Breaking Down the Bowl Games

No better place to start the bowl season than San Diego, which bills itself as "America's Finest City." But outside of the picturesque shots of downtown San Diego, why would anybody give a hoot about Tuesday night's Poinsettia Bowl between Texas Christian and Northern Illinois? If you're a gambler or plan to enter an office pool, you care. But for the majority of fans, it's all about conference superiority. Here is a look at last season's conference records in the postseason:

Atlantic Coast........5-3
Big 12.................5-3
Pacific 10.............3-2
Conference USA......3-3
Southeastern.........3-3
Mountain West.......2-2
Independents.........1-1
Mid-American........1-1
Big Ten...............3-4
Western Athletic.....1-2
Big East...............1-3
Sun Belt...............0-1

We will be surprised if the ACC or Big 12 can duplicate last season's success, but what do we know? To properly preview the postseason, we hand the ball to Chris Dufrense of the L.A. Times, who writes: "You can study pie charts and team tendencies and make your 2006-07 bowl picks. Or you can read this."