(04-24-2014 04:00 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  My point was that ACC teams never get a shot at the bottom of the SEC, whereas SEC teams HAVE played NC State (vs Tenn.) and Wake (vs Vandy).

Tennessee was 1-7 in the SEC in 2012, the year they beat NC State.

Vanderbilt was never a top tier team in the SEC in any of the years that Wake played them. Most of those years the 'Dores finished in the bottom 3rd of the SEC.

Starting this year we get Kentucky every year.

What more do you want?

Here is that great Alabama OOC schedule the last 5 years:

2009 - A good VT team (10-3), Florida International, North Texas State, UT-Chattanooga
2010 - A fair Penn State team (7-6), San Jose State, Duke, Georgia State
2011 - A good Penn State (9-3) team, Kent State, North Texas State, Georgia Southern
2012 - A mediocre Michigan team (8-5), Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, Western Carolina
2013 - A mediocre VT team (8-5), Colorado State, Ga State, UT-Chattanooga

So this is the best program in college football the past half decade and not a single OOC game with another top 10 team their OOC games. That's scheduling light. When you are a top 10 program but you will not play a top 10 program and will not play a top 20 program unless it's at home, or a neutral site where you will have the home crowd advantage.

Let's compare that to the ACC's best program - FSU

2009 - Florida, BYU, Jacksonville State, South Florida
2010 - Florida, BYU, Oklahoma, Samford
2011 - Florida, Oklahoma, La Monroe, Charleston Southern
2012 - Florida, South Florida, Murray State, Savannah State (West Va refuses to play FSU)
2013 - Florida, Nevada, Bethune Cookman (West Va refuses to play FSU)

Not close at all is it?

Lets look at other ACC schools

Clemson

2009 - SC, TCU, Mid Tenn State, Coastal Carolina
2010 - SC, Auburn, Presbytrian, North Texas State
2011 - SC, Auburn, Wofford, Troy
2012 - SC, Auburn, Ball State, Furman
2013 - SC, Georgia, SC State, Citadel

Yep, the Clemson schedule is superior to Bama, as well.

Let's look at lowly NC State

2009 - SC, Pittsburgh, Murray State, Gardner-Webb
2010 - Cincinnati, South Florida, East Carolina, Western Carolina
2011 - Cincinnati, Liberty, South Alabama, Central Michigan
2012 - Tennessee, Connecticut, South Alabama, Citadel
2013 - La Tech, East Carolina, Richmond, Central Michigan

Now why is it that lowly NC State is supposed to schedule like Alabama? That would have meant what? 1. Trading SC for VT in 2009, Trading Cincy for Penn State in 2010, Trading Cincy for Penn State in 2011. Trading Tennessee for Michigan in 2012. Trading East Carolina for VT in 2013. Hmm, was Penn State better than Cincy in 09 and 10, I don't recall. Who was worse in 2012, Tennessee or Michigan?

(04-24-2014 12:44 PM)7thHeaven Wrote:  Realistically, I read how much more dominate the SEC is in football, even on our on board. But top to bottom is the SEC really that dominate? I think the ACC is just as good and getting better, I see the schools putting more focus and money into their programs. I think FSU winning the championship against the SEC champion was the tip of the iceberg and I think that the ACC is getting ready to spread its wings.

/noob

Let's also look at WF

2009 - Vandy, Baylor, Stanford, Elon
2010 - Vandy, Stanford, Presbyterian, Navy
2011 - Vandy, Stanford, Presbyterian, Navy
2012 - Vandy, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Gardner-Webb
2013 - Vandy, La Monroe, Army, Presbyterian

Yep WF scheduled way over for four of five years. Any SEC team scheduling games where they are the underdog in one to three of the games? Of course not.

Here's BC to finish the Atlantic:

2009 - Notre Dame, Northwestern, Kent State, Central Michigan
2010- Notre Dame, Weber State, Kent State, Syracuse
2011 - Notre Dame, Central Florida, U-Mass, Syracuse
2012- Notre Dame, Northwestern, Army, Maine
2013 - USC, Army, New Mexico State, Villanova

The SEC is better at football than the ACC and will always be better at football. It'd be like thinking the SEC would catch and surpass the ACC in basketball. Neither will, no matter how long each current membership tries. In football they best the ACC in: facilities, capacities, students, alumni, budgets, salaries, support personnel, tradition, recruiting, etc. It's just how it is.

With that said, SEC schools schedule wiser in the OOC than many ACC schools. Some of the mediocre ACC programs like to struggle to reach bowl-eligibility and schedule above their head in the OOC. Most of the mediocre SEC programs enjoy making bowl-eligibility as likely as possible. Different strategies. One is better than the other.

Let's look at the ACC Coastal. Everyone admits VT plays one or two good OOC game each year, so I'll skip them:

UNC

2009 - ECU, UConn, Ga Southern, Citadel
2010 - LSU, Rutgers, ECU, William & Mary
2011 - Louisville, Rutgers, ECU, JMU
2012 - Louisville, ECU, Idaho, Elon
2013 - South Carolina, ECU, Old Dominion, Middle Tennessee State

A little bet than NC State's schedule over the same period, but not by much.

UVA

2009 - TCU, Indiana, Southern Miss, William & Mary
2010 - USC, ECU, Richmond, VMI
2011 - Indiana, Southern Miss, William & Mary, Idaho
2012 - Penn State, TCU, Richmond, La Tech
2013 - Oregon, BYU, Ball State, VMI

In 4 of 5 years UVa has scheduled themselves as a big underdog in an OOC game - something you don't see in the SEC do you?

GT

2009 - UGa, Ole Miss, Vandy, Jacksonville State
2010 - UGA, Kansas, Middle Tennessee, SC State
2011 - UGA, Kansas, MTSU, Western Carolina
2012 - UGA, BYU, Presbyterian, Middle Tennessee
2013 - UGa, BYU, Elon, Alabama, A&M.

More robust than an Alabama OOC over the same period.

Miami

2009 - Oklahoma, South Florida, Citadel, Florida A&M
2010 - Ohio State, Pittsburgh, South Florida, Florida A&M
2011 - Ohio State, South Florida, Kansas State, Bethune Cookman
2012 - Notre Dame, Kansas State, South Florida, Bethune Cookman
2013 - Florida, South Florida, Florida Atlantic, Savannah State

Yep, another one better than Alabama

Duke

2009 - Kansas, Richmond, Army, NC Central
2010 - Alabama, Army, Navy, Elon
2011 - Stanford, Tulane, Richmond, FIU
2012 - Stanford, FIU, Memphis, NC Central
2013 - Memphis, Navy, Troy, NC Central

Duke scheduled as a huge underdog in 4 of 5 years.

Other than Wake and Vandy, there are only rare matchups of the bottom the ACC and SEC. We rarely see Ole Miss, MSU, Kentucky, Tennessee, or Arkansas when they are bad etc., against ACC teams at the bottom like UVa, NC State, BC, and Duke have been these last several years. What we see is an overmatched GT team attempting to find some crazy way to lose to UGa, and a Clemson team that recently can beat almost anyone but South Carolina, and FSU-Florida. At the top we see VT and Bama when VT is not really the top ACC program.

SEC schools on average have better football programs than the ACC, but they have better football programs on average than anyone in the nation. The SEC's top four - Bama, Auburn, LSU, and Florida are top 10 programs. SC and UGa are top 15 programs. Mizzou and TAMU can be competitive in any league. No one is as deep.

And as deep as the SEC is, most of them play a really weak OOC slate compared to their strength - they always have, they always will. The ACC plays the best OOC slate top to bottom in the nation, and have done so for a long time.

And in most of the ACC/SEC matchups the SEC will win on defense on the back of one, two, and sometimes three top DT's. When the ACC wins, it's almost always due to having the superior QB.

Something I discovered while researching Auburn's finances for the BCS Championship Game: in the SEC, bowl money is only divided equally among bowl participants. In other words, teams which are not bowl-eligible do NOT receive any share of the bowl money. That alone is strong motivation to schedule easy games - you need to bet to 6 wins to share in the loot. At first I liked this, but now that I think about the end result, I'm having 2nd thoughts.

Well, you can run the statistics.

Regular Season Out-of-Conference Opponents from the six BCS Conference (2010-2013)*
*opponents have membership in a BCS automatic qualifying conference at the time the game is played

Avg per year, total over four seasons: school, opponents (in chronological order)

SEC

2.00, 8: Vanderbilt - Northwestern, UConn, Wake Forest, UConn, Wake Forest, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Wake Forest
1.50, 6: Florida - South Florida, FSU, FSU, FSU, Miami, FSU
1.50, 6: Georgia - Colorado, Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Georgia Tech
1.50, 6: LSU - UNC, WVU, Oregon, WVU, Washington, TCU
1.50, 6: South Carolina - Clemson, Clemson, Clemson, UNC, Central Florida, Clemson
1.25, 5: Alabama - PSU, Duke, PSU, Michigan, Virginia Tech
1.25, 5: Missouri - Illinois, Arizona State, Arizona State, Syracuse, Indiana
1.00, 4: Arkansas - Texas A&M, Texas A&M, Rutgers, Rutgers
1.00, 4: Auburn - Clemson, Clemson, Clemson, Washington State
1.00, 4: Kentucky - Louisville, Louisville, Louisville, Louisville
1.00, 4: Tennessee - Oregon, Cincinnati, NC State, Oregon
0.75, 3: Texas A&M - Arkansas, Arkansas, SMU
0.50, 2: Ole Miss - Texas, Texas
0.25, 1: MSU - Oklahoma State

Total SEC: 64
1.14 ± 0.12 per year per team average

ACC
2.75, 11: Miami - Ohio State, Pitt, South Florida, Ohio State, Kansas State, South Florida, Kansas State, Notre Dame, South Florida, Florida, South Florida
2.25, 9: Syracuse - Washington, Wake Forest, USC, Northwestern, USC, Minnesota, Missouri, Penn State, Northwestern
2.00, 8: Clemson - Auburn, South Carolina, Auburn, South Carolina, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina
2.00, 8: Maryland - WVU, WVU, Notre Dame, Temple, UConn, WVU, UConn, WVU
2.00, 8: Pitt - Miami, Notre Dame, Iowa, Notre Dame, Utah, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame
2.00, 8: Wake Forest - Stanford, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt
1.75, 7: Boston College - Notre Dame, Syracuse, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Notre Dame, USC
1.75, 7: Florida State - Oklahoma, Florida, Oklahoma, Florida, South Florida, Florida, Florida
1.50, 6: Georgia Tech - Kansas, Georgia, Kansas, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia
1.50, 6: UNC - LSU, Rutgers, Rutgers, Louisville, Louisville, South Carolina
1.25, 5: Virginia - USC, Indiana, Penn State, TCU, Oregon
1.00, 4: Duke - Alabama, Stanford, Stanford, Memphis
1.00, 4: NC State - Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Tennessee, UConn
0.75, 3: Virginia Tech - Pitt, Cincinnati, Alabama

Total ACC: 94
1.68 ± 0.15 per year per team average

The membership of the ACC has played significantly more BCS teams than the SEC over the past 4 season (two-tailed t-test, P<0.01)

(04-24-2014 09:07 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote:  Well, you can run the statistics.

Regular Season Out-of-Conference Opponents from the six BCS Conference (2010-2013)*
*opponents have membership in a BCS automatic qualifying conference at the time the game is played

Avg per year, total over four seasons: school, opponents (in chronological order)

SEC

2.00, 8: Vanderbilt - Northwestern, UConn, Wake Forest, UConn, Wake Forest, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Wake Forest
1.50, 6: Florida - South Florida, FSU, FSU, FSU, Miami, FSU
1.50, 6: Georgia - Colorado, Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Georgia Tech
1.50, 6: LSU - UNC, WVU, Oregon, WVU, Washington, TCU
1.50, 6: South Carolina - Clemson, Clemson, Clemson, UNC, Central Florida, Clemson
1.25, 5: Alabama - PSU, Duke, PSU, Michigan, Virginia Tech
1.25, 5: Missouri - Illinois, Arizona State, Arizona State, Syracuse, Indiana
1.00, 4: Arkansas - Texas A&M, Texas A&M, Rutgers, Rutgers
1.00, 4: Auburn - Clemson, Clemson, Clemson, Washington State
1.00, 4: Kentucky - Louisville, Louisville, Louisville, Louisville
1.00, 4: Tennessee - Oregon, Cincinnati, NC State, Oregon
0.75, 3: Texas A&M - Arkansas, Arkansas, SMU
0.50, 2: Ole Miss - Texas, Texas
0.25, 1: MSU - Oklahoma State

Total SEC: 64
1.14 ± 0.12 per year per team average

ACC
2.75, 11: Miami - Ohio State, Pitt, South Florida, Ohio State, Kansas State, South Florida, Kansas State, Notre Dame, South Florida, Florida, South Florida
2.25, 9: Syracuse - Washington, Wake Forest, USC, Northwestern, USC, Minnesota, Missouri, Penn State, Northwestern
2.00, 8: Clemson - Auburn, South Carolina, Auburn, South Carolina, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina
2.00, 8: Maryland - WVU, WVU, Notre Dame, Temple, UConn, WVU, UConn, WVU
2.00, 8: Pitt - Miami, Notre Dame, Iowa, Notre Dame, Utah, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame
2.00, 8: Wake Forest - Stanford, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt
1.75, 7: Boston College - Notre Dame, Syracuse, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Notre Dame, USC
1.75, 7: Florida State - Oklahoma, Florida, Oklahoma, Florida, South Florida, Florida, Florida
1.50, 6: Georgia Tech - Kansas, Georgia, Kansas, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia
1.50, 6: UNC - LSU, Rutgers, Rutgers, Louisville, Louisville, South Carolina
1.25, 5: Virginia - USC, Indiana, Penn State, TCU, Oregon
1.00, 4: Duke - Alabama, Stanford, Stanford, Memphis
1.00, 4: NC State - Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Tennessee, UConn
0.75, 3: Virginia Tech - Pitt, Cincinnati, Alabama

Total ACC: 94
1.68 ± 0.15 per year per team average

The membership of the ACC has played significantly more BCS teams than the SEC over the past 4 season (two-tailed t-test, P<0.01)

By my count, you were slightly over generous to the SEC by counting SMU, which was not in the Big East when the game was played. Technically, UCF was in the AAC when they played South Carolina, and the AAC had vestigial AQ status for that final transitional year. But they were basically a CUSA team (albeit a good one) except for that one year.

I was surprised at the number of games the ACC played against Notre Dame. It's tricky calculating the number of BCS games the ACC played out of conference during this period, because a lot of them were between teams that are now both in the ACC. That's also true of some of the Notre Dame games.

But the main point is valid. The ACC did play a lot more P5 opponents than any other conferences. And half of the SEC's P5 opponents were ACC schools. The SEC's reputation has been earned by having their top teams win or compete for NC's and their middle and bottom teams beat up on cupcakes.

(04-24-2014 08:23 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  Something I discovered while researching Auburn's finances for the BCS Championship Game: in the SEC, bowl money is only divided equally among bowl participants. In other words, teams which are not bowl-eligible do NOT receive any share of the bowl money. That alone is strong motivation to schedule easy games - you need to bet to 6 wins to share in the loot. At first I liked this, but now that I think about the end result, I'm having 2nd thoughts.

If scheduling easier games for the mediocre/crap programs gets them better tv slots and the conference more airtime/recognition, and they make bowls more frequently, how is that bad?

Teams that make bowls, conference championship games, the BCS/playoff/national title games should make more than those that don't. Teams that make the sweet sixteen/final four should make more than teams that don't.

Should it be a $10M vs $5M swing? No, but should a team that didn't make the postseason make more than a team that won a national title simply because they didn't pay postseason travel/lodging expenses?

(04-24-2014 10:55 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-24-2014 09:07 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote:  Well, you can run the statistics.

Regular Season Out-of-Conference Opponents from the six BCS Conference (2010-2013)*
*opponents have membership in a BCS automatic qualifying conference at the time the game is played

Avg per year, total over four seasons: school, opponents (in chronological order)

SEC

2.00, 8: Vanderbilt - Northwestern, UConn, Wake Forest, UConn, Wake Forest, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Wake Forest
1.50, 6: Florida - South Florida, FSU, FSU, FSU, Miami, FSU
1.50, 6: Georgia - Colorado, Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Georgia Tech
1.50, 6: LSU - UNC, WVU, Oregon, WVU, Washington, TCU
1.50, 6: South Carolina - Clemson, Clemson, Clemson, UNC, Central Florida, Clemson
1.25, 5: Alabama - PSU, Duke, PSU, Michigan, Virginia Tech
1.25, 5: Missouri - Illinois, Arizona State, Arizona State, Syracuse, Indiana
1.00, 4: Arkansas - Texas A&M, Texas A&M, Rutgers, Rutgers
1.00, 4: Auburn - Clemson, Clemson, Clemson, Washington State
1.00, 4: Kentucky - Louisville, Louisville, Louisville, Louisville
1.00, 4: Tennessee - Oregon, Cincinnati, NC State, Oregon
0.75, 3: Texas A&M - Arkansas, Arkansas, SMU
0.50, 2: Ole Miss - Texas, Texas
0.25, 1: MSU - Oklahoma State

Total SEC: 64
1.14 ± 0.12 per year per team average

ACC
2.75, 11: Miami - Ohio State, Pitt, South Florida, Ohio State, Kansas State, South Florida, Kansas State, Notre Dame, South Florida, Florida, South Florida
2.25, 9: Syracuse - Washington, Wake Forest, USC, Northwestern, USC, Minnesota, Missouri, Penn State, Northwestern
2.00, 8: Clemson - Auburn, South Carolina, Auburn, South Carolina, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina
2.00, 8: Maryland - WVU, WVU, Notre Dame, Temple, UConn, WVU, UConn, WVU
2.00, 8: Pitt - Miami, Notre Dame, Iowa, Notre Dame, Utah, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame
2.00, 8: Wake Forest - Stanford, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt
1.75, 7: Boston College - Notre Dame, Syracuse, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Notre Dame, USC
1.75, 7: Florida State - Oklahoma, Florida, Oklahoma, Florida, South Florida, Florida, Florida
1.50, 6: Georgia Tech - Kansas, Georgia, Kansas, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia
1.50, 6: UNC - LSU, Rutgers, Rutgers, Louisville, Louisville, South Carolina
1.25, 5: Virginia - USC, Indiana, Penn State, TCU, Oregon
1.00, 4: Duke - Alabama, Stanford, Stanford, Memphis
1.00, 4: NC State - Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Tennessee, UConn
0.75, 3: Virginia Tech - Pitt, Cincinnati, Alabama

Total ACC: 94
1.68 ± 0.15 per year per team average

The membership of the ACC has played significantly more BCS teams than the SEC over the past 4 season (two-tailed t-test, P<0.01)

By my count, you were slightly over generous to the SEC by counting SMU, which was not in the Big East when the game was played. Technically, UCF was in the AAC when they played South Carolina, and the AAC had vestigial AQ status for that final transitional year. But they were basically a CUSA team (albeit a good one) except for that one year.

I was surprised at the number of games the ACC played against Notre Dame. It's tricky calculating the number of BCS games the ACC played out of conference during this period, because a lot of them were between teams that are now both in the ACC. That's also true of some of the Notre Dame games.

But the main point is valid. The ACC did play a lot more P5 opponents than any other conferences. And half of the SEC's P5 opponents were ACC schools. The SEC's reputation has been earned by having their top teams win or compete for NC's and their middle and bottom teams beat up on cupcakes.

Obviously, some American teams this past year were scheduled before it was known they were going to be a "BCS school" for their one season.

But SMU was in the American this year when they played aTm, so yeah I counted them. Same with South Carolina playing UCF. In the same vein, Maryland got Temple in 2012 and likely didn't expect them to be a "BCS" team and Virginia played TCU in 2012, their first year in the B12, although it was known they were to be joining a BCS conference, the Big East, in 2010, so that is slightly different, combined with the fact they will continue to be a power conference team. But in general, it probably evens out and it certainly doesn't change the conclusion.

BYU was left out of the ACC's stats. BYU should be included with ND in my opinion. That would add about 5 more the ACC and I think 2 to the SEC, iirc.

LSU and Tennessee are the only two SEC schools that schedule OOC games at their peer level or above. (The state mandated matches between UF/FSU, UGA/GT, UK/Louis, and SC/CU don't count as they are required by local politics).

Duke, Wake, Virginia, Clemson, FSU, Syracuse, Pitt, and BC are scheduling at and above their peer level. No one in the ACC schedules average OOC slates below their peer level as does Bama, Florida, TAMU, Ole Miss, MSU, Kentucky. Absent from VT's schedule is a made for TV game with top 10 Boise State in DC.

I think I see a correlation between stadium size and the number of chumps throughout the P5 but I'm not willing to compile all the number to test the hypothesis.

(04-25-2014 09:29 AM)lumberpack4 Wrote:  BYU was left out of the ACC's stats. BYU should be included with ND in my opinion. That would add about 5 more the ACC and I think 2 to the SEC, iirc.

LSU and Tennessee are the only two SEC schools that schedule OOC games at their peer level or above. (The state mandated matches between UF/FSU, UGA/GT, UK/Louis, and SC/CU don't count as they are required by local politics).

Duke, Wake, Virginia, Clemson, FSU, Syracuse, Pitt, and BC are scheduling at and above their peer level. No one in the ACC schedules average OOC slates below their peer level as does Bama, Florida, TAMU, Ole Miss, MSU, Kentucky. Absent from VT's schedule is a made for TV game with top 10 Boise State in DC.

I think I see a correlation between stadium size and the number of chumps throughout the P5 but I'm not willing to compile all the number to test the hypothesis.

To be fair, it's a lot easier for Wake and Duke to schedule above their peer level than it is for Alabama.

(04-25-2014 09:42 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-25-2014 09:29 AM)lumberpack4 Wrote:  BYU was left out of the ACC's stats. BYU should be included with ND in my opinion. That would add about 5 more the ACC and I think 2 to the SEC, iirc.

LSU and Tennessee are the only two SEC schools that schedule OOC games at their peer level or above. (The state mandated matches between UF/FSU, UGA/GT, UK/Louis, and SC/CU don't count as they are required by local politics).

Duke, Wake, Virginia, Clemson, FSU, Syracuse, Pitt, and BC are scheduling at and above their peer level. No one in the ACC schedules average OOC slates below their peer level as does Bama, Florida, TAMU, Ole Miss, MSU, Kentucky. Absent from VT's schedule is a made for TV game with top 10 Boise State in DC.

I think I see a correlation between stadium size and the number of chumps throughout the P5 but I'm not willing to compile all the number to test the hypothesis.

To be fair, it's a lot easier for Wake and Duke to schedule above their peer level than it is for Alabama.

Yes, but look who they did schedule - Alabama, Stanford, Notre Dame, etc. You don't see Vandy or Ole Miss doing this.

I'm not saying they don't have great teams, but other than LSU, Tennessee and sometimes Ga, they really don't take any risks during the regular season.

(04-25-2014 09:53 AM)lumberpack4 Wrote:  

(04-25-2014 09:42 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(04-25-2014 09:29 AM)lumberpack4 Wrote:  BYU was left out of the ACC's stats. BYU should be included with ND in my opinion. That would add about 5 more the ACC and I think 2 to the SEC, iirc.

LSU and Tennessee are the only two SEC schools that schedule OOC games at their peer level or above. (The state mandated matches between UF/FSU, UGA/GT, UK/Louis, and SC/CU don't count as they are required by local politics).

Duke, Wake, Virginia, Clemson, FSU, Syracuse, Pitt, and BC are scheduling at and above their peer level. No one in the ACC schedules average OOC slates below their peer level as does Bama, Florida, TAMU, Ole Miss, MSU, Kentucky. Absent from VT's schedule is a made for TV game with top 10 Boise State in DC.

I think I see a correlation between stadium size and the number of chumps throughout the P5 but I'm not willing to compile all the number to test the hypothesis.

To be fair, it's a lot easier for Wake and Duke to schedule above their peer level than it is for Alabama.

Yes, but look who they did schedule - Alabama, Stanford, Notre Dame, etc. You don't see Vandy or Ole Miss doing this.

I'm not saying they don't have great teams, but other than LSU, Tennessee and sometimes Ga, they really don't take any risks during the regular season.

First, my comment about Duke and Wake was meant as a joke.

I think we're double counting if we give Wake Forest props for scheduling up against Vandy, and then also criticize Vandy for scheduling down against Wake.

When you get right down to it, Vandy, Northwestern and Stanford are precisely the kind of peer institutions Duke and Wake should be playing. It's not Stanford's fault they got good recently.

Frankly, while I agree the ACC does play better OOC opponents, I'm not going to give them too much credit for it. Much of their scheduling is done for geographic and financial reasons, not because the ACC is more courageous in taking on the big boys.

Looking at details like this is amusing and entertaining. I do it myself a lot. But it's not all that enlightening. When you ask a question like "which conference is better" all you can possibly get for an answer is somebody's opinion. The reality is, if you asked the question of 100 knowledgeable fans, probably at least 90 of them would say the SEC, and it would be surprising if anybody said the ACC.

It's good that we schedule tough games. It will be better when we start winning our share of them. We aren't doing that yet.