#72 OU
#75 Toledo
#79 Buffalo
#83 CMU
#87 NIU
#91 EMU
#93 Temple
#96 Akron
#101 BGSU
#105 Miami University
#106 WMU
#111 Kent
#113 Ball State
Attaching the word "tough" to any of these is worth a chuckle. Not one even close to being at the ass end of the top half.
axeme Wrote:Attaching the word "tough" to any of these is worth a chuckle. Not one even close to being at the ass end of the top half.
OU's and Toledo's are considered by Steele's to be right up with Va.Tech's,Notre Dame's,Clemson's and ahead of mid-major powers Fresno State's,TCU's, Boise State's.
Those wouldn't be "tough" by any measure either, would they? Tough schedules would be those in the top 40/120.
Also, having a tough schedule is not necessarily a good thing. Teams need to schedule to give them an optimal chance to have their best seasons.
Having schedules in the 70's+ out of 120 teams is probably best considering the quality of MAC football these days.
Spot on call there, axeme.
Having the "toughest" schedule in the MAC and having it come in at 72 in Division I-A is like being the world's tallest midget.
It's statistical weighting. When you play 2/3 of your games against your conference brethren what do you expect?
Actually for the MAC,this is an improvement.The Conference is as strong from top to bottom as I can remember.Alot of top players in the MAC are Jrs and Srs.For Toledo,particularly it is a big jump and expect next year UT's will be in the 60's with Ohio State,@Purdue,and Boise State on the Rocket OOC schedule.
'05
#25 Temple
#77 Ball State
#87 OU
#95 Buffalo
#102 BG
#103 WMU
#104 CMU
#105 EMU
#106 Akron
#107 Miami U
#108 NIU
#112 Kent
#117 Toledo
'06
#55 Temple
#86 EMU
#94 CMU
#95 WMU
#96 Buffalo
#99 Ball State
#102 Toledo
#104 Miami U
#105 Akron
#107 BG
#110 OU
#111 Kent
#115 NIU
'07
#82 EMU
#87 Ball State
#90 NIU
#91 CMU
#94 WMU
#95 Buffalo
#98 Akron
#105 Temple
#109 Kent
#113 Miami U
#114 BG
#115 Toledo
#118 OU
Boca Rocket Wrote:Actually for the MAC,this is an improvement.The Conference is as strong from top to bottom as I can remember.Alot of top players in the MAC are Jrs and Srs.For Toledo,particularly it is a big jump and expect next year UT's will be in the 60's with Ohio State,@Purdue,and Boise State on the Rocket OOC schedule.
'05
#25 Temple
#77 Ball State
#87 OU
#95 Buffalo
#102 BG
#103 WMU
#104 CMU
#105 EMU
#106 Akron
#107 Miami U
#108 NIU
#112 Kent
#117 Toledo
'06
#55 Temple
#86 EMU
#94 CMU
#95 WMU
#96 Buffalo
#99 Ball State
#102 Toledo
#104 Miami U
#105 Akron
#107 BG
#110 OU
#111 Kent
#115 NIU
'07
#82 EMU
#87 Ball State
#90 NIU
#91 CMU
#94 WMU
#95 Buffalo
#98 Akron
#105 Temple
#109 Kent
#113 Miami U
#114 BG
#115 Toledo
#118 OU
These must be preseason numbers. Just looking at the 07 rankings, I doubt EMU would have the toughest schedule, given that U of M was probably the toughest opponent they played (correct me if I'm wrong) and we all know how their season went. Also CMU played both Kansas and Clemson who both were better than anticipated. I could be wrong on my assumption though...
Our schedules are never going to be ranked very high, simply because 70% of our games are played against each other. So even if you schedule the top 4 for OOC you still have the MAC bottom dwellers that drag you down. Not that any team from the MAC has been a national powerhouse lately, but the teams from the top half of the conference don't kill you, but the bottom half is brutal because they're usually ranked in the 100's nationally, usually not far from dead last in the country.
WMU had the 6th toughest non BCS schedule last year. I'm sure their OOC schedule had to be Top 5 including BCS. (They had the 2 top teams going into the final week WVU and Mizzou, plus they knocked off a bowl eligible Iowa).
conrock Wrote:WMU had the 6th toughest non BCS schedule last year. I'm sure their OOC schedule had to be Top 5 including BCS. (They had the 2 top teams going into the final week WVU and Mizzou, plus they knocked off a bowl eligible Iowa).
Another reason I'm thinking these are just past season's preseason rankings.
like basketball this is a reflection of conference games rather than true scheduling. mac teams play some of the toughtest non-conf schedules in the country. lots of road games, including road games against the michigans, ohio states, and big programs. leagues like the sec and big10 often have moderate non-conf schedules with lots of home games but play a much tougher conf sched.
What would be more interesting would be a list of all the FBS non-conference-only strength of schedules. You would see a bit of a reversal since the non-BCS teams typically play three road games and one home game, against tougher opponents.
To get a realistic complete picture, the non con has to be included. I'm sure there are several teams stretching themselves this year, NIU is near the top of that list with 2 bowl teams (TN & Navy) plus a Big10 team(MN). Huskies already have Purdue and Wisconsin lined up for 09. Taking into account the non con would boost NIU up a few spots.
Money and budgets have a lot to do with the schedule you play. Ohio is playing at Northwestern instead of in Athens do to budget issues. 3 road games non-conference plus playing CMU and WMU as crossovers makes it a tough schedule. Reality is that MAC school have a make choices with schedules. With 8 MAC games, those are they games that will decide if Ohio will deserve a bowl. You better win 6 conference games if you want to go to a bowl in the MAC. 7-5 6-2 MAC would put the team in the hunt for a bowl. If you can do atleast that than you can feel good about your season in the MAC. The non-conference games are more about revenues for the athletic department. The bonus is TV exposure and perhaps better recruiting in the future. Ohio is seeing the benefits of the extra TV exposure from the first two years under Solich. The recruiting class got good reviews. That will take a couple years to translate on the field. Just 5 home games for Ohio, but they had their chance last year with 6 home games and wasted it with poor play vs Wyoming and Kent State.
eich41 Wrote:These must be preseason numbers. Just looking at the 07 rankings, I doubt EMU would have the toughest schedule, given that U of M was probably the toughest opponent they played (correct me if I'm wrong) and we all know how their season went.
With the exception of Howard, EMU played an all BCS NC schedule with UM, Vandy, Pitt, and NW.
A better measue would be the toughest non-conference schedules. This would put all 120 schools on a even playing field.