September 10, 2008

Which BCS teams live any one, anywhere, any time?

A lot of teams say they are aren't afraid to play anyone, but... well, we all know otherwise. The good folks at ESPN.com put pencil to paper in order to determine which BCS team best personify the "any one, anywhere, any time" mantra that has taken so many teams from lowliness to greatness.

The results were determined by evaluating each team's regular-season, nonconference schedule against BCS opponents from the time the BCS was formed (1998) through 2007. Since teams don't get to chose their bowl opponents, those games are excluded.

1. Florida State 70.3%

No. of nonconf. gms.	Rec. vs. BCS	Rec. vs. I-A non-BCS	Rec. vs. I-AA	Pct. of gms. vs. BCS
37	16-10 (.615)	9-1 (.900)	1-0 (1.000)	.703

The Seminoles have begun playing softer nonconference schedules in recent seasons, including -- gasp! -- Division I-AA Citadel in 2005. Nevertheless, over the past decade, no other program has been willing to play the big boys more often out of conference. Of course, Florida State's annual matchup against Miami became conference fare when the Hurricanes joined the ACC in 2004. Notably, FSU is 5-5 in its past 10 meetings with rival Florida, but 0-4 since 2004. We wonder whether Bobby Bowden's crew, coming off back-to-back 7-6 seasons, will continue to scale back schedule difficulty in the coming years. The Seminoles will play more I-AA teams (two) in 2008 than they did in the previous 12 years combined (one).

2. USC 64.9%
3. Georgia Tech 57.1%

< Click here for teams 4-8 >

9. Clemson , Duke , Penn State , Stanford , Syracuse , Virginia 50%

No surprise at the top, really. FSU lived the "any one, anywhere, any time" mantra for the better part of the last two decades.

What is surprising to me is just how dominant the ACC is in the list. Of the top 14 teams, 7 are from the ACC. The Big10 and Pac10 both check in with three teams each. The Big East checks in with one team. How many from the SEC? Try zero. How many from the Big 12? Nada. What's up with that? Look I'm not saying the ACC is better - it clearly isn't this year and hasn't been for several seasons.

But... when it comes to strapping it on against anybody, the ACC leads the pack.

Posted by Kevin Donahue

Comments:

Which BCS teams live any one, anywhere, any time?
A lot of teams say they are aren't afraid to play anyone, but... well, we all know otherwise. The good folks at ESPN.com put pencil to paper in order to determine which BCS team best personify the "any one, anywhere, any time" mantra that has taken so many teams from lowliness to greatness. The results were determined by evaluating each team's regular-season, nonconference schedule against BCS opponents from the time the BCS was formed (1998) through 2007. Since teams don't get to chose their bowl opponents, those games are excluded.
1. Florida State 70.3%
No. of nonconf. gms.	Rec. vs. BCS	Rec. vs. I-A non-BCS	Rec. vs. I-AA	Pct. of gms. vs. BCS
37	16-10 (.615)	9-1 (.900)	1-0 (1.000)	.703
The Seminoles have begun playing softer nonconference schedules in recent seasons, including -- gasp! -- Division I-AA Citadel in 2005. Nevertheless, over the past decade, no other program has been willing to play the big boys more often out of conference. Of course, Florida State's annual matchup against Miami became conference fare when the Hurricanes joined the ACC in 2004. Notably, FSU is 5-5 in its past 10 meetings with rival Florida, but 0-4 since 2004. We wonder whether Bobby Bowden's crew, coming off back-to-back 7-6 seasons, will continue to scale back schedule difficulty in the coming years. The Seminoles will play more I-AA teams (two) in 2008 than they did in the previous 12 years combined (one). 2. USC 64.9% 3. Georgia Tech 57.1% < Click here for teams 4-8 > 9. Clemson , Duke , Penn State , Stanford , Syracuse , Virginia 50%
No surprise at the top, really. FSU lived the "any one, anywhere, any time" mantra for the better part of the last two decades. What is surprising to me is just how dominant the ACC is in the list. Of the top 14 teams, 7 are from the ACC. The Big10 and Pac10 both check in with three teams each. The Big East checks in with one team. How many from the SEC? Try zero. How many from the Big 12? Nada. What's up with that? Look I'm not saying the ACC is better - it clearly isn't this year and hasn't been for several seasons. But... when it comes to strapping it on against anybody, the ACC leads the pack.