Category Archives: Big Ten

Rating the 2008 Non-Conference Slate, Part 3: Big Ten

Tonight, we feature everyone’s favorite arithmetically challenged conference, the Big Ten.

  1. Michigan State (2 legit, 0 DI-AA): @California, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame. Not bad. Away game in Berkeley and the usual matchup against Notre Dame. This is one of the stronger OOT schedules.
  2. Purdue (2, 1): Northern Colorado, Oregon, Central Michigan, @Notre Dame. And except for the DI-AA team, this is arguably tougher, though it’s hard to envision Oregon being anywhere near as good as they were last year, whereas I feel Cal is due for a rebound.
  3. Michigan (1.75, 0): Utah, Miami (OH), @Notre Dame, Toledo. Not really that much meat on them bones here. Utah is a somewhat ballsy choice, though, considering their consistency over the past few years, and ND earns a full one point just because.
  4. Ohio State (1.25, 1): Youngstown State, Ohio, @Southern California, Troy. OSU @ USC is probably the inter-sectional game of the year. This is just as big, if not bigger, than the OSU-Texas series a few seasons back. I wholeheartedly encourage this type of scheduling. Troy is also an interesting choice. Also, I doubt the choice of Youngstown State is a coincidence.
  5. Illinois (1, 1): (N)Missouri, Eastern Illinois, Louisiana-Lafayette, Western Michigan. The Illinois-Missouri border war resumes again this year in St. Louis. It’s all downhill from there, though.
  6. Penn State (0.75, 1): Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, @Syracuse, Temple. This is the last decent OOC schedule for this conference, though Syracuse, just, ugh.
  7. Iowa (0.75, 1): Maine, Floria International, Iowa State, @Pittsburgh. Technically, there are two BCS teams here. Technically.
  8. Wisconsin (0.5, 1): Akron, Marshall, @Fresno State, California Polytechnic. Fresno State is the best team on this OOC slate. Culture clash with Cal Poly, though. Wisconsin operates several on-campus bars. Cal Poly has a campus-wide ban on alcohol.
  9. Northwestern (0.5, 1): Syracuse, @Duke, Southern Illinois, Ohio. Again, technically, there are two BCS schools on this schedule.
  10. Minnesota (0, 1): Northern Illinois, @Bowling Green, Montana State, Florida Atlantic. Meanwhile, there are none on these last two schedules. This is slightly less pathetic than Indiana’s schedule, because Montana State is a decent DI-AA team, FAU did win the Sun Belt last year (though Troy should have), and NIU and Bowling Green are good every once in awhile. Of course, considering how bad Minnesota was last year maybe they’re worried about most of these schools.
  11. Indiana (0, 1.5): Western Kentucky, Murray State, Ball State, Central Michigan. Pathetic. Central Michigan is probably the best team here? I guess? I mean, this sort of scheduling just makes me sad.

Anyway, join us next time for an examination of the Big XII. Later.

Rating the Non-Conference Slate, Part 3: Big Ten

And here’s part three of our exclusive series.

Today, we’ll examine The Big Ten:

  1. Michigan (2 legit, 1 D-IAA): Appalachian State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan. Not much to say here. Oregon in addition to Notre Dame form the best schedule of this group.
  2. Michigan State (2, 0): UAB, Bowling Green, Pittsburgh, @Notre Dame. Pitt isn’t as good as Oregon, hence the second place finish despite not playing any DI-AA opponents.
  3. Iowa (2, 0): Northern Illinois, Syracuse, @Iowa State, Ball State. Away game for rivalry this year; game against NIU is at a neutral site.
  4. Illinois (2, 1): Missouri, Western Illinois, @Syracuse, Ball State. 2 BCS opponents once again. Game against Mizzou is at a neutral site. Counting both Mizzou and ‘Cuse as legit may be a stretch.
  5. Wisconsin (1,1): Washington State, @UNLV, The Citadel, Northern Illinois. For a team like Wisconsin, games against NIU and UNLV don’t carry as much weight.
  6. Penn State (1, 0): Florida International, Notre Dame, Buffalo, @Temple. @Temple is still basically a home game for Penn State, I suspect. FIU and Buffalo may as well be DI-AA teams.
  7. Purdue (1, 1): @Toledo, Eastern Illinois, Central Michigan, Notre Dame. Notre Dame plays 1/3 of their games against Big Ten schools. May as well go ahead and join the conference, I say.
  8. Ohio State (1, 1): Youngstown State, Akron, @Washington, Kent State. What an uninspiring slate for a team of this caliber. At least they’re playing an out-of-region away game.
  9. Northwestern (1, 1): Northeastern, Nevada, Duke, Eastern Michigan. Well, I got a slight amount of amusement out of the fact Northwestern is playing Northeastern. Nevada and Duke add up to one legit team for these guys.
  10. Minnesota (0, 1): Bowling Green, Miami (OH), @Florida Atlantic, North Dakota State. @FAU? How does this keep happening?
  11. Indiana (0, 1): Indiana State, @Western Michigan, @Akron, Ball State. Maybe Indiana should join the MAC for football? Seriously, how else do you end up with two away games at MAC schools?

Next up: the Large Dozen, see you then.