The College Football Non-Conference Season: The reason the MAC and Sun Belt Conference were Created

In the 4th week of the season last year the University of Wisconsin went into Ann Arbor and lost to the University of Michigan 27-13; it was their only loss all year.  They beat Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl 17-14 and finished the year #5 in the coaches poll and # 7 in the AP.  Let’s look at their top 3 wins that year:

* Arkansas (10-4) by 3 on a neutral site a month after their last game.
* Penn State (9-4) by 10 at home
* Iowa (6-7) by 3 on the road

Does anyone else see a problem with a team finishing in the top 5 in the country with this schedule?  If Wisconsin had beaten Michigan, you have to wonder if they would’ve had a chance at the BCS Championship Game against Ohio State.  They could have played in the National Championship game despite the fact that they didn’t have to play Ohio State during the regular season and their non-conference schedule consisted of Bowling Green, Western Illinois, San Diego State, and Buffalo.

While I understand that one loss, even non-conference, could potentially end your national championship hopes, are we really going to allow some of these programs to claim they’re the best in the land by playing nobody during the non-conference and then judging them on a bowl game played well after the regular season ends?  This is not everyone however.  Some schools realize that they’re fans don’t want to see 70 point wins over the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good.  So let’s take a look at which schools are pathetically trying to weasel their way into a BCS game and which schools would deserve all the credit in the world if they make it through their gauntlets.  Let’s take a look at each major conference’s warriors and wimps.

Big Ten Warriors

University of Michigan:
A solid schedule for the Maize and Blue.  Considering Wisconsin, Penn State and Ohio State are all on the schedule, adding Oregon to go along with Notre Dame is something no other school in the Big Ten would do.

• Appalachian State
• Oregon
• Notre Dame
• Eastern Michigan

Big Ten Wimps

Iowa:
No Ohio State, no Michigan, no balls with this non-conference schedule.

• @ Northern Illinois
• Syracuse
• @ Iowa State
• Western Michigan

Ohio State University:
8-0 when they head to Happy Valley, thought they turned the corner with the home and home with Texas, but this schedule is embarrassing.

• Youngstown State
• Akron
• @ Washington
• Kent State

University of Wisconsin:
Until they get burned, you’ll be seeing cupcake city in Madison.

• Washington State
• @ UNLV
• Northern Illinois
• The Citadel

ACC Warriors

University of Miami:
Considering they have to go to Florida State and Virginia Tech, new coach Randy Shannon will inherit a schedule put together by Larry Cocker that will test him right away.

• Marshall
• @ Oklahoma
• Florida International
• Texas A&M

University of Maryland:
Now I know Ralph Friedgen didn’t know Rutgers would be a top 25 team when he scheduled them, but the home and home against West Virginia shows me he’s not scared to play good non conference games.

• Villanova
• Florida International
• West Virginia
• @ Rutgers

ACC Wimps

University of Virginia:
A program that is pretty similar to Maryland, except they don’t have balls. When your top non conference game is the 4th best team in the Big East, you have problems.

• @ Wyoming
• Pittsburgh
• @ Middle Tennessee State
• UCONN

Big East Warriors

Nobody really playing that big game….at least none of the Big 3 in the Big East.  They gained some respect with last years Bowl Game Performances, I would have liked to see a better non conference match-up then Maryland, a decent team in a decent league.

Big East Wimps

Louisville:
 You can make the case that UK, MTS and Utah all played in bowl games last year.  You could also wear women’s underwear if you make that case.

• Murray State
• Middle Tennessee State
• @ Kentucky
• @ NC State
• Utah

Rutgers:
What, were Air Force and The Citadel busy?

• Buffalo
• Navy
• Norfolk State
• Maryland
• @ Army

Big XII Warriors

Nebraska:
3 Bowl Teams in their non-conference, including 2 BCS teams last year.  Nobody can complain about Nebraska if they go undefeated this season.

• Nevada
• @ Wake Forest
• USC
• Ball State

Big XII Wimps

Texas Tech:
Will somebody let Texas Tech know that they’re allowed to leave the state of Texas please (They leave twice all season).

• @ SMU
• UTEP
• @ Rice
• Northwestern State

Pac 10 Warriors

Washington:
I know I’ve only mentioned teams that should contend for their conference championship so far, but I though Washington deserved recognition for this great non-conference schedule.

• @ Syracuse
• Boise State
• Ohio State
• @ Hawaii

USC:
Always having Notre Dame on the schedule looks good, adding a home and home with Nebraska shows that Pete Carroll doesn’t believe in the cupcake route.

• Idaho
• @ Nebraska
• @ Notre Dame

Pac 10 Wimps

Arizona State:
Have you ever seen a team so content with just going to a bowl game?  Arizona State’s non-conference pretty much guarantees another trip to the Whocares.com Bowl.

• San Jose State
• Colorado
• San Diego State

Oregon State:
Yawn.

• Utah
• @ Cincinatti
• Idaho State

SEC Warriors

Tennessee:
Play a top team right away and follow it with solid bowl team…..Phillip Fulmer needs to win both badly.

• @ California
• Southern Mississippi
• Arkansas State
• Louisiana Lafayette

Alabama:
This team already had 5 ranked teams to deal with in the conference, and they still went out and scheduled a top team for their non-conference schedule.

• West Carolina
• @ Florida State
• Houston
• Louisiana Monroe

SEC Wimps

Arkansas:
They have the best player in America, and he’ll look like it against these patsies.

• Troy
• North Texas
• Chattanooga
• Florida International

Other Warriors

Notre Dame:
No D1-AA schools for Notre Dame.  Instead they’ll face the pre-season #1, #5, # 14 and #17 teams this year….and that’s not counting Georgia Tech or Boston College.

• USC
• Michigan
• UCLA
• Penn State

Other Wimps

Boise State:
When you play Utah State, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Nevada, Louisiana Tech and Idaho in your conference, maybe you shouldn’t schedule Weber State.

• Weber State
• @ Washington
• Wyoming
• Southern Mississippi

It is good to know that the NCAA and the BCS won’t be looking at this list when they consider the BCS games.

Violent J

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