There is so much buzz and hype about the Southeast
Conference-better known as the SEC-you would think there are no other
NCAA football conferences that can compare.
Even Jeff Sagarin in
his Sagarin Ratings lists the SEC as the top conference with a central
mean (that is Sagarin math talk) of 79.89 with the Pacific 10-better
known as the Pac 10-second at 79.19. On a scale of 100 the difference
is 70/100ths of 1, or close enough to not make a difference in my mind.
Ranked
11th among Division 1A conferences is Conference USA at 58.88. Three
1AA conferences are then rated above the last 1A conference-the Sun
Belt-at 58.26.
Sagarin rates all of the 242 individual 1A and 1AA teams and then combines them among conferences to arrive at these figures.
I read other factors into his mathematical formula for deciding which conference is the toughest (best) conference.
Knowing
that the SEC is legion for scheduling Division 1AA teams in its
non-conference schedule, I suspect that the SEC's strength of schedule
(the quality of its opponents) may not be as strong. Turns out that I
am right.
The "tough" SEC played exactly 10 Division 1AA
opponents this season, more than any other conference in the country.
By comparison, the Big 12 played 10, the ACC and Big Ten played 7
games, the Big East 6, and the Pac 10 only 2.
When I add up the
strength of schedule for the 12 SEC teams I get an average of 30
compared to an average strength of schedule of 14 for the Pac 10. Who
plays the tougher schedule between the top two dogs? It is easily the
Pac 10.
If you are wondering, the team that has played the
toughest schedule during the first 12 weeks of the 2007 college
football season is the Washington Huskies, and that is why they are
ranked No. 1 among the 242 Division 1A and 1AA schools.
For the
record, Nebraska is No. 2, Stanford No. 3, California No. 4 and
Colorado No. 5, so 3 of Top 5 teams in strength of schedule are from
the Pac 10.
Please, do not give me this garbage about the SEC playing the toughest schedule. The facts and statistics say otherwise.
Another
interesting fact of note is this: Since the NCAA established the
Division 1A and 1AA separation in 1978, only 5 Division 1A schools have
not played a Division 1AA school: Washington, Southern California,
UCLA, Michigan State and Notre Dame. Again 3 of the 5 teams come from
the Pac 10.
The SEC already has 7 of its 12 teams with 7 or more
wins and bowl eligible by NCCA standards, and now you know one of the
reasons why.
It is the same reason why Hawaii is unbeaten at
10-0, having defeated two 1AA schools in fattening up its impressive
win record while racking up the 153rd toughest schedule against the
other 119 Division 1A schools.
Sometimes a 1AA school can beat a
1A school (like Appalachian State beating Michigan at home 34-32), not
because they are necessarily better but because the 1A school did not
take them seriously.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
Ed
Bagley's Blog Publishes Original Articles with Analysis and Commentary
on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews, Lessons in Life, Jobs and
Careers, and Internet Marketing. My intention is to inform, educate,
delight and motivate you the reader.
Read my articles on "How to
Predict When Teams Are Overrated and Due for an Unexpected Loss", "The
Sagarin Ratings: What They Are, How to Read Them and What to Do With
Them" and my 14 consecutive weekly wrap-up articles on the 2007 College
Football Season.
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