SOS! College Football's Toughest 2010 Schedules

The 2010 College Football Season Is Upon Us!

Here's a listing of the twenty-five schools entering the season with the toughest schedules in front of them based upon collegefootballpoll.com's preseason rankings on all 120 Division I schools and sportsnetwork.com's FCS Division preseason rankings.

NOTE: The FCS poll is needed since several of the big schools find it necessary to play schools from the lesser division in their big home stadiums. Never forget, college football is all about the money.

Now remember, the number given under SOS is the average rank of each opponent these schools have on their 2010 schedules.

So... Here are the schools playing the toughest schedules:

-Conference-Division—School-------Rank----SOS
1- SEC --------West------Alabama--------4-----40.08
2- Big XII----South-----Oklahoma-------7-----41.17
3- PAC TEN--------------UCLA---------48-----45.00
4- PAC TEN--------------Oregon St. ---17-----45.08
5- PAC TEN--------------Washington---53-----45.08
6- ACC--------Coastal---N. Carolina---13-----47.00
7- Big XII-----North-----Iowa State--- 70-----47.33
8- Big XII-----South-----Texas------------2-----47.92
9- Big XII-----South-----Texas Tech----19-----49.08
10 SEC---------East-------Florida----------5-----49.42
10 SEC---------West------LSU-----------24-----49.42
12 SEC---------East-------Vanderbilt—108----49.75
13 SEC---------East-------S. Carolina—29-----51.42
14 Big XII-----South-----Ok. State----43------51.83
15 ACC-------Coastal----Ga. Tech-----12------52.17
16 ACC-------Coastal----Miami (FL)—23-----52.33
16 IND.---------------------No. Dame---57------52.33
18 Big XII-----North-----Colorado-----69------53.00
19 ACC-------Atlantic----Florida St.—46-----53.17
20 ACC-------Coastal-----Va. Tech-----8------53.67
21 Mtn. West---------------BYU--------16------53.83
22 SEC----------East------Tennessee---73------54.42
23 Mtn. West--------------UNLV--------83-----54.75
24 Big Ten-----------------Penn State—11-----55.33
25 SEC----------West-----Miss. State—56-----55.38

That breaks down to 7 SEC schools, 6 Big XII schools, 5 ACC schools, 3 PAC TEN schools, 2 Mountain West schools, 1 Big Ten school and the independent Notre Dame.

Here are the Top 25 schools according to collegefootballpoll.com’s preseason Major College Football Poll with their SOS rating to the right:

-Conference-Division—School-------Rank----SOS
1- WAC------------------Boise State----1-------64.58
2- Big XII-----South---Texas -----------2-------47.92
3- Mtn. West------------TCU-------------3------73.75
4- SEC--------West-----Alabama--------4------40.08
5- SEC--------East------Florida----------5-------49.42
6- Big Ten---------------Ohio State ----6--------63.64
7- Big XII-----South---Oklahoma -----7--------41.17
8- ACC-------Coastal--Va. Tech--------8-------53.67
9- Big XII-----North---Nebraska-------9--------63.42
10- PAC TEN-----------Oregon -------10-------70.83
11- Big Ten--------------Penn State ---11-------55.33
12- ACC------Coastal--Ga. Tech -----12-------52.17
13- ACC------Coastal--N. Car.---------13------47.00
14- SEC-------West----Arkansas ------14------60.75
15- Big Ten-------------Iowa------------15------64.33
16- Mtn. West---------BYU-------------16------53.83
17- PAC TEN---------Oregon St.------17------45.08
18- Mtn. West---------Utah--------------18------59.42
19- Big XII----South-Texas Tech------19-------49.08
20- Big East-----------Cincinnati--------20-------61.83
21- Big East-----------Pittsburgh--------21-------57.45
22- Big Ten------------Wisconsin-------22-------80.73
23- ACC -----Coastal-Miami (FL)-----23-------52.33
24- SEC-------West----LSU-------------24-------49.42
25- Big East------------W. Virginia----25--------63.45



The current bowl seeding polls amount to popularity contests. Too many times schools from dense population areas with a lot of inherent media attention receive preferential treatment in the polls. This is just as true as ever in the media driven preseason polls this year. These early polls are simply eye catchers that the pollsters claim are based upon last season’s performance. But if you think about it, many of the highly rated teams in last year’s poll got there on the same problem I’m attempting to point out here, their 2009 Strength of Schedule left a lot to be desired then too.

Take a hard look at the poll up above and you’ll notice the consensus number one college football team this year (Alabama is first in the AP and USA Today polls) comes in fourth in the collegefootballpoll.com poll. This is a direct function of Alabama’s SOS rating being considered here. With an SOS of 40.08 it will be very difficult for Alabama to go undefeated. If they wade through the season and come out on the other side with just one loss, do you think the Crimson Tide would be deserving of a berth in the National Championship Game as the SEC Champion? Sure, it depends on who they lose to and when and where, but given the strength of their competition I believe a one loss Alabama should receive much greater consideration to play for the National Title than a team like Ohio State that most likely will go undefeated with their weak schedule and especially when you consider that eight of the Buckeye’s 12 game schedule will be played in the friendly confines of the Buckeye's home Horseshoe…

Based on the Strength of Schedule, the following Top 25 schools should have no problem staying at the top of the polls as the 2010 FBS season progresses:

-School-----Rank------SOS
Wisconsin---22--------80.73
TCU ---------3--------73.75
Oregon ------10--------70.83
Boise State----1--------64.58
Iowa---------15--------64.33
Ohio State-----6--------63.64
W. Virginia---25--------63.45
Nebraska------9---------63.42
Cincinnati----20---------61.83
Arkansas ---- 14---------60.75

Remember these teams at the end of the season…

Do you think any of them will deserve to be in the National Championship if they go undefeated given the quality of their opponents? I know, I know, it’s not their fault. Far too many times I’ve heard all the arguments why these college football “Powerhouses” shouldn’t be judged based upon their opponent’s strength. Then in the same breath I hear the defenders of the faith point out that teams like TCU and Boise State don’t deserve consideration for the very same reason. “They haven’t played anyone! Why do they deserve to be in a BCS Bowl?” It goes round and round. My answer to the problem? Take non-conference scheduling out of the hands of each school’s athletic administrators. Put the power to schedule non-conference games within the NCAA’s realm of decision making. An equitable scheduling system exclusively among the 120 Division I schools and I’m thinking all the arguments about Strength of Schedule or the lack of it would disappear. The so-called powerhouses might have to face each other at the beginning of the year rather than politicking to make it so at the end…

Finally, here’s how the various conferences stack up on their average Strength of Schedules:

--Conference --------- SOS
1 - Big XII-------------56.63
2 - SEC ---------------56.99
3 - PAC TEN ---------58.11
4 - ACC --------------60.19
5 - Mountain West ----63.97
6 - Big East -----------64.68
7 - Big Ten ------------67.68
8 - INDEPENDENTS-71.25
9 - CONUSA ---------71.92
10 - WAC ------------75.68
11 - MAC-------------81.88
12 - Sun Belt----------84.32

What's up with the Big Ten? Oh, yeah, I forgot... This is how they do business. I'm sure either Ohio State or Penn State will be undefeated. You can count on hearing how great they are late in the season and how much they deserve to be in the National Championship game... They certainly know how to work the system!

Resources:

http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/current_congrove_rankings.html
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/misc/tsn-div-1aa-poll.htm