Came across this today, too... Make of it what you will, but a lot of people bash the Big East, and they may be better than most think...
Colley's bias-free computer rankings
Conferences:
1. SEC
2. PAC-10
3. Big East
4. Big Ten
5. Big 12
6. I-A Independents
7. ACC
8. MWC
9. CUSA
10. WAC
11. Sun Belt
12. MAC
13. FCS
link:
http://www.colleyrankings.com/curconf.html
Team rankings of note:
#5 Cincinnati
#14 Penn State
#17 Pitt
http://www.colleyrankings.com/
ps. Colley's is used as part of the BCS ranking.
When you take perception out of the mix and use an unbiased ranking system, the ACC is lower than the independents and the Big East is better, overall, than the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC.