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The Pac-10 is the final installment of Matt Hayes' rankings of the BCS non-conference schedules. He previously analyzed the ACC, Big East, SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten non-conference slates.
1. USC: at Virginia, Ohio State, Notre Dame
2. Washington: BYU, Oklahoma, Notre Dame
3. UCLA: Tennessee, at BYU, Fresno State
4. Oregon State: at Penn State, Hawaii, at Utah
5. California: Michigan State, at Maryland, Colorado State
6. Arizona State: Georgia, Northern Arizona, UNLV
7. Oregon: Utah State, at Purdue, Boise State
8. Washington State: Oklahoma State, at Baylor, Portland State
9. Stanford: at TCU, San Jose State, at Notre Dame
10. Arizona: Idaho, Toledo, at New Mexico
Quick observations:
• Let's all take notes, shall we? Here is how you schedule (this means you, SEC and Big Ten): play everyone in your conference and play realistic non-con games. Please, a moment of thanks to the Pac-10 ADs.
• I don't think I'm going overboard when I say USC has the best non-con schedule in the nation every season. And you know what? The Trojans • surprise! • are among the top five teams in the nation every year. SEC fan: "We play rough here in the SEC, son. We don't have to play tough non-con schedules." Get over yourselves.
• Say this much for Washington: If Ty Willingham gets through this non-con gauntlet, he should keep his job. Then again, if the Huskies whiff on all three (very possible), this season looks a whole lot like 4-8.
• I'm all for the reinvention of UCLA under Rick Neuheisel/Norm Chow/DeWayne Walker. Three terrific coaches. But it's rough sledding in those three non-con games with JC QB Kevin Craft leading the offense.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a Bill & Mary or Coastal Carolina slipped in somewhere?
• How bad is the Arizona schedule? All three of its non-con games are among the top five worst in the league.
Top five games: Ohio State at USC; Georgia at Arizona State; Oklahoma at Washington; Tennessee at UCLA; Michigan State at California.
Bottom five games: Northern Arizona at Arizona State, Portland State at Washington State; Idaho at Arizona, Toledo at Arizona; New Mexico at Arizona.
Games against BCS schools: 14 (out of 30 possible): 47 percent.
Games against Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) schools: 2 (out of 16 possible): 13 percent.
Matt Hayes is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at mhayes@sportingnews.com.
SPEAK OUT ON THIS ARTICLE
I hope fans from every other conference read this article and expect better from their favorite team. And make a special note that the Pac-10 plays exactly two games against 1-AA schools; Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Texas Tech each have two such games on their schedules.
I hope fans from every other conference read this article and expect better from their favorite team. And make a special note that the Pac-10 plays exactly two games against 1-AA schools; Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Texas Tech each have two such games on their schedules.
I believe that I read somewhere, that only one game win against a I-AA team can count toward bowl eligibility.
You are correct about Hawaii. If you travel to play them, you get an "extra" game. Last year the Pac-10 had 31 ooc games, rather than 30 (3 games x 10 teams), because of that.
I don't think I'm going overboard when I say USC has the best non-con schedule in the nation every season. And you know what? The Trojans • surprise! • are among the top five teams in the nation every year. SEC fan: "We play rough here in the SEC, son. We don't have to play tough non-con schedules." Get over yourselves.
USC doesn't have the best ooc schedule every season, but they have a history of scheduling "name" ooc opponents - a tradition that started in the 1920's with Notre Dame.
The College Foorball Data Warehouse ranks USC as having the toughest overall schedules for the 1970's, 1990's, 2000's (so far), and the 2nd toughest in the 1980's (behind Notre Dame). That's nearly 40 years of excellence. Some years are better than others, but the level of ooc competition is unmatched by any other team in the nation.
I hope fans from every other conference read this article and expect better from their favorite team. And make a special note that the Pac-10 plays exactly two games against 1-AA schools; Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Texas Tech each have two such games on their schedules.
I believe that I read somewhere, that only one game win against a I-AA team can count toward bowl eligibility.
You are correct about Hawaii. If you travel to play them, you get an "extra" game. Last year the Pac-10 had 31 ooc games, rather than 30 (3 games x 10 teams), because of that.
I think that there's also a good chance that the NAU-ASU game is mandated by the State, similar to how Texas has to schedule Sam Houston State every few years.
I hope fans from every other conference read this article and expect better from their favorite team. And make a special note that the Pac-10 plays exactly two games against 1-AA schools; Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Texas Tech each have two such games on their schedules.
I believe that I read somewhere, that only one game win against a I-AA team can count toward bowl eligibility.
You are correct about Hawaii. If you travel to play them, you get an "extra" game. Last year the Pac-10 had 31 ooc games, rather than 30 (3 games x 10 teams), because of that.
I do believe you are correct about only one of the 1AA games counting. I really don't understand why any do, but if they didn't we would probably not have enough bowl eligible teams. I look forward to see how this affects FSU and GaTech when it comes to bowl eligibility. Congrats to the Pac 10 for such a nice looking OOC scheduling, USC in particular.
jumboUNLV on Fri Jun 20, 2008 02:44 pm
gahannabornbuckeye on Fri Jun 20, 2008 02:45 pm
Petes got it going on these past few years,Buckeyes will play spoiler in a close one!
PS......Matt your a dog!!!!!!!
Sexy Pete on Fri Jun 20, 2008 02:54 pm
I was waiting for the Pac 10 article before posting my math corrections, but you beat me to it. Or at least part of it. Yes Mr. Hayes, the Big 10 does have 11 teams who play 4 OOC games each. 11 * 4 = 44.
I also found problems in some of the totals for BCS teams played, Div. 1A teams played, etc. Maybe I am wrong, so someone should probably doublecheck my work, too. There may be teams that are in BCS conferences that I can't accept as top tier programs. I could have a mental block.
Anyway, here you go. The numbers the way I see them:
Big 10 plays 29.5% of its games against BCS teams (13/44). They play 20% against Div. I-AA teams (9/44).
Big 12 plays 31% of its games against BCS teams (15/48). They play 18.75% against Div. I-AA teams (9/48).
SEC plays 31% of its games against BCS teams (15/48). They play 16.6% against Div. I-AA teams (8/48).
ACC plays 48% of its games against BCS teams (23/48). They play 31% against Div. I-AA teams (15/48).
Big East plays 40% of its games against BCS teams (16/40). They play 15% against Div. I-AA teams (6/40).
PAC 10 plays 48% of its games against BCS teams (15/31). They play 6% against Div. I-AA teams (2/31).
Wow. The Big 10, Big 12, and the SEC have a long way to go. Kudos to the Pac 10, the Big East, and, to a lesser extent, the ACC.
I think that college football should use the Pac 10 as the model. 10 team conferences. Play everyone in your conference. Schedule three solid games against other BCS and Div. I-A teams.
westisbest on Fri Jun 20, 2008 03:01 pm
mwr321 on Fri Jun 20, 2008 03:26 pm
