2.  Big XII - On draft day the CFFL will go long on Big XII players, with Iowa State being the only team that is not represented.  The Jayhawks may even get in on the action with Weis's army of JuCos and transfers.

1.  PAC-12  - I am beginning to suspect that PAC-12 commissioner Larry Scott is an avid CFFB'er and has begun a behind the scenes push to increase PAC-12 scoring.  Adding Sonny Dykes to the mix one year after RichRod, Mike Leach and Todd Graham has made the PAC-12 the Elite CFFB conference.  Look for every team (with the possible exception of Utah) to have at least one player on a CFFL roster come September first.