2007 SOS Non-conference

[JamesHowell]

Now that all schedules are complete, here are the non-conference schedules rated from toughest to easiest:

1 Florida International .676
2 Washington .672
3 UCLA .652
4 Troy .643
5 Florida Atlantic .633
6 East Carolina .614
7 Florida State .597
8 Arkansas State .595
9 Utah .595
10 Oregon .590
11 Duke .589
12 Louisiana Tech .589
13 Central Florida .585
14 Nebraska .583
15 Southern California .579
16 Utah State .577
17 Buffalo .572
18 Marshall .568
19 Middle Tennessee State .566
20 Louisiana-Monroe .562
21 Stanford .558
22 Idaho .553
23 Bowling Green State .550
24 North Texas .547
25 Kent .545
26 Southern Methodist .542
27 Western Michigan .540
28 Nevada-Las Vegas .538
29 Tulsa .536
30 Rice .534
31 Colorado .524
32 Fresno State .521
33 Eastern Michigan .518
34 Southern Mississippi .518
35 Miami (Ohio) .517
36 Temple .510
37 Texas Christian .509
38 Wake Forest .506
39 Northern Illinois .506
40 Akron .505
41 San Diego State .505
42 Wyoming .501
43 Louisiana-Lafayette .497
44 Kansas State .496
45 California .496
46 San Jose State .494
47 Brigham Young .494
48 Michigan State .494
49 Houston .493
50 North Carolina .491
51 Colorado State .489
52 Ball State .488
53 Miami (Florida) .486
54 Tennessee .486
55 Virginia .485
56 Alabama-Birmingham .484
57 Central Michigan .482
58 Georgia Tech .481
59 Iowa .474
60 Ohio .464
61 Louisiana State .462
62 Maryland .461
63 Air Force .461
64 Oregon State .460
65 Purdue .460
66 West Virginia .459
67 Louisville .458
68 Washington State .452
69 Georgia .451
70 Virginia Tech .448
71 Oklahoma State .446
72 North Carolina State .443
73 Arizona .441
74 Texas .436
75 Mississippi State .436
76 Texas-El Paso .428
77 New Mexico State .426
78 Nevada .424
79 Oklahoma .424
80 South Florida .420
81 Toledo .419
82 Boise State .415
83 Texas A&M .415
84 Cincinnati .413
85 Tulane .413
86 Pittsburgh .410
87 Clemson .410
88 Michigan .408
89 Syracuse .407
90 Alabama .407
91 South Carolina .405
92 Illinois .399
93 Boston College .394
94 Iowa State .387
95 Baylor .386
96 Indiana .382
97 New Mexico .380
98 Mississippi .379
99 Wisconsin .378
100 Kentucky .366
101 Missouri .363
102 Florida .362
103 Arizona State .362
104 Auburn .361
105 Rutgers .352
106 Texas Tech .344
107 Memphis .342
108 Ohio State .339
109 Connecticut .327
110 Minnesota .321
111 Vanderbilt .319
112 Penn State .313
113 Kansas .300
114 Northwestern .288
115 Hawaii .282
116 Arkansas .241

[FLORIDA HERD FAN]

James -- do you weight OOC games depending upon whether they are home or away?

[EvilVodka]

FSU's OOC games:

UAB
at Colorado
Vs. Alabama in Jacksonville, FL
at Florida

[JamesHowell]

> do you weight OOC games depending upon whether they are home or away?

Yes

[Blue Hen]

No Sec teams in the top 50...............very typical.........and only one in the top 68. That league knows how to schedule itself into lots of bowls and makes lots of $$$$$....and post nice W-L records that impress the pollsters.

[GatorGrad]

No Sec teams in the top 50...............very typical.........and only one in the top 68. That league knows how to schedule itself into lots of bowls and makes lots of $$$$$....and post nice W-L records that impress the pollsters.

Yea and based on the other thread, the SEC has 9 of the top 32 schedules that count ALL opponents...not just four OOC games which is only one-third of the schedule.

Last year, #1 Florida played (and beat) #2 and #3 (Ohio State and LSU.) I won't apologize for playing an SEC Schedule every year plus FSU. Oh and in 2008, we pick up Miami without dropping FSU just as we did in 2002 and 2003.

Not to mention that a 9th conference game in the SEC Title Game against a likely top 15 team awaits should you win your division and want to have a shot at the MNC Game.

So make fun of the SEC's OOC scheduling all you want. But the bottom line is that they don't NEED to schedule tough OOC games. And there are business and competitive reasons why they do not given today's landscape (no playoff system) where one single loss can end your MNC hopes.

[JamesHowell]

Now start listing all of the non-conference games that Florida has played outside the state of Florida, not counting bowl games.

Syracuse - 1991
Memphis - 1989

That's it since their current players were born, a whole two games.

[GatorGrad]

Now start listing all of the non-conference games that Florida has played outside the state of Florida, not counting bowl games.

Syracuse - 1991
Memphis - 1989

That's it since their current players were born, a whole two games.

Why would I need to list non conference games outside of the state when some of the best football in the country has been played right here in the state during the last 20 or so years? That would be like me asking "Oh yea well who has Oklahoma had to play in their division of the Big 12 other than Texas?" Texas is part of the schedule, so why would they not count?

FSU and sometimes Miami have been part of Florida's schedule over the years so why would they not count? Just because they are "out of state?" FSU was probably the most successful college football program from 1987 through 2000 and we played them during that time. We just don't have to go far to play top teams so I'm not sure what your point is. Would it have been "tougher" to play at say Illinois than at FSU just because Illinois is out of state?

Florida, Florida State, and Miami. There's not another state that has done more in college football during the last 20-25 years. Those schools plus the SEC offer plenty of competition for UF, all without having to leave the southeast. No wonder UF has played the most ranked teams overall in the last X-number of years as seen in Don's post a few weeks ago.

[CJHawkeyes]

College football's sudden death system and PC polls do nothing to encourage quality OOC scheduling. As things stand, SOS does nothing but eliminate nonBCS schools. Only twice since 1978 has a one-loss team finished in the AP top two ahead of an unbeaten major. Both of those times, the major was West Virginia. Basically, BCS schools are ranked best to work record. Where one-loss teams are concerned, SOS takes a backseat to when you lost.

[Blue Hen]

Oh yeah..I agree with some of those points. But the fact remains : the SEC teams, collectively, are 80-80 when playing teams from other BCS leagues and, of course, also .500 vs SEC competition. It is no more difficult playing within the SEC than vs BCS peers. Therefore, the 'rent-a-win' OOC scheduling ideology is what ultimately brings the league the post season opportunities......but all these leagues are doing it now, especially the B12.

[Blue Hen]

Somebody please correct me here but I believe that the SEC ( in the BCS era) is 17-28 ( .378 ) in regular season road games vs other BCS conference teams. That 'road' success rate drops to .317 when discounting the road wins vs Duke and Indiana.

It's alot safer at home playing 1AA and Sun Belt teams as far as achieving inflated poll rankings.

..and GG, you are aware, aren't you ?...that UF is 12-6 in bowls played in the relative safety of the Sunshine State and 4-12 in bowls played outside the relative safety of the Sunshine State. That's a .667 success rate at home and a .250 success rate away. Nothin like 'home cook'n', boys !!!!

[EvilVodka]

It's alot safer at home playing 1AA and Sun Belt teams as far as achieving inflated poll rankings.

..and GG, you are aware, aren't you ?...that UF is 12-6 in bowls played in the relative safety of the Sunshine State and 4-12 in bowls played outside the relative safety of the Sunshine State. That's a .667 success rate at home and a .250 success rate away. Nothin like 'home cook'n', boys !!!!

I think you can order the '07 BCS National Championship game on DVD...maybe you should shelve the stats and actually watch the games

[ZOOMBAG]

According to Sagarin the SEC rates only 3rd in overall power rating the past 11 seasons (the formation of the current Big 12). They come in behind the PAC 10 and the current ACC.

[ZOOMBAG]

Play La-Monroe AT Monroe.....

[ZOOMBAG]

Wow....one whole game. Nice sample size.

[JamesHowell]

> According to Sagarin the SEC rates only 3rd in overall power rating the past 11 seasons (the formation of the current Big 12).

1996-2006, I have the SEC first over that period. They also have the best winning percentage and second strongest strength of schedule over that period. FWIW, here are the ratings (current conference configuration):

SEC .629
Pac 10 .616
ACC .614
Big Ten .612
Big 12 .606
MWC .530
Big East .525
CUSA .450
WAC .423
MAC .382
Sun Belt .287

And here are the SOS numbers:

Pac 10 .739
SEC .719
Big Ten .716
Big 12 .679
ACC .667
MWC .507
Big East .501
CUSA .452
WAC .380
MAC .346
Sun Belt .244

[Blue Hen]

I don't see the relevance there, Evil. I offer a Florida PSEG history of 34 games ..........you counter with a single game. Don't you think 100% of something tells you more than 3% of something ???

[GatorGrad]

So now it is Florida's fault where the bowl games are played? They have no control over that. Not sure what the point here is. Of course a team would tend to do better playing a "neutral" bowl game closer to home vs on the other side of the country. Makes sense to me.

[GatorGrad]

By the way, how about this recent result from a bowl game played far away from the state of Florida in Glendale, Arizona:

SEC Champs - 41
Big Ten Champs - 14

[Blue Hen]

Uhhh...OK.

GG, to demonstrate the huge advantage of 'home cooking' in CF, look at the combined PSEG records of all the Florida teams.

UCF, MIA, FSU, USF and UF are a combined 23-33 in PSEGs played outside the Sunshine State and 30-13-2 in PSEGs played within the Sunshine State. That's a .411 vs .689 success rate .

That's a 101 game sampling.......an undeniable trend and pattern.

[GatorGrad]

Uhhh...OK.

GG, to demonstrate the huge advantage of 'home cooking' in CF, look at the combined PSEG records of all the Florida teams.

UCF, MIA, FSU, USF and UF are a combined 23-33 in PSEGs played outside the Sunshine State and 30-13-2 in PSEGs played within the Sunshine State. That's a .411 vs .689 success rate .

That's a 101 game sampling.......an undeniable trend and pattern.

I am not denying that it would be better to play a bowl game in state vs out of state. Sure it's an advantage. But the schools do not (for the most part) control their conference bowl tie-ins or where the bowl games are played. They aren't in control of their bowl games...so it's not their fault. What do you want us to do? Tell the Outback Bowl to move their game from Tampa to Detroit? Tell the Capital One Bowl to move their game from Orlando to Chicago? That's why I'm not really sure what the point here is.

[GatorGrad]

Also, are you saying that playing FSU in Tallahassee or playing Miami in the Orange Bowl all of those years was EASIER than had we played non conference games outside of the state of Florida? Like playing at Illinois or at UCLA would have been tougher games just because of the travel distance? The quality of opponent means much more than the location of the game IMO.

[Trojangles]

". . . So make fun of the SEC's OOC scheduling all you want. But the bottom line is that they don't NEED to schedule tough OOC games. And there are business and competitive reasons why they do not given today's landscape (no playoff system) where one single loss can end your MNC hopes.

But, then, don't expect others to respect teams for cupcake OOC scheduling---when, at the same time, many SEC fans are complaining about paying high ticket prices to watch "meaningless" games.

[JamesHowell]

> But the bottom line is that they don't NEED to schedule tough OOC games.

Uhh - the Pac 10 is probably the BCS conference that least "needs" to schedule tough OOC games; they are playing nine conference games. Yet of the BCS conferences, they generally schedule the toughest OOC games of the BCS conferences. And the Pac 10 doesn't have the extreme cream puffs at the bottom of the conference like the SEC.

[GatorGrad]

But, then, don't expect others to respect teams for cupcake OOC scheduling---when, at the same time, many SEC fans are complaining about paying high ticket prices to watch "meaningless" games.

I'm not complaining about paying high ticket prices to watch "meaningless" games. I get to watch my alma matter play in big games on National TV several times a year. Games against Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, FSU, Auburn, Alabama, and now South Carolina with the Spurrier factor are usually on CBS or ESPN. If this means that I have to sit through a few snoozers like FIU and UCF, then so be it.

[GatorGrad]

> But the bottom line is that they don't NEED to schedule tough OOC games.

Uhh - the Pac 10 is probably the BCS conference that least "needs" to schedule tough OOC games; they are playing nine conference games. Yet of the BCS conferences, they generally schedule the toughest OOC games of the BCS conferences. And the Pac 10 doesn't have the extreme cream puffs at the bottom of the conference like the SEC.

I won't knock the PAC 10's OOC schedule. They do well with that. But just because the PAC 10 doesn't have any cream puffs at the bottom (I guess Stanford isn't a cream puff in this analysis) doesn't mean that they have elite teams at the top either so I don't see how that is an argument. Also, if an SEC team hopes to play for an MNC, they'll have to play a 9th conference game against a top 15 type of team in the SEC Title Game anyways.

[tigercpa]

A classic SEC response.

Cabeml Posted: 02 May 2007 12:37 PM

Legendary Gamecock

Total Posts 2778
Joined 2006-08-01 Trapper82 - 02 May 2007 10:05 AM
The difference is you’d be at the bottom of the list for the in-conference SOS too...

Good Point. Since most major teams only play two or three OOC teams it only makes sense that the better teams are ranked lower on an OOC list .

It makes sense?

[EvilVodka]

>And the Pac 10 doesn't have the extreme cream puffs at the bottom of the conference like the SEC.

Arizona and Washington have been god awful the last few years...

[JamesHowell]

Actually, last year it was Stanford that was awful. They were the only team in the Pac 10 that was worse than Mississippi and Mississippi State. Arizona was 6-6 and Washington was 5-7. The year before, Washington was the worse team in the Pac 10, but Kentucky, Mississippi, and Mississippi State were all worse.