Whos ducking and whos stepping up in OOC play for 2008

[Mac94]

This is a list of how many BCS teams (plus Notre Dame) a team will play in their OOC schedule. It's also broken down by conference to see who is willing to play a more robust schedule and who isn't (*cough* Big-10 *cough*).

ACC
None: n/a
One Game: Boston College, Maryland, Virginia Tech
Two Games: Clemson, Florida St., N.C.St., Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia
Three Games: N. Carolina, Wake Forest

Big East*
None: n/a
One Game: Cincinatti, Rutgers
Two Games: Louisville, Pitt, S. Florida, W. Virginia
Three Games: U.Conn., Syracuse
* Has five OOC games per team

Big-10
None: Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin
One Game: Illinois, Michigan, Ohio St.
Two Games: Iowa, Michigan St., Northwestern, Penn St., Purdue
Three Games: n/a

Big-12
None: Texas Tech
One Game: Iowa St., Kansas, Kansas St., Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma St., Texas, Texas A&M
Two Games: Colorado, Oklahoma
Three Games: Baylor

Pac-10*
None: Arizona
One Game: Arizona St., Oregon, Oregon St., Stanford, UCLA
Two Games: Cal, Washington, Washington St.
Three Games: USC
*Has only 3 OOC games per team

SEC
None: LSU
One Game: Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi St.
Two Games: Florida, Georgia, S. Carolina, Vanderbilt
Three Games: n/a

[jccouger]

The Big XII doesnt look very good either...

[Mac94]

Schools playing non FBS (non D-1A) teams in OOC:

ACC
None: Wake Forest
One Game: Boston College, N.C.St., Duke, Miami, N. Carolina, Virginia
Two Games: Clemson, Florida St., Maryland, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech

Big East*
None: Pitt
One Game: Cincinati, U.Conn., Louisville, Rutgers**, S. Florida, Syracuse, W. Virginia
Two Games: n/a
* there are five OOC games per team
** Rutgers still has one vacant OOC slot to be filled

Big-10
None: Michigan, Michigan St.
One Game: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio St., Penn St., Purdue, Wisconsin
Two Games: Indiana

Big-12
None: Kansas St., Nebraska, Texas, Texas A&M
One Game: Colorado, Iowa St., Kansas, Missouri, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St.
Two Games: Texas Tech

Pac-10*
None: Arizona, Cal, Oregon, Oregon St., USC, Stanford, UCLA, Washigton
One Game: Arizona St., Washington St.
Two Games: n/a
*Only three OOC games per team

SEC
None: Tennessee, Vanderbilt
One Game: Florida, Georgia, S. Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi St.
Two Games: Kentucky

[soonermix]

and if you take out traditional rivalries then some of the teams look even worse.

[goingoneight]

Since when do we count Troy as "stepping up?"

[Mac94]

Troy isn;t a BCS conferecne team, so they are not included in the first list. They are FBS (D-1A) so they are not included in list two either. There is a huge "middle area" between BCS teams and FCS (D-1AA) squads ... the Troy'ss, ULaLa's, Miami (OH)'s, etc. of the world.

[MojoRisen]

Miami OH is a lot better than the other two listed. I think they are MAC but typically are pretty decent. Big Ben would agree

[Mac94]

Mojo -

Non-BCS doesn't always equate to "patsy." There have been some good MAC squads ... some good western teams like Boise St, Utah, and Fresno St., etc.

However, it can be a useful divider to use BCS conferecne teams in OOC play and FCS (D-1AA) in seeing who is playing a decent schedule. At least at first glace before breaking down the individual schedules.

Look at Texas Tech and Indiana ... zero BCS conference teams and two FCS teams .... that tells you pretty quick that they both are not challenging themselves outside of conference.

It also gives a quick look a scheduling trends across college football and in conferences. It is interesting that the one conference that chose to play an extra conference game with the added 12th game is the conference that seems to challenge themselves the most in OOC play ... the Pac-10.

[Salt City Sooner]

FWIW, Tech's OOC does indeed stink, but it's not totally their fault. Tulsa bailed on them about 6 weeks ago (TTU replaced them w/ EWU) for a date w/ Arkansas, who offered more money. I know TU isn't USC by any stretch, but they're respectable.

[StoopTroup]

As long as we keep playing the teams it takes to get a BCS shot, I could care less what the rest of them are doing unless they are getting a boost from being ranked high in the preseason and then don't play anyone...

[Mac94]

I could care less what the rest of them are doing unless they are getting a boost from being ranked high in the preseason and then don't play anyone...

Looked at Lester and LSU's OOC schedule lately. Of course, they play in the SEC so they get a free pass on loading up with patsies.

For the record, it's:

Appalachian St.
Troy
N. Texas
Tulane

[yermom]

Looked at Lester and LSU's OOC schedule lately. Of course, they play in the SEC so they get a free pass on loading up with patsies.

For the record, it's:

Appalachian St.
Troy
N. Texas
Tulane

hehe. maybe they can block some FGs and make it a game again ;)

[Mac94]

yermom -

One can only hope!

[Salt City Sooner]

FWIW, the only team in the SEC that ISN'T playing an OOC game vs. a BCS team away from home is, you guessed it, the fighting Lesters.

[Blitzkrieg]

Hows your team shaping up this year MAC?

[Mac94]

Let's see, new coach and staff which means new systems, replacing pretty much the entire OL and TE positions as well as DL and LB spots .... we're a major work in progress .... which means we'll be predicting an MNC run by August! ;)

Seriously, we really only have QB and RB nailed down. Our leading TE candidate right now came in as a QB and is now on his third position. J. Lane has been moved to fullback .... guess Sherman isn't keen on 280+ lb. tailbacks. Tailback looks strong for us as well QB .... but thats about it right now. We have so many question marks.

The defense is experimenting with a 3-3-5 look (I'd mention that W. Virginia runs that system ... but thats not a fun subject) and we're moving alot of kids around ... spinning up and down to find players. We'll be an interesting team ... just don't know if we'll be any good.

I do feel confident enough to say that we will be trying this weird thing called the "forward pass." Apparently it's a new concept that was totally foreign to our last staff. ;)