A few days ago, I linked to this article by Paul Finebaum, who rated the SEC’s non-conference schedules for 2007. His premise, with which I agreed, was that SEC fans weren’t getting their money’s worth.
Then I read this article in the San Antonio Express-News, about the upcoming slate of non-conference games scheduled by schools in the Big XII (h/t The Wizard of Odds). If the SEC should be apologetic about what it’s got to play, the Big XII should be worried about somebody filing consumer fraud charges. Remember, this is the conference that’s home to the “premium” ticket price north of $80.
Here’s the breakdown…
- 11 games against BCS conference schools
- 13 games against “mid-major” schools
- 24 games against “others”
… which on the surface may look comparable to the SEC’s. But look a little more carefully. The SEC has one school (Arkansas) which doesn’t play a single opponent from a BCS conference outside the SEC. The Big XII has four – Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech and Kansas. The Jayhawks will battle it out with Arkansas for the worst non-conference schedule in the country this year; neither will even play a mid-major school.
Embarrassing. So is this:
One way to determine the success of a program is by analyzing its record against opponents from Bowl Championship Series-affiliated conferences.
It’s been particularly telling that only four Big 12 teams have notched above .500 records against BCS opponents in the brief history of the conference. Here’s a list at how Big 12 have fared against BCS opponents since the conference began play in 1996.
School Home Road Neutral Bowls Total Pct. Nebraska 7-0 4-3 0-0 6-4 17-7 .708 Kansas State 1-1 1-0 2-0 4-4 8-5 .615 Oklahoma 6-1 1-3 0-1 4-3 11-8 .579 Texas 3-4 4-3 0-0 6-4 13-11 .542 Iowa State 3-2 3-4 0-1 1-1 7-8 .467 Missouri 2-2 0-3 2-0 2-2 6-7 .462 Oklahoma State 1-1 1-1 0-0 1-3 3-5 .375 Colorado 2-5 1-6 1-0 3-3 7-14 .333 Texas Tech 1-1 1-5 0-0 3-4 5-10 .333 Kansas 1-2 0-1 0-0 0-1 1-4 .250 Baylor 2-2 0-4 0-1 0-0 2-7 .222 Texas A&M 1-2 1-2 0-1 0-6 2-11 .154 Big 12 30-23 17-35 5-4 30-35 82-97 .458
Check out that road record. Big XII schools play six BCS non-conference games at their opponents’ stadiums in 2007.
Get The Picture 