SoonerofAlabama
5/24/2011, 03:49 PM
From The Sporting News:
“I don’t think there is any question,” Stoops said earlier this spring, “that we have more players ready to play this year than maybe at any other time.”
They’ll need it. Not only do the Sooners have the Big 12’s toughest nonconference schedule (what’s new?), they also could begin the season as the preseason No.1 team in the coaches’ poll.
The non-league schedule is highlighted by what will be the Sooners’ toughest game of the season, a trip to Florida State on Sept. 17. One break for OU: The team’s bye week is Sept. 10.
A breakdown of the Big 12 nonconference schedules:
First to worst
Oklahoma: Tulsa, at FSU, Ball State
Texas A&M: SMU, Idaho, vs. Arkansas
Texas: Rice, BYU, at UCLA
Iowa State: Northern Iowa, Iowa, at UConn
Oklahoma State: Louisiana-Lafayette, Arizona, at Tulsa
Missouri: Miami OH, at Arizona State, Western Illinois
Baylor: TCU, Stephen F. Austin, Rice
Kansas State: Eastern Kentucky, Kent State, at Miami
Kansas: McNeese State, Northern Illinois, at Georgia Tech
Texas Tech: Texas State, at New Mexico, Nevada
The scoreboard
Games against BCS teams: 9 of 30 possible (30 percent)
Games against non-BCS teams: 15 of 30 possible (50 percent)
Games against FCS teams: 6 of 30 possible (20 percent)
Vs. BCS conference (2 of 6 conferences analyzed)
Games against BCS teams: ACC (44 percent), Big 12 (30 percent).
Games against non-BCS teams: Big 12 (50 percent), ACC (48 percent).
Games against FCS teams: ACC (27 percent), Big 12 (20 percent).
Five best games
Sept. 9: Missouri at Arizona State
Sept. 10: Arizona at Oklahoma State
Sept. 17: Oklahoma at Florida State
Sept. 24: Kansas State at Miami
Oct. 1: Texas A&M vs. Arkansas (Dallas)
Five worst games
Sept. 3: Eastern Kentucky at Kansas State
Sept. 3: McNeese State at Kansas
Sept. 3: Texas State at Texas Tech
Sept. 17: Stephen F. Austin at Baylor
Sept. 17: Western Illinois at Missouri
Quick hits
• Some things never change. Oklahoma plays strong nonconference competition; Texas Tech does not. In the last five years, the Sooners have scheduled non-league games against Florida State, Miami (twice), Cincinnati and Oregon. Over that same span, Texas Tech’s toughest non-con game was against TCU or Houston – neither a BCS school (and OU played TCU, too). Meanwhile, Tech played games against Southeastern Louisiana, Northwestern State, Eastern Washington, Massachusetts and North Dakota.
• The Big 12’s move to 10 teams meant a move to a round-robin conference schedule. Only the Big East and the Big 12 now play every conference member in the regular season. Those nine league games limits the nonconference schedules, and puts pressure on teams to get six home games to meet athletic budgets. More times than not, that means games against rent-a-victims: 21 of the 30 non-con games are against non-BCS or FCS teams.
• The bounce-back season at Texas begins with a home game against Rice, but is followed by a home game against BYU – which got better, quickly, by the end of last season with freshman QB Jake Heaps (13 touchdowns, two interceptions in the last five games; 4-1 record). Then there’s road game against UCLA; the same UCLA team that won in Austin last year, and the same UCLA team that is just as desperate to win big this fall.
• The Oct. 1 Texas A&M-Arkansas game in Cowboys Stadium may be the Aggies’ only hurdle in what could be an 8-0 start before a game at Oklahoma. Other than Arkansas, only Oklahoma State has the talent to beat the Aggies in the first eight games of the season. Oklahoma State beat Texas A&M last year on a last-second field goal – and only after A&M QB Jerrod Johnson threw four interceptions and coughed up a fumble that was returned for a touchdown.
“I don’t think there is any question,” Stoops said earlier this spring, “that we have more players ready to play this year than maybe at any other time.”
They’ll need it. Not only do the Sooners have the Big 12’s toughest nonconference schedule (what’s new?), they also could begin the season as the preseason No.1 team in the coaches’ poll.
The non-league schedule is highlighted by what will be the Sooners’ toughest game of the season, a trip to Florida State on Sept. 17. One break for OU: The team’s bye week is Sept. 10.
A breakdown of the Big 12 nonconference schedules:
First to worst
Oklahoma: Tulsa, at FSU, Ball State
Texas A&M: SMU, Idaho, vs. Arkansas
Texas: Rice, BYU, at UCLA
Iowa State: Northern Iowa, Iowa, at UConn
Oklahoma State: Louisiana-Lafayette, Arizona, at Tulsa
Missouri: Miami OH, at Arizona State, Western Illinois
Baylor: TCU, Stephen F. Austin, Rice
Kansas State: Eastern Kentucky, Kent State, at Miami
Kansas: McNeese State, Northern Illinois, at Georgia Tech
Texas Tech: Texas State, at New Mexico, Nevada
The scoreboard
Games against BCS teams: 9 of 30 possible (30 percent)
Games against non-BCS teams: 15 of 30 possible (50 percent)
Games against FCS teams: 6 of 30 possible (20 percent)
Vs. BCS conference (2 of 6 conferences analyzed)
Games against BCS teams: ACC (44 percent), Big 12 (30 percent).
Games against non-BCS teams: Big 12 (50 percent), ACC (48 percent).
Games against FCS teams: ACC (27 percent), Big 12 (20 percent).
Five best games
Sept. 9: Missouri at Arizona State
Sept. 10: Arizona at Oklahoma State
Sept. 17: Oklahoma at Florida State
Sept. 24: Kansas State at Miami
Oct. 1: Texas A&M vs. Arkansas (Dallas)
Five worst games
Sept. 3: Eastern Kentucky at Kansas State
Sept. 3: McNeese State at Kansas
Sept. 3: Texas State at Texas Tech
Sept. 17: Stephen F. Austin at Baylor
Sept. 17: Western Illinois at Missouri
Quick hits
• Some things never change. Oklahoma plays strong nonconference competition; Texas Tech does not. In the last five years, the Sooners have scheduled non-league games against Florida State, Miami (twice), Cincinnati and Oregon. Over that same span, Texas Tech’s toughest non-con game was against TCU or Houston – neither a BCS school (and OU played TCU, too). Meanwhile, Tech played games against Southeastern Louisiana, Northwestern State, Eastern Washington, Massachusetts and North Dakota.
• The Big 12’s move to 10 teams meant a move to a round-robin conference schedule. Only the Big East and the Big 12 now play every conference member in the regular season. Those nine league games limits the nonconference schedules, and puts pressure on teams to get six home games to meet athletic budgets. More times than not, that means games against rent-a-victims: 21 of the 30 non-con games are against non-BCS or FCS teams.
• The bounce-back season at Texas begins with a home game against Rice, but is followed by a home game against BYU – which got better, quickly, by the end of last season with freshman QB Jake Heaps (13 touchdowns, two interceptions in the last five games; 4-1 record). Then there’s road game against UCLA; the same UCLA team that won in Austin last year, and the same UCLA team that is just as desperate to win big this fall.
• The Oct. 1 Texas A&M-Arkansas game in Cowboys Stadium may be the Aggies’ only hurdle in what could be an 8-0 start before a game at Oklahoma. Other than Arkansas, only Oklahoma State has the talent to beat the Aggies in the first eight games of the season. Oklahoma State beat Texas A&M last year on a last-second field goal – and only after A&M QB Jerrod Johnson threw four interceptions and coughed up a fumble that was returned for a touchdown.