Is this the year of the steer? All signs are pointed in that direction. The Big 12 North is, yet again, playing second fiddle to the mighty South division. If you would have told me that there were 3 undefeated teams in the Big 12 at this point in time before the season, I would have guessed OU, Mizzou, and Texas Tech. Man! What an #### I am.
Texas Tech has yet to be tested by a top-25 team. Sure, Nebraska took them to OT in Lubbock (Where I was in attendance), but Nebraska is lucky to be considered top-60. Unless something really changes for Tech on defense and special teams, the Red Raiders are will not be heading towards the Big 12 Championship game this year (or for some time to come).
Oklahoma State has been underachieving for years now. They have always played a decent out-of-conference schedule. They have one of the best receiving corps out there. These boys block like old school Nebraska receivers used to back in the day. There is no wonder why they are doing so well on the ground. I have seen it time and again. When a team can control the clock and can play better than average defense week in and week out, success seems easy.
Texas has awakened, and the boys are they ready to play. If the Longhorns can keep it together, then they will only be tested by the aforementioned teams. Tech can only beat Texas if the Red Raiders are able to play better on defense. Much better. I have my doubts that Tech will even beat KU.
I know it is early, but this Texas/Oklahoma State game is for supremacy in the Southern division. I like the way OSU matches up with the big bad Longhorns. The winner in this one becomes the one to beat. OSU could give life to the Sooners with a win.
I think it takes a special team to be able to play at their best every week while ranked #1. No one could do it for very long last year, and this year is proving no different. Does Texas have what it takes to block out all the distractions and not believe the hype? We will soon find out. How I just love this game.
(For WarBeagle a good football fan who happens to like Colorado)
Why are BCS teams still afraid to schedule decent OOC (out-of-conference games)? What is the deal here? I am of the oldskewl belief that, win or lose, playing good teams makes your team better. There is no reason for a good team in a BCS conference not to schedule two good opponents OOC. Period!
It is embarrassing to fans of good teams to watch their team pummel Western Kentucky, Southeastern Louisiana, and Buffalo (sorry Turner) in consecutive weeks. There was a strategy before the advent of the BSC, but now it is moot. Teams in a BCS conference will get an automatic bid to a BCS game if they win their conference. It is as easy as that. A two-loss LSU proved that to be true last year and rightfully so, they were in the National Championship game. However, there is a reason to schedule nothing but patsies if you are a Non-BCS conference team. Example: 2007 Hawaii. I’m not trying to pick on the Warriors. I understand that Hawaii has been efforting to schedule better teams as of late, but who can not say that Hawaii was exposed last year in the BCS game?
Here are my thoughts on the OOC scheduling for the Big 12 this year. I am looking at the strength of the scheduling team, FBS (Div-1A), and current success of the scheduled team. I am not factoring in past schedules. In case you missed my other grades here are the links: ACC, Big 10(+1), SEC, Pac-10, and Big East.
Colorado – Colorado State, Eastern Washington, West Virginia, Florida State. Colorado has managed to make their OOC schedule rather competitive. The rivalry game with Colorado State is always a tough game for Colorado. Eastern Michigan is a tune up game, and Eastern Washington is a patsy. West Virginia made minced-meat of the vaunted Oklahoma defense last year, but we must remember that Colorado also handed OU a loss last year. This year's WVU may not be quite as good as last year's with out R-Rod there. Florida State is loaded with talent and controversy. Grade: A
Baylor – Wake Forest, Northwestern State, Washington State, Connecticut. Baylor has a monster OOC schedule, but I think it may have been an accident. WF and UCONN are quality teams as of late, but PAC-10 Spoiler Washington State is not a patsy. Northwestern State is though. I am willing to overlook the Northwestern State game because it is Baylor we are talking about. Baylor will need to play better than they have in the past in order to get to conference play 1-3. Grade: A
Oklahoma – Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Washington, TCU. Chattanooga is a patsy and should not be on the schedule. Cincinnati has improved and they are coming off a stellar season, but for Oklahoma they should be no problem. Washington is a BCS conference team that may have a good game a few times a year, but they have not been consistently good since the early to mid 90’s. TCU is one of the most consistently good non-BCS conference teams out there. When I see TCU on an OOC schedule, I consider that a decent test for any team. The problem I have with this schedule is the Cattanooga game. You are OU. Schedule Div-1 teams. Grade: B-
Nebraska – Western Michigan, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Virginia Tech. Nebraska must subscribe to the philosophy that supports only scheduling one quality team OOC. Very disappointing, but with the way the Huskers played defense last year some of these game should be closer than expected. You have to give Nebraska credit for the VA Tech game. VA Tech has been in the Top-10 consistently over the past decade. That game is certainly a great OOC game. The pass-happy Aggies from NMSU have a legitimate shot at an upset here if the Blackshirts don’t turn it around. Any other year, for Nebraska, Western Michigan and (Do you know your way to) San Jose State would be considered patsies, but Nebraska can’t take any team for granted anymore. Grade: B- (that is all VA Tech)
Oklahoma State – Washington State, Houston, Missouri State, Troy. I must say that this is a reasonable attempt at a challenging OOC schedule. It is not very top heavy with the Cougars of Wash U at the top of the heap, but Houston and Troy are solid teams that will put up a fight. They will run out of gas by the 4th quarter, but they will put up a good fight. Troy may even threaten in the 4th. Not outstanding, but not too bad. Grade: C+
Texas – Florida Atlantic, UTEP, Arkansas, Rice. Texas likes to keep their OOC games close to home with UTEP and Rice. Both of which are bad teams, very bad. When this game was scheduled, I am sure that Florida Atlantic was considered just as bad as UTEP or Rice, but what a difference a few years makes. FAU is not a bad team. Not real good, but not bad. Arkansas is an old SWC rivalry we all miss. This year without McFadden, Texas should be able to handle the Razorbacks easily. I am sure Arkansas will be up for this one. Grade: C (only because FAU has turned it around)
Texas A&M – Arkansas State, New Mexico, Miami, Army. Like Nebraska, there is only one team on this schedule that is of any worth competing with a BCS conference school. New Mexico did shut out Nevada in a bowl that was created just for them last year. Arkansas State is a patsy. Army is a mismatch, but there is Miami. They are talent-laden and needing to make a comeback in a big way. Grade: C- (that is all Miami’s potential)
Missouri – Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, Nevada, Buffalo. Mizzou has scheduled a monster by accident with Illinois. How great was that game last year!?! Nevada is improving, but they still can’t hang with the big boys. SM St and Buffalo are patsies (sorry Turner). Missouri is set up really nice to repeat as the Big 12 North Champs, but it has nothing to do with their OOC scheduling. Grade: D (that is all Illinois)
Iowa State – South Dakota State, Kent State, Iowa, UNLV. Iowa State has not had much of a team for quite a while now. I don’t really blame them for going so soft, but it is disappointing when they can’t even beat the patsies on their schedule. South Dakota State should lose, but nothing is for sure. Iowa should win, but the Hawkeyes are having problems with the law in Iowa City. UNLV and Kent State have legitamate shots at getting a win over a BCS conference opponent here with ISU. ISU did come on strong at the end of last season, but there is no indication that they will carry that momentum into this year. Grade: D
Kansas – Florida International, Louisiana Tech, South Florida, Sam Houston State. Kansas tried really hard not to schedule any real tests OOC, but they got unlucky with South Florida. I guess 3-4 isn’t too bad. I will all but guarantee you that when South Florida was added to the schedule, they had never been ranked #2 in the country. Neither was Kansas. They both had spectacular years last year and I will be looking forward to this game. La Tech can score a bit, but they are still a patsy along with Sam Houston State and FIU. FIU is the only Florida team to get a bad rap from me. Grade: D-(dumb luck getting South Florida on the OOC schedule.)
Kansas State – North Texas, Montana State, Louisville, Louisiana-Lafayette. Louisville without Brian Brohm is no good at all. They proved that last year’s pre-season hype was just that. All these teams are patsies this year. K-State should change their mascot from the Wildcats to the Scaredycats. North Texas is ok sometimes. With the way Louisville played defense last year, KSU has a legit shot to get an OOC win over a BCS opponent. Grade: F
Texas Tech – Eastern Washington, Nevada, Southern Methodist, Massachusetts. Congratulations! We have a winner! The Red Raiders have managed to win the patsy lottery in their OOC scheduling. They were the only team to manage to avoid another BCS conference team and not get unlucky enough to get a team that has any potential at having a good season. The best team, by far, is Nevada. PEA-YOU!! This is very disappointing because they will have a great season and contend for the Big 12 this year. They will have to defend a constant onslaught of criticism over their OOC schedule. It serves them right. I am acutally getting physically ill looking at their OOC schedule. I'm going to go barf now. Grade: F-
How have the bowls shaped up from a conference standpoint?
ACC – (2-6)
Big East – (2-2)
Big 10 – (3-4)
Big 12 – (5-3)
CUSA – (1-4)
MAC – (0-1)
MWC – (4-1)
PAC 10 – (4-2)
Sun Belt – (1-0)
SEC – (6-2)
WAC – (1-3)
Right now with 3 bowls left to play the ranking (minimum 4 games) is:
MWC - 80%
SEC - 75%
PAC 10 - 67%
Big 12 – 63%
Big East – 50%
Big 10 – 43%
ACC – 25%
WAC – 25%
CUSA – 20%
I was a little surprised to see the Mountain West conference up there at the top, but you have to consider who they played. They have wins over Navy, Nevada, UCLA, and Houston. I would consider Nevada and Houston to be in the lower end of the pack of bowl teams. UCLA lost their coach, and Navy is quality but not great. I don’t want to take anything away from the MWC. I love to watch all the offense and they have some of the best stadium settings I have ever seen. My hat is off to the MWC for a great bowl season. With teams like BYU, Air Force, and TCU this conference has modestly good level of competition. Not as much as the PAC 10, but certainly more than the MAC, CUSA, or the Sun Belt. Hopefully, these teams can ride this momentum into recruiting and next season.
The SEC is 2-0 over the ACC, 1-0 over CUSA, 1-0 over the WAC 1-1 against the Big 10, and 1-1 against the Big 12. Alabama and Colorado proved that just because you are bowl eligible doesn’t mean that you should be in a bowl. Kentucky’s win over a decimated Florida State was under-appreciated. I think that if Florida State was at full capacity, then the score wouldn’t have been as close when Bowden’s boys took the loss. Unfortunately, the mismatch of Arkansas and Missouri was a finger poke in the eye for McFadden. The SEC was very impressive overall when you consider that the best any conference has done against the SEC is .500, but, that is what we have come to expect from the SEC. So there is no real surprise there. Only the Big 10 has a chance to get one over on the SEC this year.
The SEC and Big 10 have one game left, in case you forgot. The Big 10 can get to .500 with a win. The SEC can’t jump the MWC for the #1 spot with a win. The SEC’s total winning percentage would be 78%.
The Big 10 has to be disappointed with how they have performed outside of Michigan. Penn State did what they should have and Purdue just barely beat an “ok” Central Michigan team. The mismatch of USC and Illinois was pretty hard to watch, unless you are a USC or PAC 10 fan. Wisconsin held tough against the #2 team in the SEC, but Indiana got trounced by a mediocre Oklahoma State team. Ohio State has a chance to redeem the conference.
The Big 12 has had a pretty good bowl season outside of the always ill-prepared Sooners. What has to be done to get a reality check on Stoops. I think he is a great coach, but there is something wrong with how he prepares his teams for the bowls. I’ll give credit where credit is due. WVU was wicked fast on offense and they proved that they deserved all the preseason hype that surrounded the program. How they lost to Pittsburg, I will never figure out. Mizzou and Kansas proved that there are, at least two, quality teams in the Big 12 North. Texas’ Holiday Bowl win over Arizona State was huge for them. After the year they had ending up the Big 12 #4, they now have something to build upon beating the PAC 10 #2 in a decisive fashion. Next year looks to be a bright one for the Big 12, especially in the North.
The PAC 10 did very well outside of Arizona State. UCLA lost to BYU, but give them some credit. They went without a head coach and BYU has had a special year this year. USC proved once again not to ever count them out. Oregon showed that even with out Dixon, they are able to score a ton of points. I was very surprised the vaunted South Florida defense didn’t put up a better fight against Oregon. Cal’s performance was a bit disappointing against and undersized Air Force team. Cal did show that they could come from behind, but they should never had been that far behind to begin with.
The Big East has emerged as a good conference. When the ACC and Big East realigned, the ACC was supposed to be made into a power conference and the Big East was supposed to fade away into oblivion with the MAC, Sun Belt, and CUSA. Well I got some news for you so called experts; you were way wrong. There is some talent and quality coaching going on in the Big East. West Virginia is a great team. Rutgers, South Florida, Cincinnati, and UConn are all good teams and should only be getting better. Be afraid of the Big East.
How disappointing was the ACC this year? With programs like Miami, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech how could you not be winning (or going to) bowl games (Miami)? Virginia overcame a loss to Wyoming at the beginning of the season only to lose to Mike “the big ####” Leach’s Red Raiders after Tech spotted them two safeties. Lame. Over the last 4-5 years, it looked like Maryland was ready to make the jump to the “big time.” What happened? Georgia Tech losing to Fresno State the way they did was embarrassing. Clemson played Auburn tough, but still lost. Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, Virginia, and North Carolina State should be better teams. Boston College, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech can’t be the only ones doing well in this talent-rich conference.
The WAC had no surprises up their sleeves other than Boise State getting manhandled by the likes of ECU. They seem to do the best with what they have. Fresno State did well, but Nevada didn’t even show up and got blanked by New Mexico. What the? Nevada put together, what seemed to be, a pretty good season. Guess not. How many shut-outs have there been in bowl games recently? To be sure, not many. That is just disappointing and wrong.
Overall, I felt that most of the early games were good. Navy/Utah, Cincy/So. Miss, BYU/UCLA, ECU/Boise St, and Purdue/Central Michigan. The real mismatches happened later on with Texas/Arizona State, Mizzou/Arkansas, Penn State/TX A&M, Oklahoma State/Indiana, Georgia/Hawaii, and USC/Illinois. Then there were some real surprises to me like Michigan/Florida, Fresno State/GA Tech, WVU/OU, and Kansas/VT. It is a shame that USC and Georgia will not play, or WVU and KU. Those would have been great games. The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village #### The Village ####
11/24/07 - (#5)Mizzou beats (#3)Kansas, (#4)Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State
12/01/07 - (#4)Oklahoma beats (#5)Mizzou
Oklahoma is in.
Scenario #2:
11/24/07 - (#5)Mizzou beats (#3)Kansas, (#4)Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State
12/01/07 - (#5)Mizzou beats (#4)Oklahoma
Missouri is in.
Scenario #3:
11/24/07 - (#3)Kansas beats (#5)Mizzou, (#4)Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State
12/01/07 - (#4)Oklahoma beats (#3)Kansas
Oklahoma is in.
Scenario #4:
11/24/07 - (#3)Kansas beats (#5)Mizzou, (#4)Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State
12/01/07 - (#3)Kansas beats (#4)Oklahoma
Kansas is in.
The most important week of college football for the Big XII is this week 11/17/07.
The results of this week's match-ups will truly decide if the Big XII is in the National Championship Game.
(9-1)Oklahoma @ (7-4) Texas Tech
VS.
(3-8) Iowa State @ (10-0) Kansas
VS.
(9-1) Missouri @ (5-5) Kansas State
VS.
The fate of the Big XII in the National Championship game hinges on the outcomes of this weeks' games. If *Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri win this week against their respective opponents, then the Big 12 is assured a representative in the National Championship Game.
*Oklahoma has to beat Oklahoma State on 11/24 in order for Oklahoma to be considered for the NC game.
What happens to other colleges in the state when the premier school looks out of state for talent? Just look at Nebraska for the answer.
Over the last few years, the state of Nebraska has blossomed in the sport of football. The Division 1 team, the Cornhuskers, may not have fared very well, but the rest of the state is doing just fine.
Here is a list of the records of some of the other schools in the state.
Chadron State - Chadron, NE
2007 – 11-0
2006 – 12-1
2005 – 4-6
2004 – 7-3
University of Nebraska - Omaha, NE
2007 -- 10-0
2006 -- 8-3
2005 -- 8-3
2004 -- 8-3
Nebraska Wesleyan – Lincoln, NE
2007 – 7-3
2006 – 7-3
2005 – 6-4
2004 – 5-5
Contrary to popular belief, there are football players in Nebraska. California, Texas, and Florida have enough to justify the talent export of their states, but there are players in Nebraska if you look.
My case in point is a young kid by the name of Danny Woodhead. This fantastic young man wanted nothing more than to play football at the college level. Coming from North Platte, NE, of course he wanted to play for the Cornhuskers. He ends up at Chadron State. He also ends up with more than 7,555 yards rushing for his career. Yes, that is a record. That is the record for all divisions in the NCAA.
Over the bye-week that Nebraska is currently in, the Coaching staff is going to focus efforts in-state. I wonder if this is Bill “as good as canned” Callahan’s idea or Tom Osborne’s?
I like the match-ups and the years of bad-blood between rivals in college football. I enjoy a good game no matter the national implications. Give me a 3OT game between a couple of Sun Belt teams over a 40 point blowout between a couple top 25 teams anytime. I consider myself to be a fan of the game. I will be as respectful to visitors on my blog as they are to me. Go Huskers! Go Navy! Go Jags! Go Cubbies!
Texas Tech has yet to be tested by a top-25 team. Sure, Nebraska took them to OT in Lubbock (Where I was in attendance), but Nebraska is lucky to be considered top-60. Unless something really changes for Tech on defense and special teams, the Red Raiders are will not be heading towards the Big 12 Championship game this year (or for some time to come).
They have one of the best receiving corps out there. These boys block like old school Nebraska receivers used to back in the day. There is no wonder why they are doing so well on the ground. I have seen it time and again. When a team can control the clock and can play better than average defense week in and week out, success seems easy.
I know it is early, but this Texas/Oklahoma State game is for supremacy in the Southern division. I like the way OSU matches up with the big bad Longhorns. The winner in this one becomes the one to beat. OSU could give life to the Sooners with a win. 
Why are BCS teams still afraid to schedule decent OOC (out-of-conference games)? What is the deal here? I am of the oldskewl belief that, win or lose, playing good teams makes your team better. There is no reason for a good team in a BCS conference not to schedule two good opponents OOC. Period! 
Colorado – Colorado State, Eastern Washington, West Virginia, Florida State. Colorado has managed to make their OOC schedule rather competitive. The rivalry game with Colorado State is always a tough game for Colorado. Eastern Michigan is a tune up game, and Eastern Washington is a patsy. West Virginia made minced-meat of the vaunted Oklahoma defense last year, but we must remember that Colorado also handed OU a loss last year. This year's WVU may not be quite as good as last year's with out R-Rod there. Florida State is loaded with talent and controversy. Grade: A
Baylor – Wake Forest, Northwestern State, Washington State, Connecticut. Baylor has a monster OOC schedule, but I think it may have been an accident. WF and UCONN are quality teams as of late, but PAC-10 Spoiler Washington State is not a patsy. Northwestern State is though. I am willing to overlook the Northwestern State game because it is Baylor we are talking about. Baylor will need to play better than they have in the past in order to get to conference play 1-3. Grade: A
Oklahoma – Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Washington, TCU. Chattanooga is a patsy and should not be on the schedule. Cincinnati has improved and they are coming off a stellar season, but for Oklahoma they should be no problem. Washington is a BCS conference team that may have a good game a few times a year, but they have not been consistently good since the early to mid 90’s. TCU is one of the most consistently good non-BCS conference teams out there. When I see TCU on an OOC schedule, I consider that a decent test for any team. The problem I have with this schedule is the Cattanooga game. You are OU. Schedule Div-1 teams. Grade: B-
Nebraska – Western Michigan, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Virginia Tech. Nebraska must subscribe to the philosophy that supports only scheduling one quality team OOC. Very disappointing, but with the way the Huskers played defense last year some of these game should be closer than expected. You have to give Nebraska credit for the VA Tech game. VA Tech has been in the Top-10 consistently over the past decade. That game is certainly a great OOC game. The pass-happy Aggies from NMSU have a legitimate shot at an upset here if the Blackshirts don’t turn it around. Any other year, for Nebraska, Western Michigan and (Do you know your way to) San Jose State would be considered patsies, but Nebraska can’t take any team for granted anymore. Grade: B- (that is all VA Tech)
Oklahoma State – Washington State, Houston, Missouri State, Troy. I must say that this is a reasonable attempt at a challenging OOC schedule. It is not very top heavy with the Cougars of Wash U at the top of the heap, but Houston and Troy are solid teams that will put up a fight. They will run out of gas by the 4th quarter, but they will put up a good fight. Troy may even threaten in the 4th. Not outstanding, but not too bad. Grade: C+
Texas – Florida Atlantic, UTEP, Arkansas, Rice. Texas likes to keep their OOC games close to home with UTEP and Rice. Both of which are bad teams, very bad. When this game was scheduled, I am sure that Florida Atlantic was considered just as bad as UTEP or Rice, but what a difference a few years makes. FAU is not a bad team. Not real good, but not bad. Arkansas is an old SWC rivalry we all miss. This year without McFadden, Texas should be able to handle the Razorbacks easily. I am sure Arkansas will be up for this one. Grade: C (only because FAU has turned it around)
Texas A&M – Arkansas State, New Mexico, Miami, Army. Like Nebraska, there is only one team on this schedule that is of any worth competing with a BCS conference school. New Mexico did shut out Nevada in a bowl that was created just for them last year. Arkansas State is a patsy. Army is a mismatch, but there is Miami. They are talent-laden and needing to make a comeback in a big way. Grade: C- (that is all Miami’s potential)
Missouri – Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, Nevada, Buffalo. Mizzou has scheduled a monster by accident with Illinois. How great was that game last year!?! Nevada is improving, but they still can’t hang with the big boys. SM St and Buffalo are patsies (sorry Turner). Missouri is set up really nice to repeat as the Big 12 North Champs, but it has nothing to do with their OOC scheduling. Grade: D (that is all Illinois)
Iowa State – South Dakota State, Kent State, Iowa, UNLV. Iowa State has not had much of a team for quite a while now. I don’t really blame them for going so soft, but it is disappointing when they can’t even beat the patsies on their schedule. South Dakota State should lose, but nothing is for sure. Iowa should win, but the Hawkeyes are having problems with the law in Iowa City. UNLV and Kent State have legitamate shots at getting a win over a BCS conference opponent here with ISU. ISU did come on strong at the end of last season, but there is no indication that they will carry that momentum into this year. Grade: D
Kansas – Florida International, Louisiana Tech, South Florida, Sam Houston State. Kansas tried really hard not to schedule any real tests OOC, but they got unlucky with South Florida. I guess 3-4 isn’t too bad. I will all but guarantee you that when South Florida was added to the schedule, they had never been ranked #2 in the country. Neither was Kansas. They both had spectacular years last year and I will be looking forward to this game. La Tech can score a bit, but they are still a patsy along with Sam Houston State and FIU. FIU is the only Florida team to get a bad rap from me. Grade: D- (dumb luck getting South Florida on the OOC schedule.)
Kansas State – North Texas, Montana State, Louisville, Louisiana-Lafayette. Louisville without Brian Brohm is no good at all. They proved that last year’s pre-season hype was just that. All these teams are patsies this year. K-State should change their mascot from the Wildcats to the Scaredycats. North Texas is ok sometimes. With the way Louisville played defense last year, KSU has a legit shot to get an OOC win over a BCS opponent. Grade: F
Texas Tech – Eastern Washington, Nevada, Southern Methodist, Massachusetts. Congratulations! We have a winner! The Red Raiders have managed to win the patsy lottery in their OOC scheduling. They were the only team to manage to avoid another BCS conference team and not get unlucky enough to get a team that has any potential at having a good season. The best team, by far, is Nevada. PEA-YOU!! This is very disappointing because they will have a great season and contend for the Big 12 this year. They will have to defend a constant onslaught of criticism over their OOC schedule. It serves them right. I am acutally getting physically ill looking at their OOC schedule. I'm going to go barf now. Grade: F-
I was a little surprised to see the Mountain West conference up there at the top, but you have to consider who they played. They have wins over Navy, Nevada, UCLA, and Houston. I would consider Nevada and Houston to be in the lower end of the pack of bowl teams. UCLA lost their coach, and Navy is quality but not great. I don’t want to take anything away from the MWC. I love to watch all the offense and they have some of the best stadium settings I have ever seen. My hat is off to the MWC for a great bowl season. With teams like BYU, Air Force, and TCU this conference has modestly good level of competition. Not as much as the PAC 10, but certainly more than the MAC, CUSA, or the Sun Belt. Hopefully, these teams can ride this momentum into recruiting and next season. 
The SEC is 2-0 over the ACC, 1-0 over CUSA, 1-0 over the WAC 1-1 against the Big 10, and 1-1 against the Big 12. Alabama and Colorado proved that just because you are bowl eligible doesn’t mean that you should be in a bowl. Kentucky’s win over a decimated Florida State was under-appreciated. I think that if Florida State was at full capacity, then the score wouldn’t have been as close when Bowden’s boys took the loss. Unfortunately, the mismatch of Arkansas and Missouri was a finger poke in the eye for McFadden. The SEC was very impressive overall when you consider that the best any conference has done against the SEC is .500, but, that is what we have come to expect from the SEC. So there is no real surprise there. Only the Big 10 has a chance to get one over on the SEC this year. 
The Big 10 has to be disappointed with how they have performed outside of Michigan. Penn State did what they should have and Purdue just barely beat an “ok” Central Michigan team. The mismatch of USC and Illinois was pretty hard to watch, unless you are a USC or PAC 10 fan. Wisconsin held tough against the #2 team in the SEC, but Indiana got trounced by a mediocre Oklahoma State team. Ohio State has a chance to redeem the conference. 
The PAC 10 did very well outside of Arizona State. UCLA lost to BYU, but give them some credit. They went without a head coach and BYU has had a special year this year. USC proved once again not to ever count them out. Oregon showed that even with out Dixon, they are able to score a ton of points. I was very surprised the vaunted South Florida defense didn’t put up a better fight against Oregon. Cal’s performance was a bit disappointing against and undersized Air Force team. Cal did show that they could come from behind, but they should never had been that far behind to begin with. 
The Big East has emerged as a good conference. When the ACC and Big East realigned, the ACC was supposed to be made into a power conference and the Big East was supposed to fade away into oblivion with the MAC, Sun Belt, and CUSA. Well I got some news for you so called experts; you were way wrong. There is some talent and quality coaching going on in the Big East. West Virginia is a great team. Rutgers, South Florida, Cincinnati, and UConn are all good teams and should only be getting better. Be afraid of the Big East. 
How disappointing was the ACC this year? With programs like Miami, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech how could you not be winning (or going to) bowl games (Miami)? Virginia overcame a loss to Wyoming at the beginning of the season only to lose to Mike “the big 
The WAC had no surprises up their sleeves other than Boise State getting manhandled by the likes of ECU. They seem to do the best with what they have. Fresno State did well, but Nevada didn’t even show up and got blanked by New Mexico. What the? Nevada put together, what seemed to be, a pretty good season. Guess not. How many shut-outs have there been in bowl games recently? To be sure, not many. That is just disappointing and wrong.
Oklahoma is in.
Missouri is in.
Kansas is in.
Chadron State - Chadron, NE
University of Nebraska - Omaha, NE
Nebraska Wesleyan – Lincoln, NE 
