Even Vancouver Whitecaps FC fans have probably run across news of conference realignment in the NCAA, as teams are looking to move into conferences that will bolster their strength of schedule and chances to get into a BCS bowl. It should be no surprise that you should look towards certain conferences when making bets, especially in bowl games.

For example, you have a team like Missouri, who is a 2012 March Madness betting favorite to win the NCAA Tournament, but they’ve moved to the SEC, which has dominated college football over the last few years. They’ve won the last six BCS titles, and this year’s contest between Alabama and LSU was even a rematch of a slugfest from the regular season. The SEC gets extra love from the committee because of their past accomplishments, and that helps their lower teams get into good bowl games.

Then you have the annual bowl games which usually have some sort of conference tie-in: for example, the Cotton Bowl usually features an SEC team against a Big 12 team. That is when you’ll really see how good the SEC is and they’ve dominated the Big 12 in recent years with seven wins in the last eight years.

This means that sportsbooks will usually give the edge to the SEC, no matter what the matchup is and you should consider following them. But you also have to do your own research ahead of bowl season so you can make an educated pick at your favorite betting sites.