Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich

The best way to compare conferences is by what they've done on the field against each other, and so far, the ACC has done a respectable job. Overall, the ACC is 8-8 against its nonconference opponents from other BCS conferences and Notre Dame. The ACC has been even against every conference but the Big Ten, thanks to Virginia's win over lowly Indiana last month, and Notre Dame, which beat Boston College in October.

But a closer look at what the top four teams in each conference have done gives us a better perspective of the best each league has to offer. By comparison, the SEC, Pac-10 and Big Ten have outdone the ACC because their wins came against better opponents. Although the Pac-10 has one more loss than the ACC, and lost to Wake Forest, it has two more quality wins against Notre Dame and Ohio State.

We could argue all day about the quality of each of these wins, and two of the ACC's came against ranked opponents at the time -- Nebraska and Oklahoma. The SEC teams Georgia Tech beat, though, have combined for a 6-13 record this year. Overall, the ACC's top four teams have beaten nonconference BCS opponents with a combined 17-20 record.

Only the Pac-10, Big Ten and SEC have defeated opponents that have combined to win this year (unless, of course, you count the Big 12's lone win over a 5-4 Georgia team.)

Here are the top four teams of each BCS conference and their records against other BCS conferences and Notre Dame so far this year:

ACC (4-1)

Georgia Tech (2-0): Wins against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.

Miami (1-0): Beat Oklahoma

Virginia Tech (1-1): Beat Nebraska, lost to Bama

Clemson (0-0)

• Wins came against opponents with a combined 17-20 record. No wins against teams currently ranked. No wins against BCS opponents' top four. Good loss to the No. 2 team in the country.

Big XII (1-1)

Texas: (0-0)

Oklahoma State (1-0): Beat Georgia

Texas Tech (0-0)

Kansas State (0-1) Lost to UCLA

• Win came against a 5-4 Georgia team, which was ranked No. 13 at the time. Bad loss to a 4-5 UCLA team. No wins against BCS opponents' top four.

Big East (3-2)

Cincinnati (1-0): beat Oregon State

Pittsburgh (0-1): lost to NC State

West Virginia (1-1): beat Colorado, lost to Auburn

South Florida (1-0): beat FSU

• Wins came against BCS opponents with a 13-14 combined record. Close loss to 4-5 NC State team, acceptable loss to 7-3 Auburn. FSU was ranked No. 18 at the time of the win. No wins against BCS opponents' top four.

Big Ten (3-1)

Iowa (2-0): Beat Iowa State and Arizona

Ohio State (0-1): Lost to USC

Penn State (1-0): Beat Syracuse

Wisconsin (0-0)

• Wins came against opponents with a combined 14-13 record. Best win was over Arizona. Loss was to a No. 3 ranked USC team. One win against a top-four (Arizona).

Pac 10 (3-2)

Oregon (1-0): Beat Purdue

Arizona (0-1): Lost to Iowa

Stanford (0-1): Lost to Wake Forest

USC (2-0) Beat Ohio State and Notre Dame

• Wins came over opponents with a combined 18-11 record, including two ranked teams in Ohio State and Notre Dame. Loss to nationally ranked 9-1 Iowa team nothing to be ashamed about. One win over a top four (Ohio State).

SEC (3-0)

Florida (0-0)

Alabama (1-0): Beat Virginia Tech

LSU (1-0): Beat Washington

Auburn (1-0): Beat West Virginia

• Wins came over opponents with a combined 16-11 record, including two teams that are now nationally ranked. Two wins over top four teams (Virginia Tech, West Virginia).