I see an argument being addressed on which conference is the strongest and that the National Championship Game should help answer this question. The article, written by Jeff Svoboda of Scout.com, appears in today’s NCAA FB section on the Fox Sports web site, takes both sides of the question.

I personally don’t see the relevance of this in the least. Whether LSU or OSU wins that game doesn’t prove a thing concerning whether the Big Ten or the Southeastern Conference is stronger. The only accurate way to answer that question is to look at each conference’s members, how they each fared against the competition they each played, and finally (since everything boils down to the polls) how they are ranked according to the pollsters.

Given these criteria, here is how each team fared:

Big Ten…………………………………………Rankings

School………….Record……….SOS……Fox…..AP……BCS

Illinois……………9-3………...36.83…….12……13……..15

Indiana……………7-5………..72.75…….51……--.….…..--

Iowa………………6-6………..69.33….…65……--…..…..--

Michigan………….8-4………..54.25….…20……30……...--

Michigan State……7-5………..46.17….…31……--…..…..--

Minnesota………..1-11………..90.75….…97……--…..….-->

Northwestern……..6-6…………72.33……50……--…..….--

Ohio State……….11-1…………33.08…….2……..1….…..1

Penn State…………8-4…………51.50..…22……35…..…--

Purdue……………..7-5…………64.42…..52……--……...--

Wisconsin…………9-3………….51.58…..17……18…....18

Total……………..79-53

Average………7.18-4.82………..58.45….38.19

Non Con. Opponents…………….96.99

The Big Ten has five teams in the AP Top 35 and three in the BCS Top 25

SEC……………………………………………….Rankings

School………….Record……….SOS……Fox…..AP……BCS

Alabama….………6-6………...61.50…….43……--………--

Arkansas….………8-4………..60.83……18……25.……...--

Auburn……………8-4………..54.17……14……22……...23

Florida…………….9-3………..40.75……..7……..9…..…12

Georgia…………..10-2………..39.83…….6……..4…….…5

Kentucky..………...7-5………..53.67……30……33…..….-->

Louisiana State.….11-2………..20.23…….5……..2…..…..2

Mississippi………..3-9………..71.58……75…….--…...….--<
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Mississippi State….7-5.………..48.08……29……--..…..…--

South Carolina…....6-6…………57.25……47……--……...--

Tennessee…………9-4………..32.92……10……16……..16

Vanderbilt…………5-7……….69.17……55….….--……..--

Total…….………..87-57

Average…………7.25-4.75..….50.83….28.25

Non Con. Opponents…………..89.10

The SEC has seven teams in the AP Top 35 and five in the BCS Top 25

There should be no question concerning which is the stronger conference.

And the days dwindle down to a precious few…

Two undefeated teams passed into the never land of lost dreams last week. The match-ups for the three remaining teams with unblemished records (Ohio State vs. Illinois, Kansas @ Oklahoma State, and Hawaii vs. Fresno State) should not present problems and I expect to see the same teams sitting on their perch next week. If this continues, the BCS process will once again fall under intense scrutiny, and I believe rightfully so. It is not an accurate measure.

As stated before, these rankings are based upon the USA Today/Coaches NCAA Preseason Top 50 football team rankings and are determined by taking each of these teams’ opponents rankings from the weekly AP top 25 Poll and the Fox Sports 119 ranking. So, if your team played X, Y, and Z and each was ranked as follows when each played your team: 45, 21, and 55, your Strength of Schedule (SOS) rating after three games would be (45+21+55) / 3 = 40.33. The lower the number, the tougher the schedule played.

The weighted H/A feature explained:

Since the lower number results in the higher ranking, the following system has been used-

Home win against Division 1A opponent – 0 points (There is no reward for this)

Home win against lower division opponent – 1 (These are not being rewarded, they actually result in a small penalty)

Home loss against Division 1A opponent – 2 (Home losses result in a large penalty)

Home loss against lower division opponent – 3 (Home losses against lower division = big penalty)

Road win against Division 1A opponent- -2 (Good reward)

Road win against lower division opponent- 0 points (There is no reward for this)

Road loss against Division 1A opponent- 0 points (There is no penalty for this)

Road win against lower division opponent- 1 (No glory in this. Small penalty)

These results are then multiplied by 3 across the board and totaled. Once the original SOS is determined, the home and away total is added in.

Example- 2007 Ohio State

Wk.__Date__Opponent_______Result____H/A Result

2 Sat., Sep 1 Youngstown State W 38-6 _____1

3 Sat., Sep 8 Akron__________W 20-2 _____0

4 Sat., Sep 15 @Washington__ W 33-14____-2

5 Sat., Sep 22 Northwestern___W 58-7_____ 0

6 Sat., Sep 29 @Minnesota____W 30-7____ -2

7 Sat., Oct 6 @Purdue________W 23-7 ____-2

8 Sat., Oct 13 Kent State______W 48-3 ____ 0

9 Sat., Oct 20 Michigan State__W 24-17____0

10 Sat., Oct 27 @Penn State___W 37-17___-2

11 Sat. Nov. 3 Wisconsin_____W 38-17____0

Total multiplied by three_______________-21.00

Added to normal SOS rating___________ +57.09

New Ohio State SOS H/A rating_________36.09

This process was carried out across all 120 Division 1A teams.

Here is the weekly SOS Top 25, once again, I’m now basing this on the BCS Top 25, rearranged using each team’s Strength of Schedule, H/A, and win / loss record:

1___Ohio State _______36.09__10___0

2___Kansas _________ 62.20___9___0

3___Hawaii _________ 92.56 __ 8___0

4___Oregon__________23.89___8___1

5___ LSU ___________27.50___8___1

6___West Virginia ____37.44___7___1

7___Arizona State_____41.20___8___1

8___Oklahoma _______42.40___8___1

9___Missouri ________46.70___8___1

10__Boston College ___49.60___8___1

11__Connecticut ______54.90___8___1

12__Boise State_______75.60___8___1

13__USC____________35.80___7___2

14__Virginia ________ 44.64___8___2

15__Virginia Tech_____48.10___7___2

16__Georgia_________ 49.50___7___2

17__Clemson ________50.90___7___2

18__Michigan________52.27___8___2

19__Texas___________53.27___7___2

20__Tennessee _______34.40___6___3

21__Florida__________44.40___6___3

22__Alabama ________54.10___6___3

23__Auburn _________54.91___7___3

24__Penn State_______58.55___7___3

25__Kentucky _______59.90___6___3

Ohio State's got a new playmate... What do you think?

The Top 25 BCS teams ranked strictly on SOS and H/A:

SOS__BCS

1_____3_____Oregon______23.89__7___1

2_____2__ ___LSU _______27.67__7___1

3____24___Tennessee _____34.40__ 6___3

4____ 17 ____ USC _______35.80__ 7___2

5_____1__ Ohio State______36.09__10___0

6_____7__ West Virginia___40.11___7___1

7_____9__Arizona State____41.20___8___1

8_____5__Oklahoma_______42.40___8___1

9____15____Florida_______44.40___6___3

10___19___Virginia_______44.64___8___2

11____6___Missouri ______46.70___8___1

12___11__Virginia Tech ___48.10___7___2

13___10___Georgia_______49.50___7___2

14____8__Boston College__49.60___8___1

15___21___Clemson______50.90___7___2

16___12___Michigan _____52.27___8___2

17___14____Texas _______53.27___7___2

18___22___Alabama______54.10___6___3

19___13__Connecticut_____54.90___8___1

20___18____Auburn ______54.91___7___3

21___23___Penn State_____58.55___7___3

22___25___Kentucky______59.90___6___3

23____4____Kansas_______62.20___9___0

24___20__Boise State______75.60___8___1

25___16___ Hawaii _______92.56___8___0

For the third week running, an Oregon – LSU match-up is indicated.

And to the best mascot go the spoils!

Pay attention to the difference here between the BCS rankings and the adjusted SOS ratings. It's called FUBAR when you look at the undefeated teams! Ohio State is the only school with a half decent SOS rating with the home and away system added in. Without that system, the Buckeyes slip clear down to 12th on SOS alone. Kansas and Hawaii remain firmly planted in the 23rd and 25th positions on SOS alone.

FUBAR? You be the judge.