Zebulon - High schools may be slowing down as the Christmas season rolls in, but the NFL is in full swing.

But, perhaps more important to many of you, it’s bowl season for college football.

At this time of year, there’s not much more to do than inflate one’s sense of pride. Not pride in one’s car or pride in one’s looks, but pride in one’s team.

Every year it seems like you hear the same thing — Big Ten, SEC, Pac-10, ACC — who’s got the strongest conference?

Well, it’s no lie by now that I’ve got a good answer to this question, however, it is disputable sometimes.

Take last year, for example. Penn State defeated Tennessee by one inch — literally one inch, on a run that seemed destined to produce at least a field goal, and in a game as slow as molasses, the ball came out as Arian Foster’s knee brushed over the grass, but not the dirt. The next thing you know, there’s a Big 10 ego issue.

Florida settled this issue, nonetheless, in a great game against Ohio State.

This year is no different in that the skeptics will be salivating over the matchups.

Hawaii is perfect so far this season at 12-0, with two wins in overtime. But send them to the Sugar Bowl to visit Georgia and even I, who still thinks Uga’s last name is Lee, must confess to the problems in the BCS. I’ll say up front I mean nothing against the Warriors, but prove me wrong, Hawaii.

Being from the Raleigh area, I know when and where to pull for the ACC team, and my second prediction of the day is Virginia Tech over who? Kansas.

Now, half of me wants to acknowledge the fact the ACC isn’t a big football conference, which is about half true in most cases, sorry Wolfpack fans. But Va. Tech is a solid team, and I’m looking at Kansas and thinking basketball, only basketball.

Back to the Big Ten argument, Boston College is a team that could’ve been huge this year (along with others), and the team should roll on Michigan State as far as I’m concerned. State’s always solid, but B.C. is no joke either.

Of course I’ll never understand how Michigan earned a ticket to Orlando after losing to my hometown boys at Appalachian State. In the end I don’t see this amounting to much as they are going to get Tebowed either way. Enough said.

And there’s another good SEC-Big Ten matchup in the Outback Bowl in Wisconsin and Tennessee. Seeing as how my Vols had LSU beat and threw it away, I’m pretty sure they can handle Wisconsin, as long as they don’t repeat the game-losing touchdown pass.

Last, but not least, LSU faces Ohio State in the second SEC-Big Ten championship game in a row. With an arsenal of defensive players strong enough to top Tennessee, there’s no way they could lose to the Buckeyes, despite a fully operational Ohio State squad.

Obviously what I’m getting at here is the SEC isn’t necessarily the better conference. Furthermore, I am in no way biased toward the SEC or the Tennessee Volunteers, just like I’m sure you aren’t to your conference and your team.