Rating the 2011 Non-Conference Slate: Big 12

Now, finally, here is the Big 12. Well, hopefully. It could well cease to exist by the time I finish writing this.

  1. Oklahoma (1 legit, 0 DI-AA): Tulsa, @Florida State, Ball State. Oklahoma-Florida State may turn out to be one of the most pivotal games of the year for the preseason #1 team, because the rest of this OOC schedule won’t be. Still, though, the single game in Tallahassee was enough to vault the Sooners over Texas for the #1 spot here.
  2. Texas (1, 0): Rice, Brigham Young, @California-Los Angeles. Quantity does not always beat quality. Though we did rate newly independent BYU this year, Texas should still handle them and moribund UCLA.
  3. Baylor (1, 1): Texas Christian, Stephen F. Austin, Rice. It’s the Robert Griffin show down in Waco. Will it be enough to get them past TCU?
  4. Iowa State (1, 1): Northern Iowa, Iowa, @Connecticut. Well, at least Iowa and Iowa State will no longer be playing for that awful corn trophy. I have a feeling we kind of hated on the Hawkeyes in our ratings, but oh well.
  5. Kansas State (1, 1): Eastern Kentucky, Kent State, @Miami. Yes, this is that Miami. Otherwise this schedule is very Bill Synder-esque, which leads me to think that once Miami slides off the rotation we’ll see the K-State schedules of old.
  6. Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (0.75, 1): Southern Methodist, Idaho, N-Arkansas. Once again, a school shuns the deafening environment of KIBBIE DOME by cowardly playing away from the CRUCIBLE OF POTATO PAIN. I still like the on-going series with Arkansas at Jerry Jones’s Intergalactic Space Palace, though.
  7. Kansas (0.75, 1): McNeese State, Northern Illinois, @Georgia Tech. A good first step for KU would probably be to actually beat their DI-AA opponent this year. (No comment on the part where they beat us.)
  8. Oklahoma State (0.5, 0): Louisiana-Lafayette, Arizona, @Tulsa. In case you’re wondering, it’s about 71.4 miles from Stillwater to Tulsa. Google Maps also tells me it takes an 1:14 to drive there, which given the way these two teams will probably sling the ball around may be how long it takes to play each quarter.
  9. Missouri (0.5, 1): Miami, @Arizona State, Western Illinois. That’s the Miami in Oxford, OH. There’s also a game in Tempe, which is nice, I guess.
  10. Texas Tech (0, 1): Texas State, @New Mexico, Nevada. Last year, that Nevada game probably would’ve been fun. As far as New Mexico goes, well, the team’s coach probably has a better chance of literally punching you in the mouth than his football team figuratively does.

Sorry if it feels like I’m a bit of a hurry, but well, that’s because I am. Anyway, next up is the Pac-12!