College Football Strength of Schedule

Michael Francis - http://www.college-football-blog.org

I wanna say something. I'm gonna put it out there. If you like it, you can take it, if you don't, send it right back.

Alabama has the weakest schedule of any BCS conference school in 2009.

There, I said it, let's take a minute for the SEC fans to yell bloody murder… Done yet? How bout this one… this article could just as easily be about Ole Miss, who is basically pulling the same BS schedule as Alabama, and even threw in two FCS schools just for good measure. Stings a little, I know. Okay, now let's talk about it. How could regular season undefeated Alabama, who held the number one ranking for much of last season, and who plays in the all mighty SEC, have the weakest freakin schedule imaginable? Let me show you.

First, let's start with the non-conference. Put aside the SEC strength arguments for a minute and let's look at who else they play. First game of the year, BAM, Virginia Tech. My hat is off to them for scheduling this one. Both these teams will be ranked top ten or close to it preseason, so this is a great way to kick things off. Definitely no weakness there.

Next stop, Florida International. This team went 3-4 in the Sun Belt and 5-7 overall. Not what I would call a strong test, but it's legitimate to want a break after the first game bout with Virginia Tech.

After that? North Texas. There's a number of great teams hailing from Texas, but this sure ain't one of them. North Texas finished dead last in the Sun Belt, going 0-7, and finished the season 1-11, their only win coming over Western Kentucky, a two win team. I guess they need a long break after Virginia Tech…

After those two cupcakes, play turns to the SEC until the final non-conference epic against FCS opponent Chattanooga. Many teams schedule FCS opponents to round out their schedule, Alabama scheduled an FCS opponent with a 1-11 record last season. Pretty sure my alma mater, the MIT Beavers, would have a chance at winning that one. (Well, maybe not, sorry guys).

Okay, so although Alabama gets props for scheduling a great bout against Virginia Tech, the rest of their non-conference schedule is a joke. But who cares, right? Everyone schedules terrible non-conference schedules to boost their number of wins, and with the national exposure from the V Tech game, Alabama will be good with the voters, and no one will remember the rest. Besides, they play in the SEC, the regular season should be hard enough, yeah?

Well, we don't have to walk through each team, since most of us know who plays in the SEC, but let me tell you who Alabama is NOT playing this season. Florida. Georgia. Vanderbilt. That list should sound familiar, it's the top of the order for the SEC East rankings in 2008. Not sure how one winds up with those three off the playlist, but when you knock the top of the SEC off, the rest somehow doesn't look quite so impressive. Of the eight SEC opponents Alabama does take on, only three of them finished the regular season with winning records last year, and only ONE of them with a winning conference record. It's one thing to say you play in a tough conference, but you actually have to, you know, PLAY in it Alabama…

So, to recap. Alabama will play 12 games this year. 11 of those games will be against FBS teams. 9 will be against BCS conference opponents. 4 will be against teams that had a winning record at the end of last year's regular season. And 2 will be against teams that had a winning conference record last season.

So, like I said, I'm putting it out there. If you like it, fine, if not, too bad, it's still true.