Your Friend said:
The acc was worse than the big 12 by a country mile during that time frame. (It's worse now than the big 12 has ever been)
Alright. Let's review:
2012 bowl season highlights:
BCS bowls:
FSU 31 - Northern Illinois 10
Oregon 35 - Kansas State (co-big 12 champs) 17
Louisville 33 - Florida 23
Non-BCS bowls:
TAMU 42 - OU (co-big 12 champs) 13
Michigan State 17 - TCU 16
2013:
BCS bowls:
FSU 34 (National Champs) - Auburn 31
UCF 52 - Baylor (big 12 champions) 42
Oklahoma 45 - Alabama 31
Clemson 40 - Ohio State 35
Non BCS bowls:
Oregon 30 - tu 7
TAMU 52 - Duke 48
TCU doesn't make the bowl season
2014:
Playoffs:
No big 12 participants. FSU makes it.
Non Playoff games:
TCU 42 (big 12 co champs) - Ole Piss 3
Michigan State 42 - Baylor (big 12 co champs) 41
Arkansas 31 - tu 7
TAMU 45 - WVU 37
2015:
Playoffs:
Clemson 37 - OU (big 12 champs) 17
Bama (National Champions) 45 - Clemson 40
tu doesn't make a bowl
2016:
Playoffs:
No Big 12 participants again. Clemson wins the national championship
tu doesn't make a bowl
2017:
Playoffs:
OU loses in the first round. Clemson loses in first round.
Point being in all this: the "best" of the big 12 routinely lost. ACC had two different teams win the national championship.