This is the third installment of my little series on grading the out of conference (OOC) schedules of BCS conferences.  I have already done the ACC, Big East, Pac-10, Big 12 and the Big 10 (+1).  I want to make clear the criteria I am taking into consideration because I know how touchy SEC fans can get.   I take into account the talent level of the team.  This means I would be more critical of LSU’s OOC than I would Vanderbilt’s.  Then, I look for any team from another BCS conference on the OOC schedule.  Next, I look at the talent level of the OOC opponent based mostly on how they performed last year and expect to perform this year.  Lastly, I will try not to take into account the status of the program when the team was scheduled.  Example: This year Nebraska will not count much more than Iowa State or Baylor on a team’s OOC schedule.  It is a crappy BCS team.  Conversely, if South Florida is on the schedule, I will give that some credit due to the recent success there.  Got it?

The Southeastern Conference has been considered by many the most competitive conference from top to bottom for a number of years now.  That’s fine, but do they attempt to play anyone outside of the SEC.  Let’s take a look at the OOC (out of conference) schedule for the teams in the SEC.

Georgia – Georgia Southern, Central Michigan, Arizona State, Georgia Tech.  This is one of the toughest, if not the toughest, OOC schedules I have seen so far.  50% from BCS conferences and the reigning conference champion from the MAC.  As it was correctly pointed out to me in a previous post, Central Michigan has one of the best QB’s in the country in Dan LeFevour.  You could make the argument that Georgia Tech is every bit as good as Florida State.  I know that GT is on the schedule every year, but that shouldn’t count against Georgia.  Arizona State has proven that they are a force to be reckoned with.  Georgia seems to have done a tremendous job in timing a great OOC schedule and an awesome returning team.  Where’s Trev Alberts when you need him.  Wherever he is, I am sure he has Georgia penciled in as the next National Champion.  Grade: A

Florida – Hawaii, Miami, Citadel, Florida State.  This is another nice job of OOC scheduling in the SEC.  The Citadel is the only game that the Gators should be able to relax and sleepwalk through.  Hawaii will put up a fight, but does not have the depth to threaten anything past the second quarter.  As for Miami and Florida State, these are two teams that are just waiting to explode with all the talent they have.  50% of the OOC is from BCS conferences and 25% is the reigning WAC conference champion.  This is the way a top-tier team should schedule year-in and year-out.  Kudos to the boys in Gainesville for showing they are not yellow-bellies.  They should try to get South Florida and Florida Atlantic on the OOC schedule along with Miami and Florida State for the ultimate Battle Royale for the Sunshine State.  Grade: A

Vanderbilt – Miami (OH), Rice, Duke, Wake Forest.  This is a nice schedule for Vanderbilt.  If this were the schedule for just about any other team in the SEC, then I would be much more critical.  What I like is that they have a legitimate test in WF.  They have a strong tune-up game with Miami(OH) (Vandy may not even be favored in that one.)  What I like most about the Commodores’ OOC schedule is that all the opponents are Div-1A.  If any team in the SEC would be forgiven for scheduling a non-Div-1A team, it would have been Vandy.  Duke and Rice are not good teams, but they are at least Div-1.  Good  job.  Grade: B+

Mississippi State – Louisiana Tech, Southeastern Louisiana, Georgia Tech, Middle Tennessee State.  Here is an example of aggressive but cautious scheduling from a BCS team that is appropriate.  They have a huge test on the schedule with the Yellow-Jackets.  LA Tech and Middle Tennessee St are middle-of-the-road teams from the WAC and Sun Belt respectively.  MTS gave Louisville all they could handle last year, and LA Tech almost beat Hawaii.  Sure there is a stinker in SE Louisiana, but for the Bulldogs of Mississippi State this is a pretty good schedule.  Grade: B- (would have been much higher if SE Louisiana was not scheduled)

Auburn – Louisiana-Monroe, Southern Mississippi, West Virginia, Tennessee-Martin.  Auburn has done a good job of mixing up the competition in their OOC scheduling.  WVU is a huge test.  Auburn will be able to tell where they are for the season in the game with the Mountaineers.  That game garners much props.  Southern Miss is a good tune-up game.  The Tigers should win, but Southern-Miss will challenge them throughout the game.  Louisiana-Monroe is a middle-of-the-road team from the Sun Belt.  This should have been the patsy of the schedule for Auburn.  Unfortunately, Tennessee-Martin was scheduled.  A team like Auburn should not be playing teams like Tennessee-Martin.  It just shouldn’t be happening.  Sorry.  Grade: C+ (this would have been much higher if it were all Div-1 competition)

Mississippi – Memphis, Wake Forest, Samford, Louisiana-Monroe.  This schedule is almost a carbon-copy, save for the top-game, of the Arkansas OOC schedule.  Memphis is a decent team from CUSA.  Memphis competed well in its conference and should give Ole Miss a run for its money.  Wake Forest will be a test for the Rebels.  Mississippi will certainly be underdogs in that one.  Louisiana-Monroe is on the schedule for many SEC teams, but this is the best chance for the Warhawks to get a win in the SEC.  I have them graded higher than Arkansas because Mississippi is not of the same caliber as Arkansas.  Grade: C+

Arkansas – Western Kentucky, Louisiana-Monroe, Texas, Tulsa.  I am probably giving too much credit to Texas being on the schedule, but Texas should be better this year than last.  Tulsa is the reigning Conference USA Champion.  The Golden Tornados (I know it is the Golden Hurricanes, but that just doesn’t make any sense to me at all) will give a good fight for 2-3 quarters.  Western Kentucky and Louisiana-Monroe will not to be confused with good teams for some time to come, but at least they are Div-1A. Arkansas did well in getting Texas and even Tulsa, but they could have tried harder to upgrade one of the lesser two teams a little.  It would have been nice to see two BCS conference teams.  Grade: C

South Carolina – North Carolina State, Wofford, UAB, Clemson.  This is not really as good as it may initially look.  Wofford should not be on the schedule at all.  If South Carolina wants to be considered on of the better teams in the SEC, then they should not be playing teams like Wofford.  UAB has one of the worst teams in Div-1A football.  I will give some credit for scheduling NC State and Clemson.  NC State is at least from a BCS conference.  I know that Clemson is the in-state rival, but that should not be counted against SC.  Clemson is still on the OOC schedule.  Grade: C-

Tennessee – UCLA, UAB, Northern Illinois, Wyoming.  This is not a good schedule if you want to challenge your team.  UAB is a bad team from CUSA.  Northern Illinois is a bad team from the MAC.  Wyoming is a pretty bad team from MWC.  UCLA is the only bright spot on this schedule, and I have serious doubts if UCLA will be any good at all this year.  The only good thing I can say about this OOC schedule is that they are all Div-1A teams.  Is it the Vols’ fault that UCLA stinks now?  No, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Bruins do stink and this game should be nothing more than an over-hyped tune-up.  I do like the Vols, but this should be embarrassing to them.  Shame.  Grade: D

Kentucky – Louisville, Norfolk State, Middle Tennessee State, Western Kentucky.  I know that Kentucky has been bad a football for a long time, but that is no excuse for this kind of schedule.  Louisville is the lone redeeming factor for this debacle of an OOC schedule, and it really isn’t all that redeeming.  Middle Tennessee State will end up being the second best game on the schedule.  This is coming from an SEC team!  Not good at all.  Grade: D-

Alabama – Clemson, Tulane, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State.  Clemson is the biggest test OOC?  Alabama’s not even trying.  Sure, Clemson is good, but there is a huge difference between Clemson and Tulane.  There should be a team in there closer to Clemson’s talent level.  Tulane should towards the bottom of the talent Alabama should be seeing in the OOC schedule not towards the top.  For the Tide, playing teams like Western Kentucky and Arkansas State should be embarrassing.  This is shameful.  Grade: F

LSU – Appalachian State, Troy, North Texas, Tulane.  This schedule stinks up the place.  This ranks right up there with Texas Tech’s OOC schedule.  The difference is LSU has been good for years and years.  Where is the test here?  For LSU, there is no test or even a real tune-up game.  This is absolutely the worst in the SEC.  Alabama has the excuse that they have not been as good as they want to be.  LSU has been at the top of the SEC for years.  The two national championships in the past few years warrants taking the OOC schedule up a couple notches.  Troy is probably the toughest team on this schedule.  TROY!  Come on LSU!  Let’s get with the program.  Grade: F-

Last week I had posted a list of questions I wanted answered.  Some were answered for sure, and others just led to more questions.  Here’s the list:

Question: Mississippi State/Auburn – How freekin’ bad is Auburn?  I know lisa4usc thinks the South Florida Bulls are that good, but I have my doubts.  How good is K-State?  Auburn should have lost that one.  Are the Bulldogs as bad as many thought after LSU beat them like a Mississippi omelet?   (Mississippi Omelet ingredients:  3 eggs, cheese, bacon, grits, white peppered sausage gravy, and topped with onions.  In order to get the most out of the flavor of the gravy, the omelet should be served on top of 2 biscuits.)

Answer:  Auburn is really bad.  I think this has been evident since the bowl game last year.  This week has just confirmed what we had all suspected.  Auburn = SEC bottom feeder. (this year)  K-State may be able to make a little noise in the weak Big 12 North.  KSU is on the road for Texas, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska, but they have Mizzou in Manhattan.  Mizzou had better not look past KSU this year.  Maybe Mississippi State has some promise if they can stay away from teams with a defense.

Question:  Iowa/Iowa St – I know, I know, why bother, right?  Well I will tell you why.  This may be the only game the Cyclones win this year.  Is Iowa the better team?  Yes.  Does Iowa St. stand a chance?  No.  But, I have lived in the plains long enough to know that Ames gets up for this one every year.  No matter how bad the ‘Clones are, they are ready to play the Hawkeyes.  Wait, there is supposed to be a question here.  Can the Cyclones pull off the upset at home against the in-state rival?

Answer:  Why ask why?  I don’t think you can really gauge how bad Iowa is going to be based on this game.  I have seen the Hawkeyes lose this game and go on to good seasons.  No matter how many times I see it, it always amazes me.  How the lowly Cyclones can put a hurtin’ on a superior team.  This may be the only one the Cyclones win this year.  Well, actually they do play Baylor this year.

Question:  Ohio/Virginia Tech – Ok.  I am really reaching on this one, but please hear me out.  VT coming off what could be described only as a butt-whoopin’ on a national stage gets to respond in one of two ways.  1.  They completely decimate Frank Solich’s team.  They run out of ambulances and body bags.  The telephone lines are all busy due to all of the calls that need to be made to alert the next of kin.  Riots begin to flow onto the streets.  The citizens of Blacksburg become possessed with an anger that could only be described in the holiest of holy books.  People are getting torn limb from limb, buildings are crashing to the ground, dogs are training people to fight, bedlam just doesn’t describe the carnage that ensues.  Or 2. Ohio gives the Hokies all they can handle.  I know what you are thinking…There is no way #2 could ever happen.  Well, I am here to tell you that this VT game is circled on the Ohio schedule.  It may be circled to remind everyone to have an updated living will, or it may be circled to indicate the biggest game of the year for the Bobcats. 

Answer:  Much to the chagrin to news outlets everywhere, neither of my scenarios came to fruition.  The Hokies came out and played like a top 40 team (35-40).  They did not fold it in, nor did they respond they way we had all hoped (except Ohio fans.)  Ohio is again, not a good team that may play well in the MAC, but who cares anyway.  VT is a team that will not live up to the expectations.  I am wondering when they will surrender their ranking to a more deserving team. 

Question: Florida/Tennessee – How overrated is Florida?  Can Tennessee play defense?  Can Tennessee be successful in the swamp?  This could either be one for the ages, or over by the end of the first quarter.  Probably Florida in a rout, but it may be fun to watch anyway.

Answer:  Not at all overrated.  Tennessee is in dire need of some help.  I like Fulmer, but I can understand the rumbling going on.  I don’t think you can put him in the same category as Lloyd, but I do understand.  Don’t worry Phil, I’m rooting for ya.  Florida is 2 legit….2 legit 2 quit!  It is great to be a Florida Gator these days for sure.

Question: Louisville/Kentucky – Can the Cardinal defense stop a real Div. 1 offense?  How much is the side bet for Kentucky hanging another half-a-hundred up on someone?  Can Louisville get to 70 again?  If you like mass amounts of touchdowns, and a complete total disregard for playing defense, this may be your game. (next to the New Mexico State/Hawaii showdown)

Answer:  Without a doubt, one of the best games of the weekend.  You kinda had to see it coming.  Louisville and the porous defensive outing against Middle Tennessee was not a fluke.  The feel good Cats got a real good win!

Question: Arkansas/Alabama – Can Saban come up with a big win in his first big game at Alabama?  Can the overachieving Razorbacks keep that momentum going from last year?  What will bend?  What will break? 

Answer:  Saban certainly came up big at the right time during this one.  Say what you will about him, he definitely has good timing.  What a year to take over the Crimson Tide.  Here is some advice to the AD at Alabama, wait a while before you come to him with a contract extension.

Question: Boston College/Georgia Tech - Can BC knock off the Yellow Jackets? Who will be the team to beat in the ACC.  Is GT as good as they seemed to be playing Notre Dame?  This will be a great test for the ACC elite.  Who would have thought that we would be saying BC and GT are the elite of the ACC over the likes of Miami and Florida State?

Answer:  Don’t look now, but BC has put together a good team up there.  As good as GT looked in earlier games, BC looked even better against GT.  I believe the best team in the ACC has been recognized.  Miami and Florida State may have something to say about it, but on the field will be a completely different conversation.

Question:  USC/Nebraska – This game will put to rest many questions people have been asking.  Is USC deserving of the #1 spot on the polls?  Is Nebraska back to national prominence?  How good is USC’s offense?   Can Sam Keller shake off the rust from sitting out a year enough to lead the Cornhuskers to victory?  Is Pete Carroll, in fact, a man-god?  Has Callahan sold his soul to the devil?  This, like the FL/TN match-up, could be one for the ages, or it  could be a real stinker.  Whatever the case, it would seem that there is going to be a huge audience for this one.

Answer:  Oh me oh my oh!  Or how my good friend Borat would say “Oh wow whoa wee whoa!”  If there was any hub-bub about jumping LSU over USC, we can just forget that for now.  LSU and USC are close enough in talent and coaching that they can be the 1 and 2 without controversy, for now.  I believe that if these two teams met on a neutral field, the handicappers would make it a pick-em.  If they didn’t, it would just be pandering to the different regions in the country.  Oklahoma and Florida may have something to say about that, but it is the nature of the beast that they are on the outside looking in.