Out of Conference Report '08 - At Regular Season's End

For those who are new to this blog, I began this feature last season that would attempt to quantify the strength of each BCS league based on the quality of it's non-conference competition. Yes, I realize that football has far too many intangibles and such that can't be broken down into mere numbers. But I'm a stats guy, and if someone is going to tell me that the Big Ten or Big East or whoever is better than the ACC, I'd like to see some justification for that aside from the typical message board smack.

Updated non-conference records among the six BCS leagues through the end of the regular season:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Big XII	38-10	.792
ACC	37-11	.771
SEC	37-11	.771
Big Ten	32-12	.727
Big East	29-12	.707
Pac 10	14-17	.452

The ACC taking 3 of 4 from the SEC on Thanksgiving weekend tied them in overall non-conference record, one little game behind the Big XII.

To delve a little deeper, below is the combined record of all 1-A/FBS opposition faced by each BCS league in non-conference play:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	206-144	.589
ACC	237-177	.572
Big Ten	202-186	.521
Big East	211-200	.513
Big XII	223-237	.485
SEC	222-248	.472

If this analysis ended right here, the ACC would clearly be the best conference in 2008, bar none. But there is more to the story...

ON THE ROAD
Below illustrates the percentage of games each league has played away from home in non-conference action:

Conf.	Road Games/OOC Games	Pct.
Big East	17/41	41.5%
Pac 10	11/31	35.5%
SEC	14/48	29.2%
ACC	13/48	27.2%
Big XII	13/48	27.2%
Big Ten	11/44	25.0%

*non-conference neutral site games (i.e. Missouri-Illinois, Alabama-Clemson) are calculated as road games for both leagues.

The only thing that really stands out to me is that the Big East had a respectable showing in overall non-conference record while playing over 40% of those games on the road. If you want a quick predictor on how a league will fare in non-conference play, take a look at how many games they play on the road - the number of losses is usually right around that number. Conversely, the Pac 10 evidently got hammered at home quite a few times in out-of-conference action.

BCS COMPETITION
The following indicates the percentage of non-conference competition played against fellow BCS-league opponents:

Conf.	BCS Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	23/48	47.9%
Pac 10	14/31	45.2%
Big East	16/41	39.0%
Big XII	15/48	31.3%
SEC	15/48	31.3%
Big Ten	13/44	29.5%

*For this analysis, Notre Dame is included as a BCS/power-league team

And each conference's record against other power-league competition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
ACC	15-8	.652
Big East	9-7	.563
Big XII	7-8	.467
Big Ten	6-7	.462
Pac 10	6-8	.429
SEC	6-9	.400

Furthermore, the following is the combined record of each league's BCS opposition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	102-66	.607
ACC	174-117	.598
SEC	104-76	.578
Big East	110-82	.573
Big Ten	84-72	.538
Big XII	91-93	.495

The numbers really say it all. What the ACC accomplished this year in this category is astounding, especially after the grisly opening weekend.

OTHER 1-A/FBS COMPETITION
Each league's record against other 1-A/FBS foes...that is, the non-conference results against the poor schmoes from Conference USA, the MAC, the WAC, etc.:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	22-2	.917
Big XII	21-2	.913
Big Ten	17-5	.773
ACC	8-3	.727
Big East	13-5	.722
Pac 10	6-9	.400

And the combined record of the "other 1-A" opponents for each BCS league:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	104-78	.571
Big Ten	115-114	.502
ACC	65-70	.481
Big XII	132-144	.478
Big East	101-118	.461
SEC	118-172	.407

It's hard to gauge how the ACC really fared given the comparatively small sample size, but "meh" is a word that comes to mind. And the SEC's continued scheduling of the 1-A dregs never ceases to amaze me.

THE 1-AA/FCS FACTOR
The percentage of non-conference games against 1-AA competition...

Conf.	1-AA Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	14/48	29.2%
Big Ten	9/44	20.5%
Big XII	9/48	18.8%
SEC	9/48	18.8%
Big East	7/41	17.1%
Pac 10	2/31	6.5%

And this is what keeps the ACC out of the top spot in "best conference" talk this season. Just under a third of all ACC out-of-conference games have been against the minor leaguers. Unacceptable. And the close calls (UNC-McNeese, Maryland-Delaware, Georgia Tech-Gardner Webb) further erode credibility. On the flipside, the Pac 10 would do well to not be so damn righteous.

POTENTIALLY FLAWED SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSION
All that said, this is how I'd rank the conferences in 2008:

1) Big XII
2) ACC
3) SEC
4) Big East
5) Big Ten
6) Pac 10

I think all the numbers above, plus a healthy dose of common sense, bear this ranking out. The Big XII and ACC shouldn't be throwing any parties just yet...bowl season has a way of really skewing these numbers and the ACC has ten bowl games in which to enhance or tarnish its reputation.

Out of Conference Report '08 - Homestretch Edition

For those who are new to this blog, I began a feature last season that would attempt to quantify the strength of each BCS league based on the quality of it's non-conference competition. Yes, I realize that football has far too many intangibles and such that can't be broken down into mere numbers. But I'm a stats guy, and if someone is going to tell me that the Big Ten or Big East or whoever is better than the ACC, I'd like to see some justification for that aside from the typical message board smack.

Updated non-conference records among the six BCS leagues through the first two+ months of the season:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	33-8	.805
Big XII	38-10	.792
ACC	34-10	.772
Big Ten	31-12	.721
Big East	26-12	.684
Pac 10	13-16	.448

The SEC's dominance in these standings earlier in the season has eroded and the Big XII and ACC are in position to pass them. The ACC especially, what with four head-to-head matchups with the SEC still on tap.

To delve a little deeper, below is the combined record of all 1-A/FBS opposition faced by each BCS league in non-conference play:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	162-106	.604
ACC	152-127	.545
Big East	157-135	.538
Big Ten	170-155	.523
Big XII	176-183	.490
SEC	137-172	.443

Call me crazy, but the ACC looks damn fine with the third best record, against the second best competition. The Pac 10's horrid showing is somewhat understandable, while the SEC's record doesn't appear so sterling now.

ON THE ROAD
Below illustrates the percentage of games each league has played away from home in non-conference action:

Conf.	Road Games/OOC Games	Pct.
Big East	15/38	39.5%
Pac 10	10/29	34.5%
ACC	12/44	27.2%
Big XII	13/48	27.1%
SEC	11/41	26.8%
Big Ten	11/43	25.6%

*non-conference neutral site games (i.e. Missouri-Illinois, Alabama-Clemson) are calculated as road games for both leagues.

Historically, the ACC and Big East always seem to play more non-league road games while Big Ten schools are seemingly oblivious to the likes of Travelocity and Orbitz.

BCS COMPETITION
The following indicates the percentage of non-conference competition played against fellow BCS-league opponents:

Conf.	BCS Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
Pac 10	13/29	44.8%
ACC	19/44	43.2%
Big East	15/38	39.5%
Big XII	15/48	31.3%
Big Ten	13/42	30.6%
SEC	11/41	26.8%

*For this analysis, Notre Dame is included as a BCS/power-league team

And each conference's record against other power-league competition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
ACC	12-7	.632
Big East	8-7	.533
Big XII	7-8	.467
Big Ten	6-7	.462
SEC	5-6	.455
Pac 10	5-8	.385

Furthermore, the following is the combined record of each league's BCS opposition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	81-47	.633
ACC	109-69	.612
Big East	87-59	.596
Big Ten	67-53	.558
SEC	56-45	.554
Big XII	82-68	.547

Perhaps this will dispel all the parity-due-to-mediocrity talk in terms of the logjam in the ACC standings these days. These numbers prove that the ACC is a damn good league thus far this season. And a golf-clap to the Big East as well, for being the only other BCS league team with a winning record against other power-conference competition...and against the third best BCS opposition to boot.

OTHER 1-A/FBS COMPETITION
Each league's record against other 1-A/FBS foes...that is, the non-conference results against the poor schmoes from Conference USA, the MAC, the WAC, etc.:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Big XII	21-2	.913
SEC	20-2	.909
Big Ten	17-5	.773
ACC	8-3	.727
Big East	11-5	.688
Pac 10	6-8	.429

And the combined record of the "other 1-A" opponents for each BCS league:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	81-59	.579
Big Ten	103-102	.502
Big East	70-76	.479
Big XII	94-115	.450
ACC	43-58	.426
SEC	81-127	.389

OK, so the ACC's armor gets a little chinked here. But the SEC and Big XII's lofty records are partially the result of fattening up on a horde o' UAB and North Texas-style cupcakes, while the Pac 10 was getting dusted by the likes of Utah, Boise State, TCU and BYU. Let the numbers drive it home for you....the Pac 10 and SEC's non-BCS 1A competition both have 81 wins; but the SEC's opposition has 68 more losses. Thank you, and good night.

THE 1-AA/FCS FACTOR
The percentage of non-conference games against 1-AA competition...

Conf.	1-AA Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	14/44	31.8%
SEC	7/33	19.5%
Big XII	9/48	18.8%
Big Ten	8/43	18.6%
Big East	7/38	18.4%
Pac 10	2/29	6.9%

And this is what keeps the ACC out of the Big XII/SEC "best conference" talk this season. Just under a third of all ACC out-of-conference games have been against the minor leaguers. Unacceptable. And the close calls (UNC-McNeese, Maryland-Delaware, Georgia Tech-Gardner Webb) further erode credibility. On the flipside, the Pac 10 would do well to not be so damn righteous.

POTENTIALLY FLAWED SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSION
All that said, this is how I'd rank the conferences so far in 2008:

1) Big XII
2) SEC
3) ACC
4) Big Ten
5) Big East
6) Pac 10

I think the numbers above support this ranking. Maybe next year I'll have devised a formula I like that just swallows up the percentages from above and spits out a rating. But for now, I think this is as accurate a ranking of the BCS leagues as you'll find.

Out of Conference Report - Midseason Edition

For those who are new to this blog, I began a feature last season that would attempt to quantify the strength of each BCS league based on the quality of it's non-conference competition. Yes, I realize that football has far too many intangibles and such that can't be broken down into mere numbers. But I'm a stats guy, and if someone is going to tell me that the Big Ten or Big East or whoever is better than the ACC, I'd like to see some justification for that aside from half-informed fanboy drivel.

For better or worse, I've compiled a fairly detailed set of numbers that go a long way in showing where the conferences stack up against each other. One thing some of you may ask is....why not just list how one conference performed against each of the other five leagues last season and leave it at that? For starters, no conference played another league enough times to get an accurate feel. Secondly, even if there were enough games played to make a good determination, that only shows that one conference was better than another, not how one conference stacks up against the other five.

Alrighty then, pesky explanations are now out of the way. Let's get going...

Updated non-conference records among the six BCS leagues through the first month of the season:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	28-5	.848
Big XII	38-10	.792
ACC	32-10	.762
Big Ten	31-10	.756
Big East	24-12	.667
Pac 10	13-15	.464

At first glance, the SEC looks incredibly dominant, while the Pac 10 looks horrid on a legendary level. But there's a bit more to non-conference play than just the above records, as we will see.

To delve a little deeper, below is the combined record of all 1-A/FBS opposition faced by each BCS league in non-conference play:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	120-66	.645
Big East	113-94	.546
ACC	104-89	.539
Big XII	133-130	.507
Big Ten	115-114	.502
SEC	77-105	.423

Not coincidentally, the overall win-loss standings are almost flipped entirely when it comes to the opposition's record. Earlier in the season, you could argue a direct causal relationship between the overall standings and opposition record...not so much anymore, now that most conferences are 3 or 4 games into intra-league play.

ON THE ROAD
Below illustrates the percentage of games each league has played away from home in non-conference action:

Conf.	Road Games/OOC Games	Pct.
Pac 10	10/28	35.7%
Big East	12/36	33.3%
SEC	10/33	30.3%
Big XII	13/48	27.1%
ACC	11/42	26.2%
Big Ten	10/41	24.4%

*non-conference neutral site games (i.e. Missouri-Illinois, Alabama-Clemson) are calculated as road games for both leagues.

Again, we see part of the reason for the Pac 10's awful non-conference showing. But the SEC deserves a lot of credit for playing a decent percentage of road games and still looking good in out-of-conference play. In general, up until the last weekend of the year, there appears to be a close correlation between overall non-conference losses and the amount of road games played outside the league.

BCS COMPETITION
The following indicates the percentage of non-conference competition played against fellow BCS-league opponents:

Conf.	BCS Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
Pac 10	12/28	42.9%
ACC	17/42	40.5%
Big East	13/36	36.1%
Big Ten	13/41	31.7%
Big XII	15/48	31.3%
SEC	9/33	27.2%

*For purposes of this analysis, Notre Dame is included as a BCS/power-league team

And each conference's record against other power-league competition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
ACC	10-7	.588
SEC	5-4	.556
Big XII	7-8	.467
Big East	6-7	.462
Big Ten	6-7	.462
Pac 10	5-7	.417

Furthermore, the following is the combined record of each league's BCS opposition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	55-25	.688
Big East	62-31	.667
ACC	72-48	.600
SEC	35-25	.583
Big Ten	47-37	.560
Big XII	56-46	.549

That's a lot of numbers to look at and absorb. Surprised to see the ACC faring the best in this category? Me neither, but I'll bet a lot of SEC and Big Ten blogs/message boards would be.

OTHER 1-A/FBS COMPETITION
Each league's record against other 1-A/FBS foes...that is, the non-conference results against the poor schmoes from Conference USA, the MAC, the WAC, etc.:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	16-1	.941
Big XII	21-2	.913
Big Ten	17-3	.850
ACC	7-3	.700
Big East	11-5	.688
Pac 10	6-8	.429

And, just for kicks, the combined record of the "other 1-A" opponents for each BCS league:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	65-41	.613
Big XII	77-84	.478
Big East	51-63	.447
Big Ten	68-77	.469
ACC	32-41	.438
SEC	42-80	.344

I'll repeat what I said in the last Out of Conference Report...you gotta give the SEC credit - they at least know how to drop the hammer on the cupcakes. No inexplicable losses to Navy, Middle Tennessee or Toledo. That said, holy schnikees do they play some crapola Sun Belt and Conference USA dregs, while the Pac 10 is getting knocked around multiple times by BYU, Utah, TCU and Boise State.

THE 1-AA/FCS FACTOR
The percentage of non-conference games against 1-AA competition...

Conf.	1-AA Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	14/42	33.3%
SEC	7/33	21.2%
Big Ten	8/41	19.5%
Big East	7/36	19.4%
Big XII	9/48	18.8%
Pac 10	2/28	7.1%

And again, this is where a lot of the hopeful feelings about the ACC get torn asunder. One third of all out-of-conference competition has come from 1-AA opposition. Unacceptable. Yeah, I get it that some 1-AA teams (Richmond, McNeese State) are better than some bad 1-A teams (North Texas, Idaho, Syracuse) but the principle of scheduling FCS squads over lesser FBS squads was clear - fatten up with guaranteed wins and don't even risk the possibility of disaster.

POTENTIALLY FLAWED SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSION
So what does all of this mean? The Big East and Pac 10 are better than you think, but they're still the bottom of the BCS-league barrel this year. The Big XII looks the best, with the SEC right behind. The ACC and Big Ten are close in overall quality. The biggest movers over the final half of the season will be the ACC and SEC. The ACC has six non-league games left, with five of them coming against the SEC; the SEC has a whopping 15 out-of-conference matchups still to play.

All that said, this is how I'd rank the conferences so far in 2008:

1) Big XII
2) SEC
3) Big Ten
4) ACC
5) Pac 10
6) Big East

I'm still toying around with the idea of creating some type of simple formula that takes into account all of the above numbers and then spits out a numerical rating for each conference, which would then take more of the subjectivity out of the above league rankings. I've tried a few calculations and I'm not happy with any just yet. Suggestions would be most appreciated.

Out of Conference Report 2008 - Inaugural Edition

For those who are new to this blog, I began a feature last season that would attempt to quantify the strength of each BCS league based on the quality of it's non-conference competition. Yes, I realize that football has far too many intangibles and such that can't be broken down into mere numbers. But I'm a stats guy, and if someone is going to tell me that the Big Ten or Big East or whoever is better than the ACC, I'd like to see some justification for that aside from half-informed fanboy drivel.

For better or worse, I've compiled a fairly detailed set of numbers that go a long way in showing where the conferences stack up against each other. One thing some of you may ask is....why not just list how one conference performed against each of the other five leagues last season and leave it at that? For starters, no conference played another league enough times to get an accurate feel. Secondly, even if there were enough games played to make a good determination, that only shows that one conference was better than another, not how one conference stacks up against the other five.

So, I hope that explains this whole endeavor. I have some commentary mixed in with all the numbers, but for the most part the stats speak for themselves. And away we go...

Updated non-conference records among the six BCS leagues through the first month of the season:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	27-5	.844
Big XII	38-10	.792
Big Ten	31-9	.775
ACC	26-10	.722
Big East	20-11	.645
Pac 10	13-13	.500

Nice showing by the SEC. The ACC has recovered nicely from the thermonuclear opening weekend. And the Pac 10...just wow. .500?!

To delve a little deeper, below is the combined record of all 1-A/FBS opposition faced by each BCS league in non-conference play:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	68-38	.642
ACC	63-42	.600
Big East	62-45	.579
Big Ten	69-67	.507
Big XII	81-86	.485
SEC	47-61	.438

Not coincidentally, the SEC has the best record in non-league play, but has faced the worst 1-A competition, while the Pac 10 has the worst record but has faced the strongest FBS opposition. Yes, part of that is because the SEC has taken care of business, thereby causing a lesser overall record among their collective opponents; but even taking that into account, the numbers show that the Pac 10 has still played better non-conference competition.

ON THE ROAD
Below illustrates the percentage of games each league has played away from home in non-conference action:

Conf.	Road Games/OOC Games	Pct.
Pac 10	8/26	30.8%
ACC	11/36	30.5%
Big East	9/31	29.0%
SEC	9/32	28.1%
Big XII	13/48	27.1%
Big Ten	10/40	25.0%

FYI: non-conference neutral site games (i.e. Missouri-Illinois, Alabama-Clemson) were calculated as road games for both leagues.

A 5.8-percentage point difference between first and last place in these standings is not a huge enough gap for this category to mean much at this stage. One thing that hasn't changed from last year is that the Big Ten continues to shy away from hitting the road in non-league play, moreso than the other BCS conferences.

BCS COMPETITION
The following indicates the percentage of non-conference competition played against fellow BCS-league opponents:

Conf.	BCS Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
Pac 10	11/26	42.3%
ACC	15/36	41.7%
Big East	12/31	38.7%
Big Ten	11/40	32.5%
Big XII	15/48	31.3%
SEC	9/32	28.1%

And each conference's record against other power-league competition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	5-4	.556
ACC	8-7	.533
Big East	6-6	.500
Big XII	7-8	.467
Big Ten	6-7	.462
Pac 10	5-6	.455

Furthermore, the following is the combined record of each league's BCS opposition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Big East	38-14	.731
Pac 10	35-14	.714
ACC	46-23	.667
Big Ten	34-20	.630
SEC	22-16	.579
Big XII	38-28	.576

FYI: For purposes of this analysis, Notre Dame is included as a BCS/power-league team

That's a lot of numbers to look at and gauge. What they tell me is that the ACC comes out the best overall in this category, and the Big XII the worst. The SEC - like last year - continues to fatten up on a feast of opponents in the lower 1-A conferences while the Pac 10 and ACC are knocking helmets much more often against BCS-caliber competition. Think that doesn't make a difference in the overall win/loss standings?

OTHER 1-A/FBS COMPETITION
Each league's record against other 1-A/FBS foes...that is, the non-conference results against the poor schmoes from Conference USA, the MAC, the WAC, etc.:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	15-1	.938
Big XII	21-2	.913
Big Ten	17-2	.895
ACC	5-3	.625
Big East	7-5	.583
Pac 10	6-7	.462

And, just for kicks, the combined record of the "other 1-A" opponents for each BCS league:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	33-24	.579
ACC	17-19	.472
Big East	24-31	.436
Big Ten	35-47	.427
Big XII	43-58	.426
SEC	25-45	.357

You gotta give the SEC credit - they at least know how to drop the hammer on the cupcakes. No inexplicable losses to Navy, Middle Tennessee or half the Mountain West.

THE 1-AA/FCS FACTOR
The percentage of non-conference games against 1-AA competition...

Conf.	1-AA Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	13/36	36.1%
Big Ten	8/40	20.0%
Big XII	9/48	18.8%
Big East	7/31	22.6%
SEC	7/57	21.9%
Pac 10	2/26	7.7%

And this is where a lot of the warm and fuzzy feelings about the ACC in this analysis dies. One half of the league's total non-conference wins, and just over one third of all out-of-conference competition, have come from 1-AA opposition. Unacceptable. Yeah, I get it that some 1-AA teams (Richmond, McNeese State) are better than some bad 1-A teams (North Texas, Idaho, Syracuse) but the principle of scheduling FCS squads over lesser FBS squads was clear - fatten up with guaranteed wins and don't even risk the possibility of disaster. Lame.

FACTUALLY SUPPORTED SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSION
So what does all of this mean? It's still a little too early to tell but I think the picture so far tells us the SEC is still the best, the ACC (1-AA scheduling warts and all) is better than most pundits give it credit, and the Big East - as bad as it is - isn't ready for a funeral just yet.

All that said, this is how I'd rank the conferences so far in 2008:

1) SEC
2) Big XII
3) Big Ten
4) ACC
5) Pac 10
6) Big East

I'm toying around with the idea of creating some type of simple formula that takes into account all of the above numbers and then spits out a numerical rating for each conference, which would then take more of the subjectivity out of the above league rankings. But I'm certainly no math wiz, so any suggestions on a formula would be appreciated.

We'll see how things look in a few weeks when another batch of non-conference activity has been played out.

Hit or Miss: The ACC's 2008 Non-Conference Slate

Last fall, we saw the likes of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Virginia go on the road and get abused like rented inbred mules at Oklahoma, LSU, and Wyoming respectively, on national TV, in the first weeks of the season. The ACC's image never recovered in the following months and the league did itself no favors by going a lousy 2-6 in bowls.

2008 offers a major chance at redemption....or another chance to bury the league's reputation even further. Here's a week by week schedule of non-conference action for the league (listed by most-to-least intriguing):

AUG. 28-30, 2008
Clemson vs. Alabama (in Atlanta)
USC @ Virginia
N.C. State @ South Carolina
Wake Forest @ Baylor
Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina (in Charlotte)
Boston College vs. Kent State (in Cleveland)
James Madison @ Duke
Jacksonville State @ Georgia Tech
Delaware @ Maryland
Charleston Southern @ Miami
McNeese State @ North Carolina

SEPT. 6, 2008
Miami @ Florida
Ole Miss @ Wake Forest
Northwestern @ Duke
Maryland @ Middle Tennessee
The Citadel @ Clemson
Western Carolina @ Florida State
Furman @ Virginia Tech
Richmond @ Virginia
William & Mary @ N.C. State

SEPT. 11-13, 2008
California @ Maryland
North Carolina @ Rutgers
Virginia @ Connecticut
Navy @ Duke
Chattanooga @ Florida State

SEPT. 20, 2008
Miami @ Texas A&M
Mississippi State @ Georgia Tech
UCF @ Boston College
East Carolina @ N.C. State
Eastern Michigan @ Maryland
South Carolina State @ Clemson

SEPT. 27, 2008
Virginia Tech @ Nebraska
Florida State vs. Colorado (in Jacksonville)
USF @ N.C. State
Navy @ Wake Forest
Rhode Island @ Boston College

OCT. 4, 2008
Connecticut @ North Carolina
Western Kentucky @ Virginia Tech

OCT. 11, 2008
UCF @ Miami
Notre Dame @ North Carolina
East Carolina @ Virginia
Gardner-Webb @ Georgia Tech

OCT. 18, 2008
no out-of-conference match-ups

OCT. 25, 2008
Duke @ Vanderbilt

NOV. 1, 2008
no out-of-conference match-ups

NOV. 8, 2008
Notre Dame @ Boston College

NOV. 15 & NOV. 22, 2008
no out-of-conference match-ups

NOV. 29, 2008
Florida @ Florida State
Georgia Tech @ Georgia
South Carolina @ Clemson
Vanderbilt @ Wake Forest

BY THE NUMBERS

Non-conference home games: 34
Non-conference road games: 10
Non-conference neutral site games: 4
vs. SEC: 10
vs. Big East: 4
vs. Big 12: 4
vs. Pac 10: 2
vs. Big 10: 1
vs. Notre Dame: 2
vs. non-BCS 1-A: 11
vs. 1-AA: 14

THOUGHTS

--More home games, less BCS competition, more-1AA foes...I don't have a problem with it at all; the ACC as a whole proved it couldn't handle the brutal non-conference gauntlet of '07 so it's best to take a step back and face an easier slate.

--Weeks 1 and 2 will likely set the tone in terms of the ACC's reputation this year.  Clemson-Bama, NC State-South Carolina, UVA-USC, and Miami-UF are four of the biggest non-conference games of the opening two weekends in all of college football.  Cavs-Trojans and Canes-Gators are unfortunate mismatches favoring the non-ACC clubs, so the ACC needs the more "even" matchups to turn out in it's favor.  And it goes without saying that the league cannot lose any other non-conference game in those two weekends, except for perhaps Duke-Northwestern.

--Although there's less total BCS opposition, the quality of the opposition is still pretty tough: Florida twice, USC, Georgia, USF, Cal, Alabama, Nebraska, etc.  But it's still easier than last year's slate.

--A quick glance of the games tells me that the ACC should win every 1-AA and non-BCS 1-A matchup; all but three of those games are home contests and there's no glaring mismatch (i.e. BYU vs. Duke).  That's 25 wins right there.  Going just 11-12 in the 23 BCS-opposition games would put the ACC at 36-12 in non-conference competition heading into the bowl season.   Anything less than that and the ACC's reputation likely stays in the crapper.

Out of Conference Report 2007 - Final Edition

For those who are new to this blog, I began a feature last season that would attempt to quantify the strength of each BCS league based on the quality of it's non-conference competition. Yes, I realize that football has far too many intangibles and such that can't be broken down into mere numbers. But I'm a stats guy, and if someone is going to tell me that the Big 10 or Big East or whoever is better than the ACC, I'd like to see some justification for that aside from half-informed fanboy drivel.

For better or worse, I've compiled a fairly detailed set of numbers that go a long way in showing where the conferences stack up against each other. One thing some of you may ask is....why not just list how one conference performed against each of the other five leagues last season and leave it at that? For starters, no conference played another league enough times to get an accurate feel. Secondly, even if there were enough games played to make a good determination, that only shows that one conference was better than another, not how one conference stacks up against the other five.

So, I hope that explains this whole endeavor. I have some ACC-centered commentary among all the numbers, but for the most part the stats speak for themselves. And away we go...

Final non-conference records among the BCS leagues, post-bowl craziness:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	47-10	.825
Big XII	41-15	.732
Big Ten	38-14	.731
Big East	32-13	.711
Pac 10	25-12	.676
ACC	35-21	.625

Based on general perception, I don't think it surprises anyone that the ACC is comfortably in last place in these standings, nor that the SEC is in first. But, as this feature has been pointing out throughout the 2007 season, there's more to out-of-conference competition than the above records.

To delve a little deeper, below is the combined record of all 1-A/FBS opposition faced by each BCS league in non-conference play:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	249-194	.562
ACC	333-285	.539
SEC	326-280	.538
Big XII	315-291	.520
Big East	252-243	.509
Big Ten	240-311	.436

So while the ACC finished last in the win-loss standings, it appears that part of the reason was that they faced stronger out-of-conference opposition than everyone but the Pac 10. It's interesting to note that only the Big Ten had their non-conference opponents collectively finish below .500...and comfortably below .500.

ON THE ROAD
Below illustrates the percentage of games each league played away from home in non-conference action:

Conf.	Road Games/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	28/56	50.0%
Big East	21/45	46.7%
Pac 10	16/37	43.2%
Big XII	24/56	42.9%
Big Ten	19/52	36.5%
SEC	17/57	29.8%

FYI: bowl games and out-of-conference neutral site games (i.e. Missouri-Illinois, Florida State-Alabama) were calculated as road games for both leagues.

One-half of the ACC's non-conference competition was played away from an ACC stadium. One half! Meanwhile, seven out of ten of the SEC's non-league games were played at home. The Big Ten wasn't partial to hitting the road either.

BCS COMPETITION
The following indicates the percentage of non-conference competition played against fellow BCS-league opponents:

Conf.	BCS Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	29/56	51.8%
Pac 10	15/37	40.5%
Big East	18/45	40.0%
Big Ten	20/52	38.5%
SEC	21/57	36.8%
Big XII	19/57	33.3%

And each conference's record against other power-league competition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	9-6	.600
SEC	12-9	.571
Big Ten	11-9	.550
Big XII	10-9	.526
ACC	13-16	.448
Big East	8-10	.444

Furthermore, the following is the combined record of each league's BCS opposition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Big XII	148-83	.641
SEC	176-108	.620
ACC	217-140	.608
Pac 10	100-79	.559
Big East	119-102	.538
Big Ten	122-131	.482

That's a lot of numbers to look at and gauge. What they tell me is that the ACC has to be applauded for the quality of non-conference opposition it faces. More than one-half of that competition is from the other five BCS leagues. On top of that, it's good competition (witness the .608 winning percentage of the opposition). Unfortunately, the league wasn't quite up to meeting the challenge, given the 13-16 record. I was a bit surprised to see that the Big East fared just a tad worse in the win-loss column. The SEC and Pac 10 appear to have fared the best in this category when you look at all of the numbers (and remember that the Pac 10 is the only league to play 9 conference games, so that's one less non-conference game for each member). Neither the Big East nor the Big Ten impress in this category in any aspect.

OTHER 1-A (OR "FBS" IF YOU WANT TO BE ALL TECHNICAL) COMPETITION
Each league's record against other 1-A/FBS foes...that is, the non-conference results against the poor schmoes from Conference USA, the MAC, the WAC, etc.:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	26-1	.963
Big Ten	21-3	.875
Big East	18-3	.857
Big XII	24-5	.828
ACC	15-5	.750
Pac 10	14-6	.700

And, just for kicks, the combined record of the "other 1-A" opponents for each BCS league:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	149-115	.564
Big East	133-141	.485
SEC	150-172	.466
ACC	116-145	.444
Big XII	166-208	.443
Big Ten	118-180	.396

That's too many losses by the ACC and Pac 10 given the number of games played, although the Pac 10 can be slightly forgiven given that they played fairly decent non-BCS competition. Overall though, the Big Ten's lack of quality non-conference opposition, whether BCS or non-BCS, is evident. Just .042 percentage points separate the winning percentage of the Big East opponents with the Big XII's opposition, while there's a drop of .047 points between the Big XII and Big Ten.

THE 1-AA (OR "FCS" IF YOU WANT TO BE ALL TECHNICAL) FACTOR
The percentage of non-conference games against 1-AA competition...

Conf.	1-AA Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
SEC	9/57	15.8%
Big Ten	8/52	15.4%
Big XII	8/56	14.3%
Big East	6/45	13.3%
ACC	7/57	12.3%
Pac 10	2/37	5.4%

This is one set of standings in which finishing at the top is not something to plaster all over the conference media guide. Nonetheless there's not a big difference between the SEC through the ACC. The Pac 10 deserves kudos for avoiding lower-division matchups whenever possible. If there has to be a big loser in this category, it's the Big Ten, since the six BCS leagues went 40-2 against 1-AA opponents in 2007....and the two losses were by Big Ten schools (Michigan and Minnesota).

FACTUALLY SUPPORTED SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSION
So, what does all of this mean? A few things stand out to me: 1) The quality of the ACC's non-conference competition has clearly affected their won-loss record in non-conference play; 2) I'm surprised that the Big East wasn't more impressive in this category, given the better reputation they seem to hold with many in the media; 3) The SEC deserves it's props as the King of college football, but they play weaker non-conference competition than most, and they stay at home to do it; 4) The Pac 10 looks fairly impressive, but is a bit of an anomaly since they played much fewer non-conference games due to their round-robin league slate; 5) Nothing much stands out about the Big XII except that they could buck up on the number of BCS opponents they face outside of league play; 6) The Big Ten's non-conference opposition was generally horrible, and they didn't exactly set the world on fire against it.

All that said, this is how I'd rank the conferences for 2007:

1) SEC
2) Pac 10
3) Big XII
4) ACC
5) Big East
6) Big Ten

And there's a large gap between the Big XII and the ACC. Still, looking at the numbers, the ACC is better than it's national perception....and even better then the perception I had of it. The Big Ten enjoys far more favorable media coverage than the ACC (and Big East for that matter), but it's loftier tradition can only carry it so far. The Pac 10 is much better than "USC and the nine dwarves". And the SEC is the best...but not quite as dominant as advertised.

Out of Conference Report - At Regular Season's End

This is mostly a re-post of last week's compilation, but with updated numbers and some new commentary when warranted.

Updated non-conference records among the BCS leagues at the end of the regular season...

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	40-8	.833
Big 10	35-9	.795
Big 12	36-12	.750
Big East	29-11	.725
ACC	33-15	.688
Pac 10	21-10	.677

Washington's loss to Hawaii last Saturday knocked the Pac 10 down a notch into last place in these standings. Of course, there's much more to non-conference competition than just the above table. For instance, below is the total combined record of all the teams each league has played in out of conference competition (1-AA/FCS opponents not included):

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	185-166	.527
ACC	253-243	.510
SEC	229-230	.499
Big East	201-211	.488
Big 12	233-251	.481
Big 10	162-274	.372

The Big 10....blech. I know which BCS conference I'm betting on to get drilled come bowl season. As for the remaining five leagues, since we're dealing with numbers in the hundreds now, it's a statistical wash in my estimation, with .046 percentage points separating first from fifth. And, in case you're looking at these numbers and thinking something is a bit off (such as the ACC and SEC both having played 48 non-conference games yet there's 37-game disparity in the record of their competition), keep in mind that some conferences played more 1-AA competition than others.

ON THE ROAD
Below illustrates the percentage of games each league played away from home in non-conference action...

Conf.	Road Games/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	20/48	41.7%
Big East	16/40	40.0%
Big 12	16/48	33.3%
Pac 10	10/31	32.3%
Big 10	11/44	25.0%
SEC	8/48	16.7%

FYI- out-of-conference neutral site games (i.e. Missouri-Illinois, Florida State-Alabama) were calculated as road games for both leagues.

Compare and contrast the number of road games to total losses for each league. There's a fairly strong correlation - for instance, the SEC went 40-8 overall and played 8 road games; the Pac 10 went 21-10 overall, and played 10 road games. Impressively, the ACC bucked that trend, having played a whopping 20 games on the road, but only had 15 total non-conference losses. The Big East and Big 12 also similarly bucked the trend. No conference had more losses than road games.

BCS COMPETITION
The following indicates the percentage of non-conference competition played against fellow BCS-league opponents...

Conf.	BCS Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	22/48	45.8%
Big East	15/40	37.5%
Pac 10	11/31	35.5%
Big 10	13/44	29.5%
SEC	14/48	29.2%
Big 12	11/48	22.9%

And each conference's record against other power-league competition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Big 10	9-4	.692
Pac 10	6-5	.545
ACC	11-11	.500
SEC	7-7	.500
Big East	7-8	.467
Big 12	5-6	.455

From these numbers alone, the Big 12 clearly fares the worst. They played the least amount of BCS non-conference opposition (exactly half in number and percentage of what the ACC played), and they have the worst record against that competition by a slim margin. But, there's more to the story. Below lists the actual BCS teams played by each league in non-conference play, against whom, and the result (win/loss only; scores not included for simplicity's sake).

Big 10
WINS- Washington State (@Wisconsin), Pittsburgh (@Michigan State), @Washington (Ohio State), Notre Dame (@Penn State), Notre Dame (@Michigan State), Notre Dame (@Purdue), @Notre Dame (Michigan), Syracuse (@Iowa), @Syracuse (Illinois)
LOSSES- vs.Missouri (Illinois), Oregon (@Michigan), @Iowa State (Iowa), Duke (@Northwestern)

Pac 10
WINS- Tennessee (California), @Michigan (Oregon), Colorado (@Arizona State), @Nebraska (USC), @Notre Dame (USC), @Syracuse (Washington)
LOSSES- Ohio State (@Washington), @Cincinnati (Oregon State), @Wisconsin (Washington State), Notre Dame (@Stanford), Notre Dame (@UCLA)

ACC
WINS- Connecticut (@Virginia), @Rutgers (Maryland), Texas A&M (@Miami), @Colorado (Florida State), vs.Alabama (Florida State), @South Carolina (Clemson), @Vanderbilt (Wake Forest), @Northwestern (Duke), Pittsburgh (@Virginia), @Notre Dame (Boston College), @Notre Dame (Georgia Tech)
LOSSES- West Virginia (@Maryland), Georgia (@Georgia Tech), @LSU (Virginia Tech), @Oklahoma (Miami), @Florida (Florida State), @USF (North Carolina), Connecticut (@Duke), South Carolina (@North Carolina), Nebraska (@Wake Forest), Louisville (@NC State), @Notre Dame (Duke)

SEC
WINS- Virginia Tech (@LSU), Florida State (@Florida), @Georgia Tech (Georgia), Oklahoma State (@Georgia), Kansas State (@Auburn), Louisville (@Kentucky), @North Carolina (South Carolina)
LOSSES- Missouri (@Mississippi), @West Virginia (Mississippi State), Clemson (@South Carolina), USF (@Auburn), Wake Forest (@Vanderbilt), vs.Florida State (Alabama), @California (Tennessee)

Big East
WINS- @Auburn (USF), Mississippi State (@West Virginia), @Maryland (West Virginia), Oregon State (@Cincinnati), @NC State (Louisville), North Carolina (@USF), @Duke (Connecticut)
LOSSES- Illinois (@Syracuse), @Virginia (Connecticut), @Virginia (Pittsburgh), @Kentucky (Louisville), Maryland (@Rutgers), @Michigan State (Pittsburgh), @Iowa (Syracuse), Washington (@Syracuse)

Big 12
WINS- vs.Illinois (Missouri), @Wake Forest (Nebraska), Iowa (@Iowa State), Miami (@Oklahoma), @Mississippi (Missouri)
LOSSES- @Georgia (Oklahoma State), USC (@Nebraska), @Arizona State (Colorado), @Auburn (Kansas State), Florida State (@Colorado), @Miami (Texas A&M)

And to delve a little further, the following is the combined record of each league's BCS opposition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	106-64	.624
Big 12	81-51	.614
ACC	152-114	.571
Big East	96-85	.530
Pac 10	68-65	.511
Big 10	53-104	.338

So, taking into account the percentage of total non-conference games played against fellow BCS competition, the quality of that competition, and each league's results against that competition, the SEC and ACC appear to be clear winners in this category. The Big 10, despite the gaudy 9-4 record against BCS opposition, is the clear loser here upon close inspection (seriously - count how many times you see "Notre Dame" and "Syracuse" among their BCS opponents).

THE 1-AA (OR "FCS" IF YOU WANT TO BE ALL TECHNICAL) FACTOR
The percentage of non-conference games against 1-AA competition...

Conf.	1-AA Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
SEC	9/48	18.8%
Big 10	8/44	18.2%
Big 12	8/48	16.7%
Big East	6/40	15.0%
ACC	7/48	14.9%
Pac 10	2/31	6.5%

The Big 10 - and this appears to be a theme - clearly fares the worst in this category...not only has just over one-fifth of all their non-conference competition involved 1-AA opponents, they've lost two of those games (Appalachian State-Michigan and North Dakota State-Minnesota). Honestly, only the Pac 10 really comes off well in this category.

AND ALL THE REST
Each league's record against other 1-A/FBS foes...that is, the non-conference results against the poor schleps from the Sun Belt, Conference USA, MAC, etc.:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	24-1	.960
Big 10	20-3	.870
Big East	16-3	.842
Big 12	24-5	.828
ACC	15-4	.789
Pac 10	13-5	.722

And, just for kicks, the combined record of the "other 1-A" opponents for each BCS league:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	117-101	.537
Big East	105-126	.455
ACC	101-129	.439
Big 12	152-200	.432
SEC	123-166	.426
Big 10	109-170	.391

Again, the Big 10 is lagging behind the pack. The Big 12 doesn't look so hot here either, having played the most games against "other 1-A" opponents, having just the fourth highest win percentage, and the quality of their opposition isn't too good. The SEC is the only one that really comes out of this category looking decent.

FACTUALLY SUPPORTED SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSION
So, what does all of this mean? A few things stand out to me: 1) The ACC deserves major props for hitting the road and playing a brutal non-conference schedule (45.8% of all games against fellow BCS leagues!), and doing fairly well against it; 2) The Big East deserves some kudos as well; 3) The SEC did quite well, but their refusal to hit the road in any meaningful way is a giant black mark; 4) The Pac 10 looks fairly impressive, but is a bit of an anomaly since they played much fewer non-conference games due to their round-robin league slate; 5) The Big 10 + non conference play = crime against nature; 6) The Big 12 couldn't appear more middle-of-the-pack if it tried.

All that said, this is how I'd rank the conferences as we head into the bowl season:

1) SEC
2) ACC
3) Pac 10
4) Big 12
5) Big East
6) Big 10...a very distant 6th

The SEC is the best conference so far this season, but it's not as dominant as the media and blog horde would have you believe. The Big 10 is clearly the worst. The other four BCS leagues aren't separated by all that much, but the ACC gets the nod at #2 based on the above stats and from general subjective viewing. Still, bowl season could really shake things up.

Finally, let me say that I believe non-conference competition is by far the best way to compare the BCS leagues side-by-side-by-side, but this compilation is certainly not a complete analysis. Margin of victory, the placement of games on the schedule, the equality of matchups, and countless other factors aren't really taken into account here. These reports try to make the comparisons as objective and concise as possible, but in reality there will likely never be a thorough enough and definitive enough analysis to determine how the leagues truly stack up to one another.

But for me, this will do.

Out of Conference Report, Week 13

Updated non-conference records among the BCS leagues for this season, heading into conference-championship weekend...

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	40-8	.833
Big 10	35-9	.795
Big 12	36-12	.750
Big East	29-11	.725
Pac 10	21-9	.700
ACC	33-15	.688

And the ACC dips back into the cellar in these standings. Of course, there's much more to non-conference competition than just the above standings. For instance, below is the total combined record of all the teams each league has played in out of conference competition (1-AA/FCS opponents not included):

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	170-160	.515
ACC	243-238	.505
SEC	223-221	.502
Big East	196-206	.488
Big 12	224-247	.476
Big 10	157-270	.368

The Big 10....yeesh. I know which BCS conference I'm betting on to get drilled come bowl season. As for the remaining five leagues, since we're dealing with numbers in the hundreds now, it's a statistical wash in my estimation, with .039 percentage points separating first from fifth. And, in case you're looking at these numbers and thinking something is a bit off (such as the ACC and SEC both having played 48 non-conference games yet there's 37-game disparity in the record of their competition), keep in mind that some conferences played more 1-AA competition than others - which as I stated I'm not including here - and there are still several games to be played next week around the country.

ON THE ROAD
Below illustrates the percentage of games each league played away from home in non-conference action...

Conf.	Road Games/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	20/48	41.7%
Big East	16/40	40.0%
Big 12	16/48	33.3%
Pac 10	9/30	30.0%
Big 10	11/44	25.0%
SEC	8/48	16.7%

FYI- out-of-conference neutral site games (i.e. Missouri-Illinois, Florida State-Alabama) were calculated as road games for both leagues.

Compare and contrast the number of road games to total losses for each league. There's a fairly strong correlation - for instance, the SEC went 40-8 overall and played 8 road games; the Pac 10 went 21-9 overall, and played 9 road games. Impressively, the ACC bucked that trend, having played a whopping 20 games on the road, but only had 15 total non-conference losses. The Big East and Big 12 also similarly bucked the trend. No conference had more losses than road games.

BCS COMPETITION
The following indicates the percentage of non-conference competition played against fellow BCS-league opponents...

Conf.	BCS Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
ACC	22/48	45.8%
Big East	15/40	37.5%
Pac 10	11/30	36.7%
Big 10	13/44	29.5%
SEC	14/48	29.2%
Big 12	11/48	22.9%

And each conference's record against other power-league competition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Big 10	9-4	.692
Pac 10	6-5	.545
ACC	11-11	.500
SEC	7-7	.500
Big East	7-8	.467
Big 12	5-6	.455

From these numbers alone, the Big 12 clearly fares the worst. They played the least amount of BCS non-conference opposition (exactly half in number and percentage of what the ACC played), and they have the worst record against that competition by a slim margin. But, there's more to the story. Below lists the actual BCS teams played by each league in non-conference play, against whom, and the result (win/loss only; scores not included for simplicity's sake).

Big 10
Wins- Washington State (@Wisconsin), Pittsburgh (@Michigan State), @Washington (Ohio State), Notre Dame (@Penn State), Notre Dame (@Michigan State), Notre Dame (@Purdue), @Notre Dame (Michigan), Syracuse (@Iowa), @Syracuse (Illinois)
Losses- vs.Missouri (Illinois), Oregon (@Michigan), @Iowa State (Iowa), Duke (@Northwestern)

Pac 10
Wins- Tennessee (California), @Michigan (Oregon), Colorado (@Arizona State), @Nebraska (USC), @Notre Dame (USC), @Syracuse (Washington)
Losses- Ohio State (@Washington), @Cincinnati (Oregon State), @Wisconsin (Washington State), Notre Dame (@Stanford), Notre Dame (@UCLA)

ACC
Wins- Connecticut (@Virginia), @Rutgers (Maryland), Texas A&M (@Miami), @Colorado (Florida State), vs.Alabama (Florida State), @South Carolina (Clemson), @Vanderbilt (Wake Forest), @Northwestern (Duke), Pittsburgh (@Virginia), @Notre Dame (Boston College), @Notre Dame (Georgia Tech)
Losses- West Virginia (@Maryland), Georgia (@Georgia Tech), @LSU (Virginia Tech), @Oklahoma (Miami), @Florida (Florida State), @USF (North Carolina), Connecticut (@Duke), South Carolina (@North Carolina), Nebraska (@Wake Forest), Louisville (@NC State), @Notre Dame (Duke)

SEC
Wins- Virginia Tech (@LSU), Florida State (@Florida), @Georgia Tech (Georgia), Oklahoma State (@Georgia), Kansas State (@Auburn), Louisville (@Kentucky), @North Carolina (South Carolina)
Losses- Missouri (@Mississippi), @West Virginia (Mississippi State), Clemson (@South Carolina), USF (@Auburn), Wake Forest (@Vanderbilt), vs.Florida State (Alabama), @California (Tennessee)

Big East
Wins- @Auburn (USF), Mississippi State (@West Virginia), @Maryland (West Virginia), Oregon State (@Cincinnati), @NC State (Louisville), North Carolina (@USF), @Duke (Connecticut)
Losses- Illinois (@Syracuse), @Virginia (Connecticut), @Virginia (Pittsburgh), @Kentucky (Louisville), Maryland (@Rutgers), @Michigan State (Pittsburgh), @Iowa (Syracuse), Washington (@Syracuse)

Big 12
Wins- vs.Illinois (Missouri), @Wake Forest (Nebraska), Iowa (@Iowa State), Miami (@Oklahoma), @Mississippi (Missouri)
Losses- @Georgia (Oklahoma State), USC (@Nebraska), @Arizona State (Colorado), @Auburn (Kansas State), Florida State (@Colorado), @Miami (Texas A&M)

And to delve a little further, the following is the combined record of each league's BCS opposition:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	104-61	.630
Big 12	79-51	.608
ACC	148-112	.569
Big East	95-84	.531
Pac 10	68-62	.523
Big 10	52-102	.338

So, taking into account the percentage of total non-conference games played against fellow BCS competition, the quality of that competition, and each league's results against that competition, the SEC and ACC appear to be clear winners in this category. The Big 10, despite the gaudy 9-4 record against BCS opposition, is the clear loser here upon close inspection (seriously - count how many times you see "Notre Dame" and "Syracuse" among their BCS opponents).

THE 1-AA (OR "FCS" IF YOU WANT TO BE ALL TECHNICAL) FACTOR
The percentage of non-conference games against 1-AA competition...

Conf.	1-AA Foes/OOC Games	Pct.
SEC	9/48	18.8%
Big 10	8/44	18.2%
Big 12	8/48	16.7%
Big East	6/40	15.0%
ACC	7/48	14.9%
Pac 10	2/30	6.7%

The Big 10 - and this appears to be a theme - clearly fares the worst in this category...not only has just over one-fifth of all their non-conference competition involved 1-AA opponents, they've lost two of those games (Appalachian State-Michigan and North Dakota State-Minnesota). Honestly, only the Pac 10 really comes off well in this category.

AND ALL THE REST
Each league's record against other 1-A/FBS foes...that is, the non-conference results against the poor schleps from the Sun Belt, Conference USA, MAC, etc.:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
SEC	24-1	.960
Big 10	20-3	.870
Big East	16-3	.842
Big 12	24-5	.828
ACC	15-4	.789
Pac 10	13-4	.765

And, just for kicks, the combined record of the "other 1-A" opponents for each BCS league:

Conf.	Record	Pct.
Pac 10	102-98	.510
Big East	101-122	.453
ACC	95-126	.430
SEC	119-160	.427
Big 12	145-196	.425
Big 10	105-168	.385

Again, the Big 10 is lagging behind the pack. The Big 12 doesn't look so hot here either, having played the most games against "other 1-A" opponents, having just the fourth highest win percentage, and the quality of their opposition isn't too good. The SEC is the only one that really comes out of this category looking decent.

FACTUALLY SUPPORTED SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSION
So, what does all of this mean? A few things stand out to me: 1) The ACC deserves major props for the hitting the road and playing a brutal non-conference schedule (45.8% of all games against fellow BCS leagues!), and doing fairly well against it; 2) The Big East deserves some kudos as well; 3) The SEC did quite well, but their refusal to hit the road in any meaningful way is a giant black mark; 4) The Pac 10 looks impressive, but is a bit of an anomaly since they played much fewer non-conference games due to their round-robin league slate; 5) The Big 10 + non conference play = crime against nature; 6) The Big 12 couldn't appear more middle-of-the-pack if it tried.

All that said, this is how I'd rank the conferences as we head into the final weekend:

1) SEC
2) Pac 10
3) ACC
4) Big East
5) Big 12
6) Big 10...a very distant 6th

Finally, let me say that I believe non-conference competition is by far the best way to compare the BCS leagues side-by-side-by-side, but this compilation is certainly not a complete analysis. Margin of victory, the placement of games on the schedule, the equality of matchups, and countless other factors aren't really taken into account here. These reports try to make the comparisons as objective and concise as possible, but in reality there will likely never be a thorough enough and definitive enough analysis to determine how the leagues truly stack up to one another.

But for me, this will do.