Non-Conference Schedules by Conference

[cymonw1980]

I feel like B12 schools, commissioner, coaches, AD's should be pushing the quality of the B12 scheduling more than they do... not only do we play 9 conference games (unlike ACC, SEC) we also schedule as many or more P5 opponents in our non-conf than others.

Just to catch up to our schedule, SEC and ACC schools need to schedule 2 P5 opponents (50% of their non-conf opponents)... some do, most do not. Here is a breakdown by Conf:

NOTE: I included BYU and ND in the P5 numbers, if you want to take BYU out, -1 for the SEC, -3 for the PAC12.


SEC:
16 P5 Games, 28.6% of non-Conf Games (16/56), Avg 9.1 P5 Games per team
Teams: Oregon, Cal, GT, UNC, FSU, Clemson x2, Miami, Duke, Louisville, KSU, Tex, WVU, ND, BYU, Purdue

Notes:
South Carolina, Florida and Georgia play two other P5 teams each
Alabama's only P5 non-con is Duke...
Arkansas is the only team to not play a P5/BYU, Tennessee's only play BYU

ACC:
20 P5 Games, 35.7% of non-Conf Games (20/56), Avg 9.4 P5 Games per team
Teams: WVU, Kansas, Kentucky, South Carolina x2, Florida x2, TA&M, Bama, UGA, PSU, Maryland, Rutgers, ND x5, UNC, Wake Forest

Notes:
Given the fact that UNC and Wake Forest are in different div, they rarely play each other so they actually scheduled a non-conf game against each other this season... downside of a 14 team conf
5 of the ACC schools schedule 2 or more P5 teams, BC has the most with Kansas, Rutgers, and ND... although hard to give them credit for rutgers and kansas.

PAC12:
13 P5 Games, 36.1% of non-Conf Games (13/36), Avg 10.1 P5 Games per team
Teams: ND x2, BYU x3, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Oklahoma St, Mich St, Neb, Northwestern, Auburn, Ole Miss

Notes:
Most game per team (10.1) against P5 + ND + BYU of any conf, without the 3 v. BYU, drops to 9.8 P5 per team
Stanford plays NW, UCF, and ND to go with 9 Conf games... no off weeks on their schedule

b10:
9 P5 Games, 21.4% of non-Conf Games (9/42), Avg 9.6 P5 Games per team
Teams: ND, BC, Syracuse, Pitt, TCU, Iowa State, Colorado, ASU, Stanford

Notes:
Although they play 9 conf games, their 9.6 v P5 is similar to the ACC
Their 14 teams scheduled only 9 non-conf P5 games, less total than B12 and PAC12
Iowa State v toe is the 2nd highest ranked non-conf game in the b10 this year (behind only Mich v. ND) based on this ranking:

https://saturdaytradition.com/big-ten-football/ranking-all-42-b1g-non-conference-games-in-2019/


B12:
10 P5 Games, 33.3% of non-Conf Games (10/30), Avg 10.0 P5 Games per team
Teams: iowa, purdue, BC, NC State, Mississippi State, LSU, Missouri, UCLA, Oregon St, Arizona

Notes:
Second most P5 games per team (PAC 12 with 10.1)
Only baylor failed to schedule a P5 in non-conf.
West Virginia plays both Missouri and NC State

 

[Acylum]

Props to the ACC for quantity and quality. Lol at b1g.

 

[FerShizzle]

**** Baylor.

 

[Daserop]

Big 10 and SEC with the lowest. Shocking nobody. Both of those conferences are over rated as a whole. Too body nobody with actual sway understands this.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

SOS only matters when the playoff committee needs to move the goal posts for the SEC or Ohio State...

 

[cymonw1980]

SOS only matters when the playoff committee needs to move the goal posts for the SEC or Ohio State...

Agree... and this is driven by perception. Obviously, both conferences have very high level programs. But the conferences regularly remind the media and anyone that will listen how difficult their schedules are. I think it is clear they are winning the perception battle.... I think the B12 can be proud of their scheduling and should highlight it - only conf where everyone plays everyone else and the conf champ needs to play a team they already faced once. Just because bama, uga, lsu, florida, etc. are all in the same conference does not mean the all play each other every year. I just think the B12 needs to do a better job highlighting how well they schedule (outside of baylor that is).

 

[ArgentCy]

Big X woof, Lol at Iowa wanting to drop the ISU game. That is just about the conferences toughest out of conference game. And they think they will get someone even tougher.

 

[cymonw1980]

Big X woof, Lol at Iowa wanting to drop the ISU game. That is just about the conferences toughest out of conference game. And they think they will get someone even tougher.

ISU vs. iowa is the b10's non-conf "superbowl"... hahah

 

[SolarGarlic]

Big 10 and SEC with the lowest. Shocking nobody. Both of those conferences are over rated as a whole. Too body nobody with actual sway understands this.

The SEC and Big 10 both have good teams. Some of the best in the country. But they are gaming the system, and in a sport where the two conferences already monopolize the media, the scales are only further tilted in their favor.

I don't often agree with Danny Kanell, but he has been saying for years that the differences between the Power 5 conferences are very small. It's more about stylistic matchups, injuries, and luck than a conference-wide advantage.

The Big 12 has recovered relatively well from the realignment BS and the "no-defense" perception. We can thank Mahomes and Mayfield a little for that and the rising scores in the NFL. The next step is getting someone other than OU in the playoff and actually winning a game or two there. But the round robin and non-conference scheduling is making it more difficult.

 

[randomfan44]

Props to the ACC for quantity and quality. Lol at b1g.

ACC gets some help with having their little agreement with Notre Dame. They play 5 games again ACC teams this year, propping up their non-con numbers even though those schools shouldn't really get credit for "scheduling" that game.