Monthly Archives: September 2011

This Weekend in College Football: Week 1

So this is my quick look at each weekend’s games. Note that this does not usually include Thursday and Friday games, as there are only a few games. (Since this is week one, I am listing all applicable games from Thursday to Monday, however.) My source for schedules is mostly Matt Sarz’s website which is one of the most comprehensives sites of its kind around.

Regardless of what is one TV, I will only list contests involving Division I-A teams on national networks, with exceptions for ACC and SEC teams (since I care about them). Also, Georgia Tech is always listed, even if the game is not on TV. When a game is listed as being on two or more networks, the network showing the game in most of the country will be listed first, followed by the other networks in order. For instance, a common listing is “ABC/ESPN2”, which means the game will primarily be shown on ABC stations nationwide, but if it is not on ABC in a particular area, it will be on ESPN2. Many ACC and SEC games are shown on regional syndication under the banners of the “ACC Network” and “SEC Network”. I will list these games as “ACC” and “SEC” respectively, and these games are almost always available on espn3.com. For Big Ten Network games, these are listed as “BTN” and only the game being shown on most systems nationwide will be listed. Games listed as “FSN” will be shown on most or all Fox Sports Net affiliates nationally, including states owned by Comcast that are known as “Comcast Sports Net”. “CBSS” refers to the cable channel formerly known as “CBS College Sports”.

As for colleges, I use no nicknames or shortenings other than “Tech”, even for those certain other Techs that are actually full-fledged universities. This season I am referring to the “University of Miami” and “Miami University” as “Miami”. Yes, this seems contradictory when I type out “Agricultural and Mechanical” instead of “A&M”.

I also make some statements and attempt to predict the outcome of each game. Which is why I always lead off with:

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday
6:00: Murray State @ Louisville (ESPNU): This is in 20 minutes, but I feel pretty confident that the outcome of this isn’t really in doubt. That said, watch it anyway because it’s REAL ACTUAL LIVE FOOTBALL.

7:30: Western Carolina @ Georgia Tech (ESPN3): My other unwritten/written rule is that I don’t predict the outcome of GT games. For this one, I just hope we have the backups in for the second half.

8:00:

  • Nevada-Las Vegas @ Wisconsin (ESPN): This is the first “real” game on the list, as in it features two DI-A teams. That said, this is still an exhibition for Wisconsin to break in Russell Wilson and get the denizens of Madison used to this “forward pass” thing they’ve heard so much about.
  • Mississippi State @ Memphis (FSN): The only thing in doubt about this game is when Dan Mullen will call off his dogs.

9:15: Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky (@Nashville, TN; ESPNU): I think I said this twice during the schedule preview, but why on Earth are two teams from Kentucky playing a game in Tennessee? Well, I guess if I really cared that much I would just look it up. Anyway, Wildcats should roll, but it may be worth tuning in to see if Western Kentucky’s mascot/nightmare fuel is present.

Friday
7:30: Youngstown State @ Michigan State (BTN): Sparty rolls.


8:00: Texas Christian @ Baylor (ESPN): It’ll be up to Robert Griffin to keep the Bears competitive in this contest. Nonetheless, Baylor’s lack of a defense should doom them in the end, though this could be an entertaining shootout.

Saturday
Noon:

  • Akron @ Ohio State (ESPN): This is not one of the games the Buckeyes are worried about.
  • Utah State @ Auburn (ESPN2): Auburn may be completely rebuilding this year, but the Aggies shouldn’t give them any issues.
  • Miami @ Missouri (FSN): For as many times as I mentioned Miami University in my schedule preview, maybe I should see which mid-major teams have the most brutal OOC schedules somedays. Have to pay the bills somehow, I suppose.
  • Northwestern @ Boston College (ESPNU): By all rights, BC should win this game. But Northwestern actually attempts to play offensive football, which I think will give them an edge on this day.
  • Kent State @ Alabama (SEC): Somewhat appropriately, the Tide rolls in this game.
  • Indiana State @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): I was hoping the one game featuring two DI-A teams (MTSU @ Purdue) would be featured, but alas. A walk-over for Penn State.

12:30: Appalachian State @ Virginia Tech (ACC): I wish I were kidding when I said this may be Virginia Tech’s toughest OOC game. Hokes get to 1-0 with ease.

3:30:

  • South Florida @ Notre Dame (NBC): With easily the most hype they’ve had coming into a season in years, we’ll get an early taste if it’s deserved or not. Touchdown Jesus should be pleased, though.
  • Minnesota @ Southern California (ABC/ESPN2): AGH SO LITTLE TIME RUNNING OUT OF FUNNY (WELL KIND OF FUNNY, THROW ME A BONE HERE) THINGS TO SAY. Oh, yeah, Trojans roll.
  • Western Michigan @ Michigan (ESPN2/ABC): Hail to the victors, etc., etc.
  • California-Los Angeles @ Houston (FSN): If I recall correctly, UCLA’s defense was pretty abysmal last year. I don’t remember how many yards Case Keenum needs for the record, but, well, he might have a shot here. Unless it’s like 2000, in which case probably not. (Um, no pun intended there.)
  • Louisiana-Monroe @ Florida State (ESPNU): FSU rolls.
  • Delaware @ Navy (CBSS): Navy rolls, and since they run the ball, this is somewhat more literal.
  • Tennessee-Chattanooga @ Nebraska (BTN): UTC is known as the “Mocs”. I’ve been there a few times. That’s really all I got.
  • James Madison @ North Carolina (ACC): UNC ought to win this.

4:45: Brigham Young @ Mississippi (ESPN): The Right Reverend Houston Nutt takes on the Stormin’ Mormons in what should be a decent game. Ole Miss is probably the weakest team in the SEC West this year, and I think BYU could well win this.

7:00:

  • Florida Atlantic @ Florida (ESPNU): Howard Schnellenberger’s suspenders probably won’t be enough for the Owls to overtake the Gators in this one.
  • East Carolina vs. South Carolina (@Charlotte, NC; SEC): Remember, East Carolina is not, in fact, a state, and refers to Eastern North Carolina. Marcus Lattimore rolls.

7:30: Elon @ Vanderbilt (SEC): I think even Vandy can feel good about this one.

8:00:

  • Oregon vs. Louisiana State (@Arlington, TX; ABC): This is the game of the day. Two teams who could still be in the top 10 at the end of the year matching up at a neutral site in a huge game. Will Oregon’s fast pace offensive juggernaut prevail, or will the Les Miles Effect be fully in… effect for this game? It’s hard to say. But even though they do play defense, LSU’s inability to move the ball (even before their starting QB got suspended) doesn’t bode well for their chances.
  • Boise State vs. Georgia (@Atlanta, GA; ESPN): Kellen Moore and co. enter into what will probably be a very biased neutral site. For the sake of all that is good and right with the world, the Broncos must prevail.
  • Tulsa @ Oklahoma (FX): Yes, you probably get FX. Flip over when the other games are in a commercial break. But hey, at least Tulsa gets to play both OU and OSU this year.

10:00: Louisiana Tech @ Southern Mississippi (FSN): I think it kind of sucks that Central Time zone schools have to play these late starts so networks can fill these awkward late night timeslots. Doesn’t affect me though, but still. Also USM should win.

10:15: Colorado @ Hawaii (ESPN2): Now this is real late night football. Every kickoff at 10 PM Eastern or later should feature a Pac-12 or WAC team, I think. Colorado should win this, but there is a rather distinct possibility they won’t.

Sunday
3:30: Marshall @ West Virginia (ESPN): This is technically a rivalry game. It’s a rather lopsided rivalry, but still one nonetheless.


7:30: Southern Methodist @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (FSN): I wish I could come up with a logical reason for TAMU to leave the Big 12. I really can’t, though. Which makes the whole thing harder to understand. SMU is hoping to take their spot I would guess, but they will probably get stomped here.

Monday
8:00: Miami @ Maryland (ESPN): Even with their depleted roster, Miami’s backups are still probably better than Maryland’s current starters. Year 1 of the Randy Edsall era probably won’t get off to a very pretty start.

And there’s week one! Hopefully next week I’ll finally get a chance to talk about college football’s rule changes. Until then…

Rating the 2011 Non-Conference Slate: Epilogue

The college football season, mercifully, starts today. But before getting into the schedule for the weekend, let’s take a quick look back at the best, and worst, of this season’s out-of-conference scheduling.

First, some dishonorable mentions: North Carolina State (2 DI-AA teams, the only ones to do so this year) and Kentucky (for scheduling a neutral site game with Western Kentucky in Tennessee).

But who had the worst overall schedules in college football? Well, here’s a sample of all the teams that got a 0 for their scheduling:

  • Virginia Tech: Appalachian State, @East Carolina, Arkansas State, Marshall. This is really kind of embarrassing. Appy State could well be the best team on the list. Nonetheless, it’s only the second or third worst schedule.
  • Washington State: Idaho State, Nevada-Las Vegas, @San Diego State. See, Wazzou is just kind of terrible, so this is at least understandable. As in, they’re so bad that it’s entirely possible they’ll lose to SDSU.
  • Mississippi State: @Memphis, Louisiana Tech, @Alabama-Birmingham, Tennessee-Martin. Also embarrassing. Miss State used to be bad, yes, but they’ve gotten better. There’s no reason to schedule like this anymore. Well, except for the four guaranteed wins I guess.
  • Texas Tech: Texas State, @New Mexico, Nevada. It’s either these guys or Miss State that’s the worst. I’m going to go with this, simply because Texas Tech has been on the “shame” list for three consecutive years now, and it’s not like Tommy Tuberville’s going to rock the boat in this regard.

 So who has the top schedule in all the land? Again, I am mostly considering not only score, but also interesting ineter-sectional matchups that aren’t rivalry games. So, without further adieu, the top six OOC schedules for the 2011 season are:
6. Southern California: Minnesota, Syracuse, Notre Dame. Barely makes the list, but these are all major conference schools, technically. Er… maybe I should’ve just gone with a top 5. Anyway.
5. Maryland: West Virginia, Temple, Towson, N-Notre Dame. UMD and WVU do play a lot, but it’s not an every-year sort of affair. Combined with the ND game and this is pretty decent.
4. Florida State: Louisiana-Monroe, Charleston Southern, Oklahoma, @Florida. @Florida being a rivalry game hurts this schedule a bit, but that will be the icing on the cake if the Seminoles somehow triumph over the Sooners.
3. Oregon State: Sacramento State, @Wisconsin, Brigham Young. Again, this is a good slate, with a cross-country road trip to Madison and a visit from the Stormin’ Mormons.
2. Pittsburgh: Buffalo, Maine, @Iowa, Notre Dame, Utah. Feels like Pitt appears on this list every year, but at least they use the 5-game OOC schedule to their advantage. Yes, they play ND every year but Iowa is pretty underrated every year and Utah is Utah. Solid, and again, maybe a platform to do a little more than get to the Orange Bowl.
1. Louisiana State: N-Oregon, Northwestern State, @West Virginia, Western Kentucky. Oregon and WVU on the same schedule made this decision pretty easy. Especially coming from a conference usually accused of ducking interesting OOC games, LSU knocks it out of the park with two potentially great and interesting games.

And finally, let’s close with the conference “legit” averages. That is, the average “legit”-ness of each conference’s OOC schedule:

  1. Pac-12: 0.323
  2. ACC: 0.281
  3. Big East: 0.263
  4. Big 12: 0.25
  5. Big Ten: 0.203
  6. SEC: 0.203

The tie between the Big Ten and SEC was broken by the number of DI-AA teams played (10 vs. 12, respectively).

So, with that, let’s talk some actual football! I’m excited, you’re excited, we’re all excited! Stay tuned for the weekend TV guide.

Rating the 2011 Non-Conference Slate: SEC

And it is time, finally, for the Southeastern Conference. Fun fact: every SEC team plays a DI-AA team this year.

  1. Louisiana State (2 legit, 1 DI-AA): N-Oregon, Northwestern State, @West Virginia, Western Kentucky. Mea culpa: apparently when I wrote the WVU preview I said that game would be in Baton Rouge. Well, it isn’t. Flip everything around and what I wrote still applies, I think. As for the Oregon game, go look at the Pac-12 post.
  2. Georgia (1.5, 1): N-Boise State, Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State, @Georgia Tech. Man, I really hope Boise wins. That’s all I got for this.
  3. Alabama (1, 1): Kent State, @Pennsylvania State, North Texas, Georgia Southern. A rare, but highly encouraged, SEC-Big Ten matchup with two traditional powers meeting. Always in favor of that. Also, at least this GSU won’t be quite the punching bag the other one was.
  4. Arkansas (1, 1): Missouri State, New Mexico, Troy, N-Texas Agricultural and Mechanical. Even though it is part of a now long-running series, I still put Arkansas over Florida because the TAMU game isn’t required.
  5. Florida (1, 1): Florida Atlantic, Alabama-Birmingham, Furman, Florida State. Unlike the Florida-Florida State game. This is pretty much a bare minimum schedule right here.
  6. Auburn (0.75, 1): Utah State, @Clemson, Florida Atlantic, Samford. Again, see the above, re: optional OOC games versus rivalry games.
  7. South Carolina (0.75, 1): N-East Carolina, Navy, Citadel, Clemson. East Carolina keeps fooling me. They should just join the Big East already.
  8. Mississippi (0.5, 1): Brigham Young, Southern Illinois, @Fresno State, Louisiana Tech. This is almost kind of a real schedule for Ole Miss. BYU and a road game to a west coast school? Almost downright unheard of.
  9. Tennessee (0.5, 1): Montana, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Middle Tennessee State. Not much to see here, moving on.
  10. Vanderbilt (0.5, 1): Elon, Connecticut, Army, @Wake Forest. Well, even Vandy has to start from somewhere, and at least they’ve got a schedule that they should at least break even with.
  11. Kentucky (0.25, 1): N-Western Kentucky, Central Michigan, Louisville, Jacksonville State. Note that the Louisville game is a rivalry game. Are these guys even trying? Note that the Western Kentucky game is at a neutral site: Nashville. I’m not sure who thought it’d be great for two Kentucky schools to play a game in Tennessee. For a long time I’ve joked that Memphis is actually the capital of Mississippi – maybe Nashville serves a similar role for their neighbors to the north?
  12. Mississippi State (0, 1): @Memphis, Louisiana Tech, @Alabama-Birmingham, Tennessee-Martin. I wonder someone hoodwinked the Bulldogs into thinking Alabama still plays a couple of home games at Legion Field every year and didn’t realize they were going to play UAB until the schedule for this year had to be published.

Next up, some final thoughts. 

Rating the 2011 Non-Conference Slate: Pac-12

As per usual, the Pacific 12 leads the land in terms of scheduling out-of-conference teams. Somewhat bizarrely, though, they elected to keep the 9 game conference schedule despite now having 12 teams. I like having 9 conference games when that means the conference will play a full round-robin, but otherwise I’m not sure it makes sense. Yes, it produces more meaningful games, but otherwise there’s not a meaningful upside.

  1. Southern California (1.5 legit, 0 DI-AA): Minnesota, Syracuse, @Notre Dame. USC always plays pretty decent OOC schedules, but this is about as low as you can currently go and say you schedule three BCS conference teams short of scheduling Vanderbilt and Duke.
  2. Oregon State (1.5, 1): Sacramento State, @Wisconsin, Brigham Young. Nonetheless, the three BCS teams are sufficient to beat out Oregon State’s Wisconsin and BYU combo, though playing a DI-AA team certainly doesn’t help.
  3. Stanford (1.25, 0): San Jose State, @Duke, Notre Dame. Well, they have Notre Dame on the schedule. In reality, their ticket to the national title game will probably be decided when they play Oregon.
  4. Colorado (1.5, 0): @Hawaii, California, N-Colorado State, @Ohio State. Yes, that’s four non-conference games due to the Hawaii rule. Oh yeah, there’s also that bizarre already scheduled Cal game that is now a non-conference conference game. Strangeness all around. Remember, though I show the raw “legit” score this ranking is actually based on the average, which means the extra OOC game is accounted for (and hence why they rank below Stanford).
  5. California-Los Angeles (1, 0): @Houston, San Jose State, Texas. This may actually be pretty tough for UCLA. Considering their defensive woes Case Keenum could well break the NCAA passing record in this game alone.
  6. Oregon (1, 1): N-Louisiana State, Nevada, Missouri State. Oregon-LSU has to be one of the top intersectional matchups of the year. Yes, there’s also UGA-Boise State. That game, though, will lack Oregon’s frenetic offensive pace up against the “they have no idea what the hell they’re doing” pace of Les Miles and co.
  7. Washington (1, 1): Eastern Washington, Hawaii, @Nebraska. Washington’s prospects in the return trip to Lincoln look, shall we say, dim.
  8. Arizona State (1, 1): California-Davis, Missouri, @Illinois. Funny how, in a year where Missouri and Illinois stop their renewed series, Arizona State manages to play both. Not that I’m complaining, mind you.
  9. Utah (1, 1): Montana State, @Brigham Young, @Pittsburgh. Utah will try to earn its newfound major conference cred by beating the team that arguably launched it to where it is today, Pitt.
  10. Arizona (1, 1): Northern Arizona, @Oklahoma State, Louisiana-Lafayette. I can’t think of anything funny to say about this schedule, so moving on.
  11. California (0.25, 1): N-Fresno State, @Colorado, Presbyterian. Again, yes, that Colorado game is not a Pac-12 game. Whoops! Also, Presbyterian is located in Clinton, South Carolina, which is a heck of a long way from Berkeley in more ways than just distance, I would suspect.
  12. Washington State (0, 1): Idaho State, Nevada-Las Vegas, @San Diego State. Well, there’s at least one win on this schedule for Paul Wulff and Co.

Next up, the SEC, and followed by a quick wrap-up.

    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!