The difference is, when SEC teams make it to the playoff or to the BCS title game, they don’t get embarrassed in front of millions of fans – well, LSU got embarrassed in 2012, but by Alabama. The Tigers had dominated pretty much everyone else that year, including Oregon and West Virginia. Meanwhile, Ohio State squeaks into the playoff and gets murdered by Clemson. Point being, a #2 SEC team is usually going to be competitive with the #1 team from any other conference.
Things have changed only in terms of conference realignment. Nebraska joined the Big10 in 2011, and Rutgers and Maryland joined in 2014. The Big10 now has 14 teams divided into 7-team divisions (East and West).
Here are my playoff predictions:
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- LSU
OK, I’m not quite that casual, ,I gueuss. That stuff I know all about, and I remember when the Big 12 exploded, and there was talk of Texas possibly coming to the Big Ten, and the perennial talk of Norte Dame, and all that kind of stuff.
Anyhow, I’m looking back at the schedule, and it does look like once in every four or five years there is an out-of-conference game mid-season. I guess there were none when I was in school, but since then, it happened every once in a while. Playing in-conference this early seems a lot rarer. I see back in 2001, NU played MSU the third game of the season, but that’s the only game I could find going back to 1990 where an in-conference game was played within the first 3 games of the season.
In the case of Nebraska vs Bethune-Cookman, this was a late addition to the schedule after a Nebraska’s opener vs Akron was cancelled for weather.
Ah, okay. That makes some sense now. Seemed a bit out-of-place to me.
Yeah that would normally have been their Bye week.
Kept Nubb from even losing to Bye.
I did not see that one coming…LSU/Mississippi State (still not Ole Miss) ought to be a good one this week. Bama got banged up playing Missouri, but should be able to coast this week with Tennessee.
There is still time for things to go to hell, but for 48 minutes Purdue has been a much better team than Ohio. 
Aannnnd down goes ‘THE Ohio State University’.
LSU takes Miss. State in another crippling blow to offensive football. But, an ugly win still counts.
Oregon further exposed.
Penn State won but Indiana helped.
Kentucky limped by Vandy. That’s what their games are going to look like.
The rest of the top 25 games played to form. Good shutout for Iowa - dark horse for the Big Ten.
Damn Utah. :mad:
most out of conference games are in Sept. But the SEC usually has a weekend in Nov. where the SEC teams play some crap team and win 70-3. And also non conference games vs. rivals are often in Nov. such as Florida - FSU or Georgia - GT.
Purdue looked like a national championship team last night. Their running backs are speedy and have a low center of gravity, making them hard to bring down if people don’t line up correctly. It looked like the Buckeyes were just blown away by Purdue’s speed on offense. And as Herb pointed out, they’re one-dimensional on offense, which is unusual for an Ohio State team.
LSU belly punched another opponent, but Alabama’s going to be a different challenge. I think LSU’s defense can slow Bama down, but the question is whether they can score enough points to keep up. I think the Tigers make it interesting but Bama pulls away late. The Tide are fortunate that they’ll have time to recover physically in preparation for the Iron Bowl. Bama will win but LSU always makes them pay a physical price, and vice versa of course.
Staying healthy is the key for Bama right now. LSU, Mississippi State (again, still not Ole Miss), Citadel, and Auburn. All three SEC games will be physical, smash mouth games. I don’t think any of those teams can score enough to beat Bama, as long as Tua can play.
Somebody beat Notre Dame, please. Hate that team, don’t want them in the playoffs…
My Noles will shock the world! Calling it right now.
Speaking of shocking the world, Nebraska won their first game, beating Minnesota 53-28! It was a lot of fun watching Scott Frost in the press conference, he looks like a happy little kid.
All I can say is I’m SOOO glad Frost’s first win won’t be I-AA Bethune Cookman.
I’m sure Alabama is happy Nebraska had a slow start and won’t have to face us in the playoffs. 
Biggest blowout of a Power 5 team by an Independent?
It’s possible, but I just don’t see it. Not because FSU is terrible or ND is that great, but ND is a better team, and they’re playing at home. More importantly, though, FSU has a tough few weeks between now and then. By comparison, ND has a lighter schedule. I don’t think FSU backs down but I don’t think ND overlooks the Noles.
As I predicted, this happened. Nebraska will still have a bad year, but they’re going to be competitive and their focus will be on impressing recruits.