# I'm ready for College Football. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 14, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938 "2009-07-14T03:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/61 "2009-08-19T20:33:34Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Uh, you don’t watch much football do you. I’m specifically thinking about UGA playing ASU in Tempe last season, and the fact that they open vs. OSU in Stillwater this year. The SEC/ACC has three state rivalries so that is three big games each year. UGA/GT, UF/FSU, USC/Clemson. There is also another instate rivalry game between UK/Louisville. Nearly all the In-state rivalry games are conference games for the PAC-10, Big XII and Big 10. the only exception I can think of is Iowa/Iowa St. But my point is the SEC has conference rivalries plus it has 4 in-state out of conference rivalry games. Nearly every week, the SEC has a big game that will impact the National Rankings. the Big XII came close late last year with the TTU, UT, OSU, OU battling it out in the South Division. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/62 "2009-08-19T20:44:06Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > ```auto > > BIG 12 ACC BIG EAST MWC BIG 10 PAC-10 WAC > 2-1 6-6 1-1 0-2 1-1 1-1 1-1 > > ``` > > If you eliminate the CUSA and 1-AA, etc., SEC looks pretty average. I like how you cut out the part that showed that, in fact, the SEC had the best out-of-conference record. That was … clever … of you. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/63 "2009-08-19T20:53:31Z")
> [@furt](#): > > I like how you cut out the part that showed that, in fact, the SEC had the best out-of-conference record. That was … clever … of you. I can see cutting out 1-AA (though losses should be noted - I’m looking at you Michigan…), but why would someone cut out C-USA? You might as well cut out Big Sky, Sun Belt, Big East (yeah, I said it) and the MAC. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/64 "2009-08-19T21:12:10Z")
**ROLL TIDE** I’m _dying_ to watch some college football. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/65 "2009-08-19T22:09:12Z")
> [@furt](#): > > I like how you cut out the part that showed that, in fact, the SEC had the best out-of-conference record. That was … clever … of you. Not sure if you are joking or not, but that was the point of my post. Do you consider games against those conferences to be quality opponents? I don’t, whether it’s your team playing or my team playing. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/66 "2009-08-19T23:55:54Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Not sure if you are joking or not, but that was the point of my post. Do you consider games against those conferences to be quality opponents? I don’t, whether it’s your team playing or my team playing. FTR…Every conference plays cupcakes and creme puffs. Anyone can cherry picks stats to support whatever conference they think is the toughest. For instance, the PAC-10 had an incredible bowl season last year. But if you take away the post season, the PAC-10 had an overall losing record against non-conference teams. As an ACC alumnus, it kills me to admit that the SEC is the toughest conference. UTenn, UGA, Aub, Bama, LSU, and UF have all had a legit chance for a national Championship in the last 10-12 years. This year, Ole Miss might be the 7th team to make a run. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/67 "2009-08-20T03:19:49Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > FTR…Every conference plays cupcakes and creme puffs. > > Anyone can cherry picks stats to support whatever conference they think is the toughest. I just think that including the games from the weaker conferences skews the analysis. I think a realistic analysis is comparing just the big 6 inter-conference games, so I did that with the cfbdatawarehouse and here are the results: ```auto Conf Wins Losses % ACC 648 614 .51 B10 1090 726 .60 B12 617 685 .47 BE 546 827 .40 P10 522 571 .48 SEC 1496 1269 .54 ``` This includes all games back to the beginning of man so that’s a bit of a problem also. I think it would be nice to see this kind of analysis from the last 30 years. By the way, B10 is the only conference to have a winning percentage against all of the other big 6 conferences (my team is in the P10 so don’t think I’m trying to pump my own conference here). ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/68 "2009-08-20T11:51:17Z")
I did some checking of the schedules on ESPN’s site and subject to any errors in counting I may have made or any errors on the ESPN site, I added up the number of games each conference plays against non-FBS teams. The best conference for not scheduling non-FBS teams was the Pac 10. In order by non-FBS games per team, here are my figures: Pacific 10: 4 games, 0.40 per team Sun Belt: 4 games, 0.44 per team Big Ten: 7 games, 0.64 per team Big Twelve: 8 games, 0.67 per team Mountain West: 6 games, 0.67 per team Mid American: 9 games, 0.69 per team Conference USA: 9 games, 0.75 per team Western: 7 games, 0.78 per team Southeast: 10 games, 0.83 per team Big East: 9 games, 1.13 per team Atlantic Coast: 14 games, 1.17 per team It really seems to me that there shouldn’t be any of these games. The problem is everybody wants home non-conference games and there is no shortage of small schools willing to let themselves get beat up to get a paycheck. Clucking about national titles is great, but there is a basic disparity in who gets to play for the title. There is a caste system in college football. The Sun Belt, Mountain West, Mid American, Conference USA, and WAC are all FBS conferences in theory, but there isn’t a one of their teams that would get in the title game even at 12-0. For most of the ACC, Big 12, Big 10, and Pac 10, you can get in if you go 12-0 and there isn’t a privileged team with less than 2 losses. For some (Florida State, Miami (FL), Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Southern Cal, UCLA, Notre Dame, and most of the SEC 1 loss doesn’t automatically exclude you from the championship game. And for a very few (Alabama, Florida, and LSU plus maybe a couple more), you think you belong in the title game with two losses. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/69 "2009-08-20T14:34:03Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > I just think that including the games from the weaker conferences skews the analysis. I think a realistic analysis is comparing just the big 6 inter-conference games, so I did that with the cfbdatawarehouse and here are the results: > > ```auto > > Conf Wins Losses % > ACC 648 614 .51 > B10 1090 726 .60 > B12 617 685 .47 > BE 546 827 .40 > P10 522 571 .48 > SEC 1496 1269 .54 > > ``` > > This includes all games back to the beginning of man so that’s a bit of a problem also. I think it would be nice to see this kind of analysis from the last 30 years. > > By the way, B10 is the only conference to have a winning percentage against all of the other big 6 conferences (my team is in the P10 so don’t think I’m trying to pump my own conference here). Where did you get those stats? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/70 "2009-08-20T14:36:06Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Where did you get those stats? From the post you quoted: > [@](#): > > so I did that with the cfbdatawarehouse ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/71 "2009-08-20T15:00:25Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > The SEC/ACC has three state rivalries so that is three big games each year. UGA/GT, UF/FSU, USC/Clemson. There is also another instate rivalry game between UK/Louisville. > > Nearly all the In-state rivalry games are conference games for the PAC-10, Big XII and Big 10. the only exception I can think of is Iowa/Iowa St. > > But my point is the SEC has conference rivalries plus it has 4 in-state out of conference rivalry games. > > Nearly every week, the SEC has a big game that will impact the National Rankings. the Big XII came close late last year with the TTU, UT, OSU, OU battling it out in the South Division. I agree. On top of that, UF & UGA are locked into a neutral site game, which completely ties their hands when it came to scheduling an additional home-and-home series in an 11-game season. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/72 "2009-08-20T15:37:02Z")
to be fair: I thought of another annual in-state rivalry game amongst BCS schools. Notre Dame/Purdue. There are opportunities for an annual game between Ohio State/Cincinnati and Penn State/Pitt. Penn St is too busy playing non-con games against Temple, Syracuse, E. Illinois and Akron to be bothered. Ohio State likes to pick on in-state non BCS schools like Akron, Youngstown, Ohio U, Kent St and Toledo. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/73 "2009-08-20T17:23:16Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > to be fair: I thought of another annual in-state rivalry game amongst BCS schools. Notre Dame/Purdue. That’s not a rivalry game, and I don’t think either team would consider each other rivals. ND has two rivals - Michigan and USC. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/74 "2009-08-24T13:21:53Z")
Purdue and Notre Dame have played each other 80 times including every year since 1946. Notre Dame/Michigan have played each other only 36 times, every year since 1978. BTW, The AP Writers poll was released over the week. More of the same for the Forida Gators as they were nearly a unanimous pick for number 1, getting 58 out of 60 first place votes. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/75 "2009-08-24T13:51:16Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Ohio State likes to pick on in-state non BCS schools like Akron, Youngstown, Ohio U, Kent St and Toledo. Those schools aren’t too sorry to be “picked on” in their home fields; it’s a guaranteed sellout. Everybody in Akron wants a ticket to see Ohio State, and if it fills Infocision Stadium :rolleyes: the Zips will happily lose to the Buckeyes. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/76 "2009-08-24T14:09:35Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Those schools aren’t too sorry to be “picked on” in their home fields; it’s a guaranteed sellout. Everybody in Akron wants a ticket to see Ohio State, and if it fills Infocision Stadium :rolleyes: the Zips will happily lose to the Buckeyes. No doubt, it is all money. But it is so typical of premier schools. Most of them play 8 conference games and at least 3 cupcakes or cremepuffs. I was reading on another board about Florida State 1997 football schedule. They played 8 ACC conference games and three non conference games. The non-conference games were University of Southern California, University of Florida, and University of Miami (Florida). Maimi was a Big East school at the time. Their only losss was to UF and then went on to beat Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. Would a top tiered school ever schedule three non-conference games like that again? I don’t think It would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/77 "2009-08-24T16:08:18Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Purdue and Notre Dame have played each other 80 times including every year since 1946. > > Notre Dame/Michigan have played each other only 36 times, every year since 1978 Number of games against is meaningless. Notre Dame’s first collegiate game was in 1887, against Michigan. Every time they play, there’s something at stake. Both campuses are absolutely geared up when this game comes around. No one on Notre Dame’s campus could care less about the Purdue game (other than the players and coaches, who have to care). That’s not a rivalry - it’s just a nice little tradition. If number of games is the difference maker, why not mention Navy? ND’s played them 82 times. Why? Because that’s a tradition with no animosity between the teams, not a rivalry. (And oddy enough, ND has the exact same record against Purdue as they do against Michigan State - another non-rivalry, but strong tradition opponent.) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/78 "2009-08-24T16:23:36Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Notre Dame’s first collegiate game was in 1887, against Michigan. Every time they play, there’s something at stake. Lately, not so much. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/79 "2009-08-24T16:56:51Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Lately, not so much. 😉 I disagree. I find it absolutely fascinating to watch a game in which I want neither team to win. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938/80 "2009-08-24T17:09:47Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > I think it would be nice to see this kind of analysis from the last 30 years. How did you gather the data? Did you just cut and paste from the pages? If so, did you retain the raw data? If you did and you want to send it to me, I’ll be glad to strip it down to 30 years and run some numbers for you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-ready-for-college-football/502938.md?page=5)