With all the talk of "style points" and strength of schedule being bandied about this week, and with the bowl season about to be unleashed, there no doubt will be more talk about the relative strengths of the BCS conferences. Before the bowl matchups between leagues get started, here are some basics
- Overall BCS Opponents
Conference W-L W-L
Big 12 38-10 79% 7-8 47%
ACC 37-11 77% 15-8 65%
SEC 37-11 77% 6-9 40%
Big 10 32-12 73% 6-7 46%
Big East 28-12 70% 9-7 56%
Pac 10 14-17 45% 6-8 43%
Yes, the Pac 10 did suck this year. The two BCS conferences who are the most maligned year-in, year-out ( the Big East and the ACC) actually schedule BCS bretheren more often than other BCS leagues, and they are the only leauges to have winning records against BCS opponents.
- % Home Games
Conference
Big 12 35/48 73%
ACC 35/48 73%
SEC 34/48 71%
Big 10 34/44 77%
Big East 24/40 60%
Pac 10 19/31 61%
The teams in the BCS leagues like to play at home, and they like to mix in some pastry selections along with a few meaty match ups.
-
% vs BCS %vs 1-AA
-
Conferences
Big 12 15/48 31% 10/48 21%
ACC 23/48 48% 14/48 29%
SEC 15/48 31% 11/48 23%
Big 10 13/44 30% 10/44 23%
Big East 16/40 40% 7/40 17%
Pac 10 14/31 45% 2/31 07%
Conference Notes
Big 12
* The league went 0-4 against the ACC and 2-3 against the Big East.
* The Big 12 South was 20-4 in non-league action, and 5-3 against BCS squads. The top three South teams went 4-0 against BCS opponents, with Cincinnati the best of the bunch.
* The Big 12 North was 18-6 in non-league action, and 2-5 against other BCS teams.
* One Big 12 team didn't play a single BCS non-conference opponent, and played two D 1-AA (or FCS if you prefer) opponents. Gee, I wonder who that was?
The Pirate looted two 1-AA teams and a couple of lousy D-1 teams (SMU & Nevada) for his non-conference slate this season.
ACC
* The league went 15-8 against BCS foes, going 4-0 against the Big 12, beating Nebraska, Colorado, A&M and Baylor.
* The ACC went 2-1 against regional rival SEC teams in the final week. Georgia Tech beat Georgia, Clemson beat South Carolina, while Florida ripped Florida State.
SEC
*The top two teams (Florida and Alabama) went 3-0 against other BCS programs, which means the rest of the vaunted league went 3-9 against the other power leagues.
*The ACC went 6-4 against the SEC, with the swing game being a Duke win over Vanderbilt.
Big 10
*As bad as the Pac 10 was the Big 10 was just as putrid. The Big 10+1 went 1-3 vs. the Pac 10, which should stop any more arguments over Penn State getting the shaft in the polls.
* Well, that and the fact that Toledo (3-9) beat Michigan at the Big House and Wisconsin needed overtime to beat 1-AA Cal Poly, also at home.
Big East
* The league went 9-7 against other BCS foes this year, thanks in part to catching several programs when they were down. Big East teams had wins over Auburn, Colorado and Virginia all of whom failed to reach expectations.
*Of course, their worst team -- Syracuse -- did beat Notre Dame in South Bend, so they have that going for them.
Pac 10
* This league is the BCS equivalent of the classic blind date with a "great personality." They try hard to make up for a lack of natural assets. The Pac 10 played nearly half (43%) of their non-conference games against fellow BCS opponents. They also ignored the pastry shelf of nearby 1-AA opponents. Only 2 (7%) FCS teams were on Pac 10 schedules in 2008.
Finally, a list of the teams that avoided playing any other BCS team in non-conference play.
Texas Tech
LSU
Arizona
Minnesota
Indiana
Wisconsin