Best/Worst Non-Conference Schedules

[Pewterschmidt]

I took a look at every BCS team's Non-conference schedules and came up with a top 10 and bottom 10 in terms of strength of schedule. This is my own personal opinion with some help from College football power rankings from a variety of sources (Phil Steele, Yahoo, etc)

Note: I tend to give the Pac-10 the benefit of doubt due to having only 3 non-conference games to go along with their 9 conference games. Having 1 or 2 tough NC games for those in that conference just magnifies the difficulties of their schedule. On the flip side, the Big East plays 5 Non-conference games. They better load up on at least a couple of tough opponents to make my top 10. Also, the SEC doesn't get a pass from me because of the supposedly best conference in the country. Each year is different. Playing 4 cupcakes regardless of how good your conference thinks it's going to be is backwards. Prove your conference is the best this year. After all, it's a new year.

I'm doing this because I love teams that schedule difficult games and should be rewarded by jumping those with potentially better records in the bowl hierarchy IMO.

Top 10.

1. Oregon St - at Boise St, at TCU, Louisville - Wow!. 2 top 5 teams on the road in the NC plus an additional BCS team, though it is Louisville who will be down this year.
2. Florida St - Florida, at Oklahoma, BYU, 1-AA team - No school plays 3 tougher games in the NC.
3. Miami(FL) - at Ohio St, at Pittsburgh, South Florida, 1-AA team - 2 really tough road games and another against a BCS team.
4. UCLA - at Texas, at Kansas St, Houston - Not a layup in the bunch. They could easily lose all of them. Houston might end up in the top 25 this year, Texas is Texas, and at KSU might be the easist of the bunch.
5. Washington - Nebraska, at BYU, Syracuse - Just a solid NC schedule. Top 10 team in Nebraska, at BYU will be extremely tough, and round it out at home against a Syracuse team that actually has a chance at becoming bowl-eligible.
6. Oklahoma - Florida St, at Cincy, Air Force, Utah St - One of the rare non-PAC-10 teams that doesn't play a 1-AA team. 2 very tough games and a 3rd in Air Force that can be tricky.
7. Pittsburgh - at Notre Dame, at Utah, Miami, FIU, 1-AA - 3 very tough games. Would be higher if not for FIU + 1-AA team
8. LSU - at North Carolina, West Virginia, UL-Monroe, 1-AA - a rarity that an SEC team plays 2 potential top 25 teams in the NC. Easily the best schedule in their conference.
9. Colorado - at Cal, Georgia, Hawaii, Colorado St - No 1-AA teams plus 2 solid games in Cal and Georgia.
10. South Florida - at Florida, at Miami, Syracuse, Florida Atlantic, Western Kentucky. - The back end is very weak but they are the only BE team not playing a 1-AA team. Also, any NC schedule at Florida and at Miami is going to be tough.

Honorable Mention:
Iowa St - at Iowa, Utah, Northern Illinois, 1-AA
Vandy - at UConn, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Eastern Michigan
Minnesota - USC, at MTSU, Northern Illinois, 1-AA
Penn ST - at Alabama, Temple, Kent St, 1-AA

Bottom 10:

1. Indiana - at Western Kentucky, Akron, Arkansas St, 1-AA - Not a single top 100 team in the bunch. Without question the easiest of the bunch. WKU is ranked last or 2nd to last in most top 120 power rankings so that road game does nothing for me.
2. Kentucky - at Louisville, Akron, Western Kentucky, 1-AA - Louisville might finish last in the BE.
3. Ole Miss - Fresno St, at Tulane, UL-Laf, 1-AA - Yuck.
4. Northwestern - at Vandy, Central Michigan, at Rice, 1-AA - Phil Steele's top ranked team in the bunch is Vandy at #90. At first glance it looks modest but all 4 games should be NW wins.
5. Texas Tech - Houston, at New Mexico, SMU, 1-AA - Houston is a good team but the other 3 will be awful. Need to do better than that.
6. Virginia - USC, Eastern Michigan, 1-AA, 1-AA. I don't care if they play the New Orleans Saints in one of their games. Two 1-AA teams plus possibly the worst 1-A team in the country in Eastern Michigan is a complete joke.
7. NC St - Cincy, at East Carolina, 1-AA, 1-AA. 2nd straight year they schedule 2 games against 1-AA teams. Hope they lose to one of them. Cincy is nice but that doesn't come close to making up for the 2 bottom feeders.
8. Nebraska - at Washington, Western Kentucky, Idaho, 1-AA. They should be embarrassed in Lincoln for this schedule being a top 10 team. This should bit them in the butt (but probably won't) if they're in the conversation for a BCS game. Washington isn't that great and the other 3 are beyond cupcakes.
9. ASU - at Wisconsin, 1-AA, 1-AA - Sure, playing at Camp Randall isn't a picnic but 2 1-AA teams??? Would be higher if not for the 9-game conference schedule.
10. Syracuse - at BC, Washington, Akron, 1-AA, 1-AA - 2 games against average BCS teams but with them playing only 7 conference games, it's a shame they play Akron plus TWO 1-AA teams.

Dishonorable Mention:
Rutgers - North Carolina, Tulane, at FIU, Army, 1-AA
Missouri - Illinois(neutral site), San Diego St, Miami(OH), 1-AA
Wisconsin - ASU, at UNLV, San Jose St, 1-AA
Auburn - Clemson, UL-Monroe, Arkansas St, 1-AA

 

[howeda7]

I'd say USC needs to be in that top 10. UVa, MN and Notre Dame is pretty good. I realize UVa is no prize (and arguably neither is MN) but it's still pretty good. You're also being a bit unfair to Bucky and/or too kind to the Gophers. USC is better then ASU, but not by all that much. The other 3 games are basically on par with games the Gophers have (UNLV/MTSU, San Jose St/NIU, I-AA)

 

[JoeDirt]

Nebraska made SDSU (south dakota state) their HOMECOMING game this year.......pathetic.

 

[grunkiejr]

I'd say USC needs to be in that top 10. UVa, MN and Notre Dame is pretty good. I realize UVa is no prize (and arguably neither is MN) but it's still pretty good. You're also being a bit unfair to Bucky and/or too kind to the Gophers. USC is better then ASU, but not by all that much. The other 3 games are basically on par with games the Gophers have (UNLV/MTSU, San Jose St/NIU, I-AA)

Records of DI opponents last year:
Minnesota / Wisconsin
USC 9-4 / ASU 4-8
@ MTSU 10-3 / @ UNLV 5-7
NIU 7-6 / SJSU 2-10

So in total:
3 ooc bowl opponents for Minnesota to 0 for Wisconsin
Minnesota ooc opponents: 26-13 / Wisconsin ooc opponents: 11-25

And most people would tell you that at 9-4 USC was one of the biggest underachievers in the country last year.

Do you care to take back your statement?

 

[Pewterschmidt]

Records of DI opponents last year:
Minnesota / Wisconsin
USC 9-4 / ASU 4-8
@ MTSU 10-3 / @ UNLV 5-7
NIU 7-6 / SJSU 2-10

So in total:
3 ooc bowl opponents for Minnesota to 0 for Wisconsin
Minnesota ooc opponents: 26-13 / Wisconsin ooc opponents: 11-25

And most people would tell you that at 9-4 USC was one of the biggest underachievers in the country last year.

Do you care to take back your statement?

I based my rankings on a variety of sources and my own gut feelings. I'm not alone in thinking Minnesota's NC schedule is superior to Wisconsin's. Phil Steele thinks the same thing.

Power rankings of Minnesota's opponents:
1. USC - 14
2. N Illinois - 69
3. MTSU - 75
4. South Dakota - N/A

Wisconsin's opponents:
1. ASU - 50
2. UNLV - 102
3. San Jose St - 117
4. Austin Peay - N/A

Few teams play 3 worse NC gams than Wisconsin's bottom 3 according to Steele's Power Rankings. I didn't include them in my Bottom 10 because at least they're playing a middle of the road BCS team and are at least going on the road to UNLV. Still, it's definitely worthy of Dishonorable mention.