College Football Rankings: 15 Biggest Powder Puffs Scheduled by FBS Heavyweights

In today's college football world, every BCS team in a major conference schedules cream puffs that ease the road to a potential BCS National Championship.

These teams are no exception.

The top half of the BCS rankings is littered with teams who scheduled cakewalks in order to better prepare them for tougher opponents.

Can you blame them? It makes money for the programs, gives the teams a better shot at high rankings and gives the elite teams their version of a preseason. 

Credit is given where credit is due. Many of these teams played tough schedules outside of these easy slates.

However, there is no question that the heavyweights of college football had to dig deep to feast on these bottom-feeders of the food chain.

 

1. LSU vs. Northwestern State

Full disclosure: I had never heard of Northwestern State prior to LSU playing it during Week 2 of the college football season.

The Demons, as they are called, are located in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and play in the Southland Conference. They are 5-5 on the season with a 3-3 record in the conference.

More intriguing is the "Fork 'em" gesture apparently used by fans of Northwestern State. It mirrors the Texas "Hook 'em Horns" gesture used by Texas.

Needless to say, the Demons were no match for the mighty LSU Tigers, who dominated the game by a score of 49-3. Oh, and Northwestern State managed a paltry 95 yards of total offense.

It was a nice, easy win following the tough game versus Oregon. Maybe a little too easy. 

2. Alabama vs. Georgia Southern

It is certainly not my goal to provide any bulletin board material for the Georgia Southern Eagles prior to Saturday's matchup against Alabama.

So, I will not tell you that Georgia Southern is an FCS opponent that has not played a single FBS opponent to this point in the season.

I also will not point out that the Eagles are nothing more than a tuneup for the Iron Bowl rivalry that is looming for the Crimson Tide.

Coach Nick Saban will surely inform the media that his team is focused solely on the Eagles and that future opponents are out of the minds of coaches and players.

Do not believe him. Alabama will crush Georgia Southern and begin preparations for Auburn promptly thereafter. 

At least the Eagles are 9-1 on the season. Better make that 9-2. 

3. Oregon vs. Missouri State

Not only is Missouri State one of the worst teams to take the field against a BCS opponent in 2011, the Bears are the worst team in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Missouri State has one lowly win in 2011 coming against Western Illinois. The inferior talent of Missouri State made it an appropriate punching bag for the high-powered offense of the Oregon Ducks.

The Ducks took advantage, winning 56-7 over the Bears. At least the Bears got to do some sightseeing in the beautiful Northwest. 

4. Arkansas vs. Missouri State

Wait, who made the schedule for Missouri State?

The Bears were twice made a piñata by heavyweights in the 2011 college football season.

The Arkansas Razorbacks opened up the year by defeating the Bears 51-7. The Hogs had 20 points before the first quarter was over. The lone mishap was a missed extra point after the second touchdown.

Not only did Missouri State have two impossible challenges in Arkansas and Oregon, the Bears also had the unenviable task of containing two of the most potent offenses in the country.

 

5. Clemson vs. Wofford

It is one thing to schedule an FCS opponent to warm the team up for future challenges.

It is quite another to struggle against such an opponent.

The Clemson Tigers achieved a much-too-narrow victory over the Wofford Terriers on the second week of the college football season.

Fortunately for the Tigers, the win served as a wake-up call. After the win over Wofford, Clemson reeled off three straight wins against ranked opponents.

Congratulations to Clemson for turning a near-disaster into a quality win streak and season.  

6. Michigan State vs. Youngstown State

More representation on the list from the Missouri Valley Conference comes from the Penguins of Youngstown State. 

Yes, the Penguins.

Michigan State opened the 2011 season by playing Youngstown State and winning 28-6. Not a bad effort from a team that is now 6-4 on the season.

The Penguins also impressively won their next game by scoring 77 points against Valparaiso.  

The schedule didn't get much tougher for the Spartans, with the hardest non-conference game coming against Notre Dame.  

7. Houston vs. Georgia State

If Houston wants to run with the big boys in the BCS standings, then it must be prepared to take some heat merited by scheduling powder puffs.

The Houston Cougars faced the 2-8 Georgia State Panthers in their fourth game of the season. The Cougars easily disposed of Georgia State, 56-0.

Case Keenum passed for 415 yards in the contest with only two touchdowns. Yes, only two. That's a bit low by Keenum's standards.

Brighter days are ahead for second-year football program Georgia State. With the highly respected Bill Curry as head coach, expect the Panthers to improve in years to come. 

8. Kansas State vs. Eastern Kentucky

One of the biggest reasons why critics doubted Kansas State well into the 2011 college football season was because of a narrow 10-7 victory over Eastern Kentucky.

The Wildcats got off to a sluggish start by turning the ball over five times against the Colonels and amassing only 303 yards of total offense.

Eastern Kentucky, from the Ohio Valley Conference, has since played itself into second in is conference.

Every now and then, the weakest teams on the schedule bite back, especially during the early weeks of the season when the rust is still wearing off for elite teams.

Kansas State almost learned that the hard way but escaped with a narrow win. 

9. LSU vs. Western Kentucky

LSU makes its second appearance on this list with the scheduling of Western Kentucky late in the season.

It is not uncommon for SEC teams to schedule an easy game during the tough conference stretch as a way to get healthy and to rest star players. LSU certainly did that in scheduling the Hilltoppers on the second Saturday in November.

Coming off a hard-fought 9-6 overtime win against Alabama, Western Kentucky was just the easy game the Tigers needed before finishing off the tough conference slate.

Next time, however, LSU would probably like to take a bigger halftime lead than 14-7 against a team from the Sun Belt Conference. 

10. Alabama vs. Kent State

Unable to sway too far from anything LSU, Alabama similarly makes a second appearance on the list.

The Crimson Tide opened up the season with a 48-7 victory over the Kent State Golden Flashes. Kent State has won one MAC title in its history, coming in 1972.

Who was a player on that team? You guessed it, Nick Saban. Perhaps that is the reason the Tide have an affinity for taking on Kent State early in the season.

Maybe we will see Alabama taking to the road at Kent State for a reunion of sorts for the head coach.

Maybe not. 

11. Oklahoma State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette

While no non-conference game stands out as tough for Oklahoma State, the Cowboys played a reasonably challenging non-conference slate.

The easiest opponent came in the form of Louisiana-Lafayette to open the season. Problems on defense reared their head early on for Mike Gundy in this one as the Cowboys allowed 34 points en route to a 27-point victory.

The Ragin' Cajuns have since had a decent season in the Sun Belt, posting an 8-3 record. Given the talent discrepancy, however, the Cowboys would have likely preferred a better showing on defense. 

12. Oklahoma vs. Ball State

The easiest opponent on Oklahoma's schedule came in the fourth week of the college football season.

The Sooners took on the Ball State Cardinals and easily disposed of them 62-6. Quarterback Landry Jones padded his early Heisman stats with 425 yards passing and five touchdowns.

The game was also highlighted by Oklahoma defender Tony Jefferson's interceptions on three consecutive Ball State drives. The Sooners cashed in on each turnover with a touchdown, and the blowout commenced.

13. Michigan State vs. Florida Atlantic

Did I mention Michigan State's non-conference schedule was a bit weak?

The Spartans followed up a win against Youngstown State by taking on the winless Florida Atlantic Owls.

The Owls are still winless.

The hapless Owls had no chance against the stingy defense of the Spartans, getting shut out 44-0. Florida Atlantic only mustered one first down the entire game and a grand total of 48 yards.

Florida Atlantic is one of the worst teams in FBS competition and is often mentioned in ESPN.com's bottom 10 rankings. 

 

14. Stanford vs. San Jose State

The Stanford Cardinal have not been short on receiving criticism for a lackluster non-conference schedule. 

A dominant opening win versus San Jose State certainly doesn't help matters much.

The Spartans are one of the worst teams in the WAC conference and didn't put up much of a fight in a 57-3 walloping at the hands of the Cardinal.

Stanford put up 57 points despite only 171 yards from quarterback Andrew Luck. The Cardinal certainly didn't need much Luck to pull out this easy win. 

15. Virginia Tech vs. Appalachian State

The reason Appalachian State falls so low on the list is because of its upset win over Michigan in 2007. 

However, they still belong on the list as do the Virginia Tech Hokies, who have a habit of scheduling one FCS opponent per season.

In 2010, the plan backfired with a monumental upset loss at the hands of James Madison.

Given that disaster, the Hokies were well-prepared for Appalachian State and disposed of one of the best FCS teams by a score of 66-13.