Who has the toughest SOS for 2014

[BamaTee1]

Alabama:

West Virginia
Florida(use to be?)
Texas A&M
@LSU
Auburn

 

[HizzleRocker]

Notre Dame has

Michigan
Stanford
@Florida State
@Arizona State
Louisville
@USC

Winner.

I do think Texas has a likely top 10 SOS. In the first 6 weeks we get BYU, UCLA, Baylor, and Oklahoma.

 

[HizzleRocker]

On 2nd thought - I think it has to be the aggies:

Lamar
Rice
SMU
La Monroe

 

[ericd7633]

Winner.

I do think Texas has a likely top 10 SOS. In the first 6 weeks we get BYU, UCLA, Baylor, and Oklahoma.

I'd still go Utah

They also play:

@Michigan
@Stanford
@Arizona State
USC

And:

Oregon
@UCLA
Fresno State

 

[asu_08]

Utah has WSU, @UCLA, Oregon State, USC, @ASU, Oregon, @Stanford, and Arizona all in a row. Other than Stanford those are all of their losses from last year, not to mention they go to Michigan the week before that. That's a brutal stretch.

USC through Stanford has to be the toughest 4 game stretch in the country.

 

[4down20]

safe to say NO ONE from the SEC...

Not safe to say at all, in fact I'd say a SEC team is the odds on favorite to take it.

 

[NDHoosier101]

Not safe to say at all, in fact I'd say a SEC team is the odds on favorite to take it.

You gonna share?

 

[WhiteMamba]

Right now, I would say UCLA might have the toughest schedule next year:

Texas (at JerryWorld)
@ ASU
Oregon
USC
Stanford

Comparing Oregon's schedule to UCLA's

Oregon has MSU that is tougher than Texas OOC. Oregon 1

Both have Stanford.... push

Zona, ASU, USC, UW are all an equal and both have a combo of these. Push.

Then they play each other in UCLA. Many would say push unless Oregon is the tougher team in the opinion of the evaluator.

The PAC schedules of Oregon and UCLA are a dead push. And Oregon has MSU while UCLA has Texas.

Give edge to Oregon.

 

[WhiteMamba]

I'd still go Utah

They also play:

@Michigan
@Stanford
@Arizona State
USC

And:

Oregon
@UCLA
Fresno State

This all hinges on the perception of the teams we are looking at. Of course those games look tough when you consider whose schedule they are on.

Put those teams on Oregon, UCLA, or Stanford it doesn't appear as tough.

 

[Texas Jefe]

Looks to me, someone has been planning for the new championship series/committee....SOS, need every vote to get into playoffs...new out of conference scheduling would get tougher (some needed to strengthen more than others) but looks like some are going strong straight out of the gate.

 

[Texas Jefe]

On 2nd thought - I think it has to be the aggies:

Lamar
Rice
SMU
La Monroe

Looks to me, someone has been planning for the new championship series/committee....SOS, need every vote to get into playoffs...new out of conference scheduling would get tougher (some needed to strengthen more than others) but looks like some are going strong straight out of the gate.

well, there is an exception to everything

 

[4down20]

Nobody has been planning for anything. The big games are scheduled years in advance, long before the playoff series came about.

Nor is SoS going to really matter in the face of undefeated teams.

 

[Texas Jefe]

you are correct, for the most part, on the scheduling. Most games are scheduled 5-10 years in advance.

I did read that some schools started looking to strengthen their OOC schedules several years ago, but don't know for a fact why, or that it did have anything to do with the new playoffs.

However, I do think SOS will have some impact on the playoffs, whether they say it does or not. I think it may be a deciding factor on two similar teams, same records, similar power conferences, close in rankings?

 

[Texas Jefe]

Undefeated teams? of course not, as they will most likely be 1 and 2. What about 3,4,5,6? All with one loss? Thinking their rankings at the end, are going to be reflective of a number of factors (some llsted above) and if one team's SOS is markedly stronger than the other, cant tell me it wont have an effect on rank and playoff selection?

 

[4down20]

you are correct, for the most part, on the scheduling. Most games are scheduled 5-10 years in advance.

I did read that some schools started looking to strengthen their OOC schedules several years ago, but don't know for a fact why, or that it did have anything to do with the new playoffs.

However, I do think SOS will have some impact on the playoffs, whether they say it does or not. I think it may be a deciding factor on two similar teams, same records, similar power conferences, close in rankings?

Yeah if all else is equal with records and such, then SoS will be a deciding factor.

 

[asu_08]

Comparing Oregon's schedule to UCLA's

Oregon has MSU that is tougher than Texas OOC. Oregon 1

Both have Stanford.... push

Zona, ASU, USC, UW are all an equal and both have a combo of these. Push.

Then they play each other in UCLA. Many would say push unless Oregon is the tougher team in the opinion of the evaluator.

The PAC schedules of Oregon and UCLA are a dead push. And Oregon has MSU while UCLA has Texas.

Give edge to Oregon.

UCLA plays all four of those teams and Oregon only plays UW and UA.

 

[Gator]

Both over all and OOC?


Thoughts

Well as long as we are just screwing around, I looked up a few Preseason polls (Athlon, CBS, ESPN and Bleacher reports). I averaged the rankings using # 26 any and all for teams that appeared in one poll but not all.

Here is the "average" Top 25.
1 - Florida State
2 - Alabama
3 - Auburn
4 - Oregon
5 - Stanford
6 - Ohio State
7 - Michigan State
8 - UCLA
9 - Oklahoma
10 - Baylor
11 - LSU
12 - Georgia
13 - South Carolina
14 - USC
15 - Wisconsin
16 - Clemson
17 - Missouri
18 - Texas A&M
19 - Arizona State
20 - Ole Miss
21 - Notre Dame
22 - Washington
23 - Oklahoma State
24 - North Carolina Tar Heels
25 - UCF

So using the "schedules" folks have already posted here's what we have.
Oregon Schedule
Stanford - 5
Michigan State - 7
UCLA - 8
Washington - 22

Texas Schedule
UCLA - 8
OU - 9
Baylor - 10
Ok St - 23
BYU - NR

FSU Schedule
Clemson - 16
ND - 21
Ok St - 23
Louisville - 25+
Miami - 25+
UF - 25+

UCLA Schedule
Oregon - 4
Stanford - 5
USC - 14
Arizona St - 19
Texas - 25+

ND Schedule
Florida State - 1
Stanford - 5
USC - 14
Arizona State - 19
Louisville - 25+
Michigan - 25+


Alabama Schedule
Auburn - 3
LSU - 11
Texas A&M - 18
Miss - 20
Florida - 25+
West Virginia - NR

Utah Schedule
Oregon - 4
Stanford - 5
UCLA - 8
USC - 14
Arizona State - 19
Michigan - 25+
Fresno State - NR

and since I can't resist:
UF Schedule
at Florida State - 1
at Alabama - 2
LSU - 11
Georgia(Jax) - 12
South Carolina - 13
Missouri - 17

Before the screaming begins, here is the rest of UF's schedule
at Vanderbilt
at Tennessee
Kentucky
Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Michigan
Idaho

 

[potzer25]

Well as long as we are just screwing around, I looked up a few Preseason polls (Athlon, CBS, ESPN and Bleacher reports). I averaged the rankings using # 26 any and all for teams that appeared in one poll but not all.

Here is the "average" Top 25.
1 - Florida State
2 - Alabama
3 - Auburn
4 - Oregon
5 - Stanford
6 - Ohio State
7 - Michigan State
8 - UCLA
9 - Oklahoma
10 - Baylor
11 - LSU
12 - Georgia
13 - South Carolina
14 - USC
15 - Wisconsin
16 - Clemson
17 - Missouri
18 - Texas A&M
19 - Arizona State
20 - Ole Miss
21 - Notre Dame
22 - Washington
23 - Oklahoma State
24 - North Carolina Tar Heels
25 - UCF

Alabama Schedule
Auburn - 3
LSU - 11
Texas A&M - 18
Miss - 20
Florida - 25+
West Virginia - NR

Why do you have "schedules" in quotes?

Auburn's SOS will be higher than Alabama's

@ bama - 2
LSU - 11
@ UGA - 12
USCe - 13
TAMU - 18
Miss - 20
@ Kansas ST - NR
@ Miss St - NR
Arkansas - NR

 

[Gator]

Why do you have "schedules" in quotes?

Auburn's SOS will be higher than Alabama's

@ bama - 2
LSU - 11
@ UGA - 12
USCe - 13
TAMU - 18
Miss - 20
@ Kansas ST - NR
@ Miss St - NR
Arkansas - NR

I put it in quotes because I didn't look any of the schedules up myself (except UF's) but I just trusted people to give a) the correct opponents and b) to give all of the opponents that might be on the "average" ranking list not just some of them.

 

[Gator]

Auburn's SOS will be higher than Alabama's

@ bama - 2
LSU - 11
@ UGA - 12
USCe - 13
TAMU - 18
Miss - 20
@ Kansas ST - NR
@ Miss St - NR
Arkansas - NR

This is sort of what I meant in my previous response. There could be many really tough schedules out there but I wasn't going to look them up myself. I just went with what was posted by others.