The Gainesville Sun's Robbie Andreu put out his preliminary projections for the SEC, and it got me thinking. I am not ready to put out my projections yet, mainly because there are too many good teams in the conference just to throw an order together right now. Projecting the SEC finish will take a lot of research.
I did end up looking at each school’s schedule, mainly focusing on the non-conference games. If you haven’t yet done that, you’ll be glad to know that the SEC schedules this year are less cupcakey than past years.
For the record, I am fine with schools raiding the bakery for fundraiser games a couple times a year, but I do expect BCS schools to play at least one BCS opponent. I also think playing I-AA teams is inexcusable except for the very best I-AA teams, like Appalachian State, which are better than the Utah States and FIUs of I-A anyway.
Here’s a rundown of the SEC non-conference schedules, in alphabetical order:
ALABAMA
BCS Opponent: @ Clemson (Aug. 30)
Cupcakes: Tulane (Sept. 6), Western Kentucky (Sept. 13), Arkansas State (Nov. 1)
ARKANSAS
BCS Opponent: @ Texas (Sept. 13)
Respectable Non-BCS: Tulsa (Nov 1)
Cupcake: Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 6)
I-AA: Western Illinois (Aug. 30)
AUBURN
BCS Opponent: @ West Virginia (Oct. 23)
Respectable Non-BCS: Southern Miss (Sept. 6)
Cupcake: Louisiana-Monroe (Aug. 30)
I-AA: Tennessee-Martin (Nov. 8)
FLORIDA
BCS Opponents: Miami (Sept. 6), @ FSU (Nov. 29)
Respectable Non-BCS: Hawaii (Aug. 30)
I-AA: The Citadel (Nov. 22)
GEORGIA
BCS Opponents: @ Arizona State (Sept. 20), Georgia Tech (Nov. 29)
Respectable Non-BCS: Central Michigan (Sept. 6)
I-AA: Georgia Southern (Aug. 30)
KENTUCKY
BCS Opponent: Louisville (Aug. 31)
Cupcakes: Middle Tennessee (Sept. 13), Western Kentucky (Sept. 27)
I-AA: Norfolk State (Sept. 6)
LSU
Respectable Non-BCS: Troy (Sept. 6)
Respectable I-AA: Appalachian State (Aug. 30)
Cupcakes: North Texas (Sept. 13), Tulane (Nov. 1)
OLE MISS
BCS Opponent: @ Wake Forest (Sept. 6)
Cupcakes: Memphis (Aug. 30), Louisiana-Monroe (Nov. 15)
I-AA: Samford (Sept. 13)
MISSISSIPPI STATE
BCS Opponent: @ Georgia Tech (Sept. 20)
Cupcakes: Louisiana Tech (Aug. 30), Middle Tennessee (Oct. 25)
I-AA: Southeastern Louisiana (Sept. 6)
SOUTH CAROLINA
BCS Opponents: NC State (Aug. 28), @ Clemson (Nov. 29)
Cupcake: UAB (Sept. 27)
I-AA: Wofford (Sept. 20)
TENNESSEE
BCS Opponent: @ UCLA (Sept. 1)
Cupcakes: UAB (Sept. 13), Northern Illinois (Oct. 4), Wyoming (Nov. 8)
VANDERBILT
BCS Opponents: Duke (Oct. 25), @ Wake Forest (Nov. 29)
Cupcakes: Miami University (Aug. 28), Rice (Sept. 13)
Only LSU doesn't have a BCS opponent. Alabama, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt do not have I-AA opponents. LSU should not lose anything for playing Appalachian State, though, especially because Mountaineer fans have already begun predicting a victory on Charlotte sports talk radio.
LSU's slate is the only one I'd call "shameful" in the bunch, though I am not happy about all of the non-App State I-AA teams you see listed. However, until the NCAA reverses the rule and stops allowing wins over I-AA teams to count towards bowl eligibility, those games are sadly inevitable.
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2 months ago
Florida by far has the toughest non-conference schedule. And while LSU looks to have the easiest non-conference line-up, I'd have to say in all reality that Vandy's is much more of a cake walk. Even though Vanderbilt plays two BCS teams, they are both bottom of the barrel in the ACC. I would argue that Troy is a better opponent than Wake Forest, and Appy State is better than Duke. The other four teams are about equal.
I do agree though that things are looking a lot better than they once did with non-conference scheduling, but somebody has to play the small schools, otherwise they just need to go back to I-AA.
I contend that division I teams should not play I-AA teams. That would eliminate a lot of the cupcake scheduling. And every BCS team must play at least one non-conference BCS opponent. Overall that would make for better games, and would weed out BCS teams who are not deserving of going to a BCS game by playing an easy schedule.---Just some food for thought.
2 months ago
Good article.
Part of the problem comes when SEC teams have rivals outside of the conference, i.e. FL vs. UM and FSU, GA vs. Ga Tech, South Carolina vs. Clemson, Kentucky vs. Louisville, while others don't--namely all the West teams. That said, it seems like Auburn is the only team willing to take on the top Big East schools (and it sure did burn them last year).
While those rivalries obviously don't count to the conference records, they do have serious implications for BCS game hopefuls. As hard as the SEC schedule is, it stinks that some teams have to finish the season playing a tough rivalry game while others coast through with easy games.
2 months ago
I was surprised to find that many 1-AA opponents in this conference.
2 months ago
yeah unfortunately LSU searched for a bcs opponent for this year and had no takers. LSU tried to schedule Texas tech, rutgers, indiana, and many others with no takers.
part of it needs to be blamed on our ath dept for not wanting to play a home and home. but when you were in a pinch like this (the app st spot) the tigers should've played a home and home or a worked it out to play TTU in houston.
one of the fan base's biggest grumble is the ooc schedule and i would hope it would be addressed soon. LSU has a history of letting teams out of contracts (Colorado, Baylor, Ok st, FSU, etc) all that does is stick us with someone like Troy.
in fact, the only reason we played VTech last year was because we let them out of their return trip in 2001.
The ath dept doesn't want to lose the revenue of a home game every other year (since we're playing home and home with tulane now which is a joke) but that kind of greediness has started to irk the fans.
they try to spin it saying that no major teams want to come to death valley (part of which is true) but it can't be every single team we try to schedule. the ath dept dug their own grave on this.
hopefully they learned that a big reason we went to the nat'l championship last year was becasue of the VT blowout. and in the future the flipside of that might leave us out of the game.
2 months ago
also i forgot to mention that if UGA can make through their schedule and the SEC cg with no losses not only do they deserve to be in the nat'l cg but they deserve a 10 pt lead when the game starts.
i don't think the nat'l pundits who've picked them to win it all fully appreciate the brutality of their schedule this year.
from 2 months ago
I can't agree more. There is no way GA comes out of this season unscathed. Their schedule is ridiculous.
from 2 months ago
It appears difficult, but I don't know if it'll end up as bad as everyone thinks it will be.
Arizona State's biggest problem last year was keeping Rudy Carpenter upright, and rushing the passer is what Georgia does best. Central Michigan won the MAC, but was still just 8-6 last year. Georgia Tech will probably be a mess in the first year under Paul Johnson.
Beating Florida a week after playing at LSU will be the Dawgs' biggest challenge. They get Alabama at home, a bye before Tennessee at home, and Vandy before the Perrilloux-less LSU team. The game at Auburn in late November will be huge.
The @ LSU game, Florida (in Jacksonville), and @ Auburn are the only games I see UGA in danger of losing. If Georgia can go 2-1 in those games, that should put them in Atlanta unless Florida runs the table in its conference slate. Don't get me wrong, it's a tough schedule. It may end up being the #1 most difficult in the end. However, it's still doable for Georgia to go 11-1 going into a likely rematch with either Auburn or LSU in the SEC championship game.
from 2 months ago
david, i agree with everything you say about UGA, it's certainly doable for 11-1.
but you know the rigors of a college (especially SEC schedule) and all this is if there are no significant injuries. i'm not necessarily saying that GT, CMU, or ASU is gonna sneak the Dawgs, but it's hard to be "on" every single week.
bama could be a trap game if they play hard fought road wins against ASU and USC.
then at the end of the season they spend four weekends away from athens (well one in JAX) when they go @LSU, UF @ jax, @UK, and then @ AU. they're gonna need to bring it for the AU game especially if the war eagles are in a thick race for the west at that point.
from 2 months ago
I totally agree, but Florida had the Schedule of Death in 2006 which also included 4 straight weeks away from home. It's not easy and wouldn't be pretty, but it can be done.
from 2 months ago
I think skipping over South Carolina is a mistake as well. By no means is that game a gimme game. SC did beat GA last year, after all...in Athens.
And the biggest question of all is: With all the talent GA has had in the past, when is the last time Richt led his team to the NC? And why would that change now?
2 months ago
I think there's two reasons for the proliferation of I-A vs. I-AA games:
1. At the same time the regular season expanded to 12 games, I-AA games were allowed to count towards being bowl eligible. For marginal teams like South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State that often end up at or below the bowl eligible mark, it was a boost to have those games count.
2. I-AA opponents cost less to bring in than I-A opponents do. That increases the margin on the guaranteed home game. As long as you're bringing in an overmatched team for fund raising purposes, you might as well maximize your profit.
2 months ago
I liked it better when the SEC teams played six conference games a year, instead of eight. Alabama played Penn State every year, on a home-and-home basis. Auburn played Nebraska at least once that I can remember.
Now that they have to play eight conference games, the SEC teams try to arrange out-of-conference matchups with a team that will be willing to be the sacrificial lamb. They have to play at the SEC team's home stadium, and they're usually cupcakes because the conference schedule is so brutal.
I wish they would go back to the six game SEC schedule, but that will never happen.
2 months ago
Because we go through the SEC we deserve to have easy OOC games. Granted most schools in the SEC play cupcakes. The schools in other conferences play cupcakes within their conference (Baylor, Duke). There is no gimme game in the SEC. It's unnecessary to play a hard OOC game when you have to go through the gauntlet that is the SEC. I'd like to challenge most teams to the SEC's 8 conference games alone then their 12 game schedules. And how about a SEC Championship game on top.
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