Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin
All is not gloom and doom for Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and his conference after the bowl games.
Sure, the Big 12 limped home with an unimpressive 4-3 record and was thoroughly schooled by the Southeastern Conference in two of its biggest matchups -- Florida's victory over Oklahoma in the BCS title game and Mississippi's dismantling of Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.
But Beebe and the conference can claim at least one victory. The conference lead all the others in terms of television ratings.
The Web site thewizardofodds.com broke down all 34 bowl games and their television ratings. It came up with a ranking of the conferences in terms of average television ratings.
Here's a look at the breakdown:
| Conferences Ranked By Average Bowl-game Rating | | Conference | Bowl teams | Avg. rating | | Big 12 | 7 | 6.13 | | Big Ten | 7 | 5.70 | | SEC | 8 | 5.65 | | Pac-10 | 5 | 4.80 | | MWC | 5 | 3.36 | | ACC | 10 | 3.34 | | Big East | 6 | 2.68 | | WAC | 5 | 2.18 | | Sun Belt | 2 | 1.40 | | MAC | 5 | 1.30 | | C-USA | 6 | 1.22 | | |
Tim Griffin joined ESPN.com in February 2008. He has covered the Big 12 since its inception, among a variety of beats during a 24-year career at the San Antonio Express-News. Griffin, a Memphis State University graduate, lives in San Antonio with his wife and son.
