Non Conference Schedules

It's the offseason so let's discuss schedules. ESPN Stats & Info has published an article ranking the relative strengths each FBS team's non-conference schedule over the next five years. The actual article is behind a paywall so I'm not going to link to it but here's a CFT post discussing it: http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.co ... ive-years/. Below are the Top 10 toughest schedules followed by the Bottom 10. You'll notice there are three Pac 12 teams in the top 4, but not a single SEC team in the top 10. Conversely, there is only one Pac 12 team in the bottom ten and three SEC teams.

Top 10
1. Texas – 60.4
2. USC – 59.2
3. Stanford – 58.9
4. UCLA – 54.7
5. Oklahoma – 49.1
6. Ohio State – 47.6
7. Clemson – 46.5
8. Georgia Tech – 46.3
9. Michigan – 45.7
10. Virginia – 45.6

Bottom 10
1. Baylor – 25.7
2. Kansas – 26.0
3. Kansas State – 27.1
3. Illinois – 27.1
5. Missouri – 27.5
6. Tennessee – 28.6
7. Iowa State – 29.0
8. Ole Miss – 29.4
8. Washington State – 29.4
8. Iowa – 29.4

WSU needs to step up its game or leave the FBS.

The reason PAC 12 teams have tough non-conference schedules is because by definition they have to play non-PAC 12 teams. That is, that's where their tough games come from. Conversely, other conferences will likely have PAC 12 teams in their non-conference schedule, bringing down the overall difficulty of their non-conference schedule.

Kind of like how if the Seahawks and Rams played the exact same schedule, except for the head to head matchups, the Rams would have the tougher schedule because they have to play the Seahawks while the Seahawks get a patsy game by playing the Rams.





And no, I don't actually think that is the case, but it is one way to look at the statistics. PAC 12 is probably my second favorite conference.

hawknation2015":rabtg9fx said:

WSU needs to step up its game or leave the FBS.

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:roll:

hawknation2015":24dj18rr said:

WSU needs to step up its game or leave the FBS.

Click to expand...

To be fair, having a bummy team like Washington on the schedule really pulls down that ranking.