The Sporting News Today is in the midst of publishing a nine-part series looking into the strength of non-conference football schedules for BCS-conference schools.

It's interesting that while the Big 12 Conference does a decent job of avoiding the total patsies (the league was fifth with 19 percent of its non-conference games scheduled against I-AA teams), it isn't exactly fond of taking on the big boys, either. The Big 12 is last among BCS conferences when it comes to scheduling non-league games against fellow BCS schools (23 percent) and is first (58 percent) in scheduling non-conference games against non-BCS conference programs.

Also of note, TSN Today ranks Georgia as having the country's most difficult non-conference schedule. The Bulldogs play at Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech and host Arizona State and Tennessee Tech.

The rest of the top 10 for non-conference schedule strength: Virginia Tech, USC, Florida State, Washington, Oregon, Oklahoma, Miami (Fla.), Stanford, Illinois. Virginia Tech vs. Alabama at Atlanta is ranked by TSN Today as the best non-conference game, while the Nebraska-Hokies contest is No. 9.

Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]