Easiest: Alabama, Oregon, Texas A&M, Ohio State and Louisville Hardest: Stanford, LSU, Fla, Georgia, Clemson BCS Contenders They don't have a B12 contender, say there are good teams but they can't identify one that they are sure will make a run. Don't have ND as a contender, but said that if they were the schedule would fit in the hardest category.
While I dont' think A&M has a murder's row type schedule, if you want to say MNC contenders with "easy" schedules, then I don't think you can include the Aggies. Mainly because even if you allow that a one loss team can make it... we still have to play two MNC contenders from our DIVISION. You might get away losing one, but can't lose both. Run the table on the rest and you are still a spectator. Louisville should be # 1 on that list... they should be emarrassed if they don't blow out every team they play.
I am always amused by these types of predictions and subject matter for college football. Granted Ohio State does not have a difficult schedule outside the Big Ten. Fans in local polls are 48% certain the Buckeyes will go undefeated. Personally I think our chances of going undefeated two years in a row is a bit of wishful thinking.
It's funny, Stanford has a tough home opener against San Jose St. but Alabama gets no credit for a neutral site opener against Va. Tech. LSU has it bad when they play Ole Miss but it's a no brainer for Alabama and A&M. When A&M and Alabama have to play LSU (every year!) it is hohum, but when Florida and Georgia have to play them it is big factor in their schedule difficulty. :?:
Florida plays LSU every year.....and it's the Gator's west opponent....that's the diff btw LSU adding to UF's schedule toughness and being same ol for Bama. Bama misses Ga and SC but UF plays those guys annually as well but that's a given for UF as they are east opponents. Ohio State's problem is the pressure of going 26-0 and I don't think the Buckeyes can afford to be a one-loss team vying for a spot over a 13-0 Louisville or one-loss SEC or PAC 12 team.
I am unbiased either way toward the SEC. I have said consistently for the past several years that the SEC is the toughest football conference in the country. I haven't seen anything to change my mind. I find it difficult to understand how an upper level SEC team like AL or TA&M could be judged to have an easy schedule simply based on the intra-conference competition. I feel the same about OSU, regardless of the so-called ease of its non-conference schedule.
The problem with looking at just the winning percentage of the teams you play against is that when you are winning like Alabama is now and Florida did during the 90's is that you contributed a lot to the losing percentage of the teams you play. During much of that time there were two permanent opponents from the other division, ours were LSU and Auburn, hardly two patsies. Now it is one permanent opponent and ours is LSU. The other side of the coin of course is we play Kentucky and Vandy every year and haven't lost to either team during that period. That doesn't help of course when you reach the championship game. As to Alabama's schedule, their permanent opponent is Tennessee. During the 90's they were one of the elite teams in the country. Now they are struggling. Of course and annual loss to Alabama doesn't help their record.
Good points Bill, the Gator did play the top 6 SEC teams a little more than the other top 6 did, but it was the bottom part of the schedule that pulled the overall strength down.
No doubt Terry, and our close to 50 straight wins combined against Vandy and Kentucky certainly contributed to their low percentage. I think a far better measure is the strength of the opponents you play from the other division but even that has to be tempered. Right now Alabama and Georgia have benefited in recent years from playing Tennessee and Auburn who are going through bad times. But that won't last. Overall I think the West is the stronger division, however Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and now S. Carolina can play with those West teams. We will see how Missouri makes out. I suspect they are going to be more of a factor in basketball than football.