Locked due to no posts in 60 days. Report 1st post if need unlocked Intersting Non-Conference Scheduling Analysis

[wcbsas]

A Breakdown of the 6 BCS Conference Non-Conference Opponents for 2012:

Big 10 Conference, 12 Teams, 48 Non-Conf Games:

BCS Opponents: 17, (35%)
FBS Opponents: 23, (48%)
FCS Opponents: 8, (17%)


Southeast Conference, 14 Teams, 56 Games:

BCS: 14, (25%)
FBS: 26, (46%)
FCS: 16, (29%)


PAC-10 Conference, 12 Teams, 36 Games:

BCS: 14, (39%)
FBS: 13, (36%)
FCS: 9, (25%)


Big 12 Conference, 8 Teams, 30 Games:

BCS: 7, (23%)
FBS: 14, (47%)
FCS: 9, (30%)


Atlantic Coast Confernce, 12 Teams, 48 Games

BCS: 26, (54%)
FBS: 8, (17%)
FCS: 14, (29%)


Big East Conference, 8 Teams, 39 Games

BCS: 18, (46%)
FBS: 12, (31%)
FCS: 9, (23%)

The ACC (54%) and the Big East (46%) Conferences schedule the most BCS non-conf foes, averaging more than 2 BCS opponents per school.

The SEC schedules twice as many FCS-Division non-conf foes (16 FCS opponents) as does the Big 10 (8 FCS opponents). Although, the SEC does have 2 more conference schools (14) than the Big 10 does (12). However, even though the SEC has 2 more teams than the Big 10, the SEC plays only 14 BCS opponents compared to the Big 10's 17 opponents, which translates to 25% of the SEC's total non-conf schedule compared to 35% of the Big 10's non-conf schedule.

The Big 10 has the fewest percentage of its non-conf games scheduled vs FCS-Division Schools (17%).

 

[wcbsas]

The SEC has nothing on anybody when it comes to 2012 non-conference scheduling among the 68 BCS schools (6 BCS conferences). The numerical rankings are obviously subjective. The accompanying comments are not mine. They were part of the text. The criteria for the rankings was not given. The teams, however, on the non-conf schedules of each SEC school, speak for themselves.

•14. Missouri: Southeastern Louisiana, Arizona State, at Central Florida, Syracuse. Hey, Missouri. Three decent games? They'll kick you out of the SEC.

•21. South Carolina: East Carolina, Alabama-Birmingham, Wofford, at Clemson. Playing East Carolina will be dicey for the Gamekocks. No other SEC school has scheduled the Pirates since 1998.

•32. Florida: Bowling Green, Louisiana-Lafayette, Jacksonville State, at Florida State. Classic SEC schedule. Three automatic wins, one good game.

•33. Alabama: Michigan at Arlington, Texas; Western Kentucky; Florida Atlantic; Western Carolina. Classic Alabama schedule. Three rumdums and a traditional intersectional matchup.

•35. Ole Miss: Central Arkansas, Texas-El Paso, Texas, Tulane. Longhorns in Oxford will be a culture clash.

•37. Auburn: Clemson at Atlanta, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, Alabama A&M. Auburn is following the Alabama model.

•39. Vanderbilt: at Northwestern, Presbyterian, Massachusetts, at Wake Forest. Two road games at fellow major-conference schools. Vandy is doing its part to make the SEC look good.

•47. Georgia: Buffalo, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech. Georgia has been playing some decent games besides Georgia Tech. But not this year.

•53. Tennessee: North Carolina State at Atlanta, Georgia State, Akron, Troy. Just because you're playing in Atlanta doesn't make N.C. State a big-time foe.

•55. LSU: North Texas, Washington, Idaho, Towson. Hey, no Louisiana schools. What gives?

•57. Kentucky: at Louisville, Kent State, Western Kentucky, Samford. Why Samford? Why not Eastern Kentucky?

•58. Arkansas: Jacksonville State, Louisiana-Monroe, Rutgers, Tulsa. By Arkansas standards, this is not a bad schedule.

•64. Texas A&M: at Louisiana Tech, at SMU, South Carolina State, Sam Houston State. What a strange schedule. Two home games against I-AA foes. Two road games against mid-majors. The Aggies will be pining for the Thanksgiving game against the ‘Horns.

•65. Mississippi State: Jackson State, at Troy, South Alabama, Middle Tennessee. Talk about your tour of Southern mid-majors. Throw in Louisiana-Lafayette, and you've got a smorgasbord.

Source: ESPN

Sporting News' 2010 SEC take:
http://aol.sportingnews....nonconference-schedules

ESPN's 2011 SEC Take:
http://espn.go.com/blog/...cs-nonconference-slates

Bleacher Reports' 2012 SEC take:
http://bleacherreport.co...non-conference-schedules

 

[BGRed]

As good as the SEC is reputed to be, I always take that with a grain of salt. When you play the type of non-conference schedules played in the SEC, how good of a measure do you really have?


Similar arguments - admittedly a bit of a stretch:

Boise State and TCU don't deserve to play in the BCS because they don't play the type of schedule that demonstrates such merit.

We (as Big12 Nebraska fans) used to deride Big Ten fans for using the excuse that "we beat up on each other". When they couldn't demonstrate success in non-conference games, that was used to point out how weak the Big Ten was relative to other conferences.




Granted the SEC wins the big games and I certainly won't argue too strongly that it is not the top conference in the country. I'm just not sure that it is as heads and shoulders above other conferences as the media portrays.

 

[DuckTownHusker]

The SEC wins big games; that's how they lay claim to the top conference moniker.

I won't necessarily debate that they're AREN'T a very good conference, but I will say that getting your team ready for a big bowl game with a few extra weeks of prep time is akin to Boise State preparing for a single tough opponent to start the year and then blow through a bunch of WAC or MWC teams.

Are Alabama and LSU great football teams? Absolutely. But top to bottom, the SEC is not as strong as people assume. Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Ole Miss and even Tennessee are terrible lately. Even Florida, Georgia and Arkansas have been at best a "B" team as of late.

 

[bucktril]

Clemson scheduling two SEC foes.

 

[4evrHusker]

At least tOSU isn't holding their annual "Champions of Ohio tournament, where the play Toledo, Ohio, Eastern Ohio, & Western Ohio like in past years.......:rolfl:








:sarcasm:

 

[Porkchopexpress]

•14. Missouri: Southeastern Louisiana, Arizona State, at Central Florida, Syracuse. Hey, Missouri. Three decent games? They'll kick you out of the SEC.

I made a similar comment when Missouri announced the addition of Syracuse earlier this year. I'm sure the other SEC schools are kind of laughing a bit at how cute it is for the new guy to not quite get the non-conf scheduling down right.

 

[The Big Red Lebowski]

Nice research wcbsas. I think it's also notable that the SEC powers play all but one of their collective non-con games at home, in their home states or at a neutral site within driving distance.

~Florida and South Carolina don't have to leave their respective states for a non-con game.

~All of LSU's, Georgia's and Arkansas' non-conference games are at home.

~'Bama, Auburn and Tennessee have 3 home games and one game at a neutral site, conveniently located within driving distance for their fanbases.

~Texas A&M travels once out of state - a whopping 390 miles to play FBS La. Tech.

One key ingredient to SEC dominance is that they rarely have to travel out of the southeast region, even for bowl games.

 

[Cardinal]

One key ingredient to SEC dominance is that they rarely have to travel out of the southeast region, even for bowl games.

This.

A couple seasons ago I saw a crappy Hawkins-coached CU team beat a good, but not great, Georgia team in Boulder on a warm September evening. There were an estimated 5,000-8,000 Georgia fans in town that weekend. Went down to Pearl Street to mingle with them on Friday night. Really nice folks, but clearly, clearly, uncomfortable and out of their element in Boulder. You've got to figure the youngsters wearing the uniforms the next day felt the same way to some extent. Reverse that and magnify it times 7 for the northern and western teams playing in bowls who have to stay in strange places in the Southeast, with strange ways of doing things, for 7 days prior to a bowl.

 

[The Big Red Lebowski]

This.

A couple seasons ago I saw a crappy Hawkins-coached CU team beat a good, but not great, Georgia team in Boulder on a warm September evening. There were an estimated 5,000-8,000 Georgia fans in town that weekend. Went down to Pearl Street to mingle with them on Friday night. Really nice folks, but clearly, clearly, uncomfortable and out of their element in Boulder. You've got to figure the youngsters wearing the uniforms the next day felt the same way to some extent. Reverse that and magnify it times 7 for the northern and western teams playing in bowls who have to stay in strange places in the Southeast, with strange ways of doing things, for 7 days prior to a bowl.

Here's a few more interesting stats from a UCLA Bruins site: http://www.bruinsnation.com/2012/6/23/3110842/ucla-pac-12-teams-play-more-road-games-than-bcs-champs

~The last 6 BCS title game winners played a total of 26 road games, or 4.3 per team, per title-winning year.

~The Pac-12, as currently comprised, has played a combined 337 road games in the last 5 years, or 5.6 road games per year, per team.

~UCLA played 30 road games the last 5 years. If it had played 21, like Arkansas, Neuheisel might still have a job.

1.3 additional road games per year is substantial. It can keep a great team out of the BCS and a good team out of bowl, both of which have a significant impact on recruiting.

 

[Greatest Fan of All]

The SEC wins big games; that's how they lay claim to the top conference moniker.

I won't necessarily debate that they're AREN'T a very good conference, but I will say that getting your team ready for a big bowl game with a few extra weeks of prep time is akin to Boise State preparing for a single tough opponent to start the year and then blow through a bunch of WAC or MWC teams.

Are Alabama and LSU great football teams? Absolutely. But top to bottom, the SEC is not as strong as people assume. Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Ole Miss and even Tennessee are terrible lately. Even Florida, Georgia and Arkansas have been at best a "B" team as of late.

What BIG teams are better than Alabama, LSU, Georgia, or Arkansas or even South Carolina? Is it possible that Florida. Auburn or Tennessee will have good teams again? I can't wait until we play an SEC team...then we'll hear how incredibly tough and underrated that Kentucky or Tennessee or any SEC team is, LOL.

 

[mjohnson]

Nice research wcbsas. I think it's also notable that the SEC powers play all but one of their collective non-con games at home, in their home states or at a neutral site within driving distance.

~Florida and South Carolina don't have to leave their respective states for a non-con game.

~All of LSU's, Georgia's and Arkansas' non-conference games are at home.

~'Bama, Auburn and Tennessee have 3 home games and one game at a neutral site, conveniently located within driving distance for their fanbases.

~Texas A&M travels once out of state - a whopping 390 miles to play FBS La. Tech.

One key ingredient to SEC dominance is that they rarely have to travel out of the southeast region, even for bowl games.

Good points BRL.