Category Archives: college football

Rating the 2009 Non-Conference Slate: Prologue

It’s that time once again. I explained the rules and logic last year, and we’ve followed the same process again. So let’s break down the conference desirability ratings once again:

  1. SEC (0.792)
  2. ACC (0.6875)
  3. Big 12 (0.6875)
  4. Big 10 (0.659)
  5. Pac-10 (0.625)
  6. Big East (0.5625)

The Big 12 slid a bit this year, and the ACC rose a bit, probably mostly due to bias on our part. The Big East is hurt by a lack of any “1” teams, and the Pac-10 is hurt once again by the Washington schools.

Finally, the list of “1”s: Georgia Tech (bias, ahoy!), Clemson, Virginia Tech, Texas Tech, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Southern Cal, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, and Tennessee.

Coming up soon, the ACC!

The MAC Still Hasn’t Figured this “13 Teams” Thing Out

Some of you may recall that the past two years I’ve done a rundown of college football’s top non-conference schedules.

I usually start around this time in March. And lo and behold, there’s nothing here! Why?

Well, blame the Mid-American Conference, for starters.

“We don’t know what exactly is going to happen at this point,” Miami assistant AD Pearson said. “Frankly, we’re waiting and waiting, as are all the other MAC schools, for the conference schedule to come out so we can get our schedule out there. Until then, we cannot comment.”

Basically, the MAC is running into a classic problem with round-robin scheduling an odd number of teams, created when Temple joined the league a few years ago. The Wizard of Odds points out that this isn’t the first time this has happened. And in the midst of all this, the MAC also hired a new commissioner.

Currently, no one knows when the MAC will have a schedule. Because of the repercussions, I can’t really do anything until all the schedules are set. For instance, Colorado almost certainly won’t play Miami of Ohio now, so until I know how will replace them how can I make any statements about their schedule? And what if the need for a 12th game causes CU to reschedule on of their other games?

This could get real messy.

Bowl Games: Part VI, The Last One

Here we go, the close of the 2008 college football season. As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

  • Oklahoma vs. Florida, BCS National Championship (@Miami, FL; 8:00 PM, FOX): This is it. While I am a playoff proponent, it’s hard not to get excited about the potential of this game. In fact, the main problem I have right now is that this game takes place too late, to be completely honest. A Thursday? Really? What time will they start in Pasadena next year? At 5:00 PM in LA both teams are liable to still be on the bus. Anyway, about this game. Like I said, I’m excited about the potential of this game, but I think Florida is the better team and have picked them accordingly.

Following this weekend or next week, a wrap-up of bowl season.