Bowl records by conference, 2016-17 season: ACC steps up in a major way

The SEC and Big Ten performed to expectation, while the Pac-12 was quite disappointing

With all 40 bowls having now been played, here is a look at how each conference performed this bowl season.

Conference	Actual	Expected	Notes
Independent	2-0	2-0	BYU and Army won close games.
ACC	8-3	6-5	Better than expected and Clemson will play for the national championship for a second year in a row.
Big 12	4-2	1-5	The worst of the major conferences in the regular season and little was expected in the postseason, but the Big 12 did very well.
Sun Belt	4-2	1-5	Appalachian State is now 2-0 all time in bowl games.
C-USA	4-3	5-2	Both league title game participants were among the winners.
MWC	4-3	4-3	Nice year for the league, highlighted by San Diego State over Houston.
SEC	6-6	7-5	The league performed about to expectation and Alabama will be playing for another national championship.
Pac-12	3-3	5-1	League champion Washington was the only underdog in what turned out to be a somewhat disappointing postseason.
American	2-5	5-2	The American had some good matchups but struggled to take advantage of them.
Big Ten	3-7	3-7	The league wasn't expected to win much, and it didn't. The East division going 0-5 was especially disappointing.
MAC	0-6	1-5	Miami (Ohio) was a blocked kick from winning, and Western Michigan acquitted itself well against Wisconsin. Unfortunately, moral victories were all they got.