Rating the 2015 Non-Conference Slate: Big 12

America's heartland is a place of hearty folk, unpredictable weather, and the source of our bread. Also, apparently, soft out-of-conference scheduling, at least at the bottom end. Let's get to it.

1. Texas (1.25 legit, 0 FCS): @Notre Dame, Rice, California. This is one of my favorite schedules. Two traditional powers that haven't met in 19 years, a game once mentioned in a JFK speech, and a visit from a Pac-12 team. Good job.
2. Oklahoma (0.5, 0): Akron, @Tennessee, Tulsa. Less inspiring, but I still like the trip to Knoxville.
3. Texas Tech (0.25, 1): Sam Houston State, Texas-El Paso, @Arkansas. Arkansas's recent history is why they're rated so low, otherwise this would be higher. It's a good sign from Texas Tech after a good run of terrible non-conference scheduling.
4. Texas Christian (0.25, 1): @Minnesota, Stephen F. Austin, Southern Methodist. On the road to a Big Ten team is nothing to sneeze at, even if that team is Minnesota.
5. Iowa State (0.25, 1): Northern Iowa, Iowa, @Toledo. This is where things start to fall off a cliff. First, you've got a fair chance that they might lose to one, or both, Iowa teams. Then there's a road trip to a MAC team? Wha?
6. Kansas (0, 1): South Dakota State, Memphis, @Rutgers. There's a pretty good chance Kansas may go 0-3 against this schedule. I'm not even kidding.
7. West Virginia (0, 1): Georgia Southern, Liberty, Maryland. I already praised Maryland for playing West Virginia, so I pretty much have nothing else to say about this one, except that Georgia Southern game in Morgantown has the potential to be interesting.
8. Oklahoma State (0, 1): @Central Michigan, Central Arkansas, Texas-San Antonio. Another MAC roadtrip! What is this world coming to?
9. Baylor (0, 1): @Southern Methodist, Lamar, Rice. The best thing I can say about this schedule is that two of the three teams used to be in the Southwest Conference, but if comes down to it again, blowing the doors off these teams is probably going to do Baylor little favors.
10. Kansas State (0, 1): South Dakota, @Texas-San Antonio, Louisiana Tech. K-State spices things up with a trip to the Alamodome, but that will mostly have the effect of making me have to remember that they may not be the Alamo Bowl's top selection if that's an issue in a few months.

Rating the 2010 Non-Conference Slate, Part 4: Big XII

Tonight, we examine the conference that is soon to have two less members than its numerical title states. Seriously, it's not like the Big 12 has even been around that long, how much of a brand is there to worry about? Anyway...

1. Colorado (1.75 legit, 0 DI-AA): @Colorado State, @California, Hawaii, Georgia. Colorado has far and away the strongest OOC schedule of any of the Big 12, but they're also one of the worst teams in the conference. I'd say that Dan Hawkins is trying salvage his job this year, but that would imply there's anything left to salvage.
2. Oklahoma (1.5, 0): Utah State, Florida State, Air Force, @Cincinnati. Optimism is high at Oklahoma, and well it should be. Their new offensive skill players were able to take their licks last year as opposed to this year, meaning the projected rebuilding timetable in the post-Bradford era has been moved up. This schedule also provides a good foundation for a darkhorse national title run, assuming Cincy is decent again this year.
3. Iowa State (1.5, 1): Northern Illinois, @Iowa, Northern Iowa, Utah. I need some sort of provision for OOC rivalry games or something. Though fans of Pitt, Penn State, and Miami probably would tell you that you should appreciate it if your OOC rival actually does play you every year. At any rate, at least ISU sourced their DI-AA patsy locally. (College Football 2010: the cash money isn't the only thing that's green!) (Also, UNI probably has a fighting chance against ISU, but that's another story.)
4. Kansas (1, 1): North Dakota State, Georgia Tech, @Southern Mississippi, New Mexico State. A mea culpa from my ACC article, wherein I said that KU was location in Manhattan. I should know better than that, being born in Kansas and having multiple cousins who went to K-State and all. However, since my Mom was the one who told me about the error, that pretty much confirms no one is reading this thing except for her.

5. Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (0.75, 1): Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech, Florida International, N-Arkansas. Outside of the continuing TAMU-Arkansas series at Jerry Jones's Intergalactic Space Palace, there is literally nothing worth writing home about here, provided we lived in an era in which people still wrote letters.
6. Texas (0.5, 0): @Rice, Wyoming, California-Los Angeles, Florida Atlantic. President John F. Kennedy once asked, "Why does Rice play Texas?" Well, in this case, I suspect it's because they got a lot of money for it. Even more sad is that Rice, despite having the most disproportionately sized stadium in college football (full capacity: 70,000, enrollment: 6,799) is actually holding this game at Reliant Stadium. I'm still counting it as a home game for Rice, though. Oh, I guess Texas also plays UCLA, but at any rate Texas should win all these games by at least two touchdowns.
7. Baylor (0.5, 1): Sam Houston State, Buffalo, @Texas Christian, @Rice. If this is finally Baylor's year, playing @TCU doesn't do them any favors, as that would require a perhaps difficult 3rd Big 12 win for bowl eligiblity.
8. Nebraska (0.5, 1): Western Kentucky, Idaho, @Washington, South Dakota State. At U-Dub is kind of interesting, I guess. Otherwise, this is a pretty unimpressive schedule. And it only gets worse from here.
9. Missouri (0.5, 1): N-Illinois, McNeese State, San Diego State, Miami (OH). I think TAMU-Arkansas is more interesting, but the rising trend of neutral-site inter-conference games is very encouraging.
10. Kansas State (0.5, 1): California-Los Angeles, Missouri State, Central Florida, @North Texas. Well, they get a road trip to Denton, TX at least. Other than that, I've got nothing.
11. Oklahoma State (0.25, 0): Washington State, Troy, Tulsa, @Louisiana-Lafayette. Amazingly, this is not the worst OOC schedule in the Big 12. Once again that title goes to...
12. Texas Tech (0, 1): Southern Methodist, @New Mexico, Weber State, Houston. Other than a love of pirates, throwing it around the field, and a dislike of Adam Jones, the other thing Texas Tech under Mike Leach did was come up with some truly awful schedules. Though they did lose to Houston last year, so there could be some revenge there, though perhaps not that the Cap'n's new gig is at Fox College Sports.
    

Well, that's all I got. Two more to go! Next up, the Pacific 10.

Rating the 2009 Non-Conference Slate, Part 4: Big XII

With the Braves' record at games I've attended this year at 0-3 (1 in ATL, 2 in SF), I figure now's a great time to look at the out-of-conference schedules of the land of pirates, corn, and steers and the men who rustle them: the Big XII.

1. Oklahoma (1.25 legit, 1 DI-AA): N-BYU, Idaho State, Tulsa, @Miami (FL). This is a great schedule for a team that's trying to win a national title. Kudos to OU. 2 legitimate mid-major teams and a big inter-sectional road game is generally a good recipe for success, provided they survive the gauntlet. Going 4-0 here also gives them breathing room if they lose in-conference. For an example of how not to schedule for a national title, see the 11th and 12th ranked teams below.
2. Baylor (1.25, 1): @Wake Forest, Connecticut, Northwestern State, Kent. Not really much to get excited about here, but imagine if Baylor surpises some folks and comes out 4-0? I think they've got a fighting chance this year to make a bowl.
3. Nebraska (1, 0): Florida Atlantic, Arkansas State, @Virginia Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette. I think 3 Sun Belt teams should count as a DI-AA point or something. I mean, seriously. The return trip to Blacksburg may carry some intrigue.
4. Oklahoma State (1, 1): Georgia, Houston, Rice, Grambling State. That's right kids, your eyes aren't fooling you. That's the Univerisity of Georgia once again traveling for a regular season out-of-conference game. More on that later. Not much else to this schedule, though. Some C-USA West teams and a DI-AA round things out.
5. Colorado (0.75, 0): Colorado State, @Toledo, Wyoming, @West Virginia. That's right kids, @Toledo! Anyway, words are failing me here, not because it's beautiful but because I can't think of anything especially interesting to say.
   
6. Texas A&M (0.75, 0): New Mexico, Utah State, UAB, N-Arkansas. Apparently TAMU and Arkansas have an on-going series scheduled to be played at the Cowboys' new intergalactic space palace from this year on. I applaud this move, though I'd be most Arkansas fans miss the Texas series more. Nonetheless, the Southwest Conference is dead, long-live the SWC!
   
7. Missouri (0.75, 1): N-Illinois, Bowling Green, Furman, @Nevada. I don't know how long this Mizzou-Illinois series is scheduled, but I like it and hope it continues. (I realize I could find this out quickly, but I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.) I don't know about this @Nevada business, but hey whatever gets you 2 gauraunteed home games these days I suppose.
8. Kansas State (0.75, 2): Massachuessets, @Lousiana-Lafayette, @UCLA, Tennessee Tech. Well, at least they're not going on the road for their actual DI-AA opponents. After this year, I wonder if Bill Synder will try to schedule 3 DI-AA teams? At any rate, enjoy your last interesting non-conference opponent for awhile, KSU fans.
9. Iowa State (0.5, 1): North Dakota State, Iowa, @Kent, Army. What's with Big 12 teams going on the road to mid-majors this year? Of course, I suspect ISU's concerns are mostly concerned with winning a conference game or two this year.
   
10. Kansas (0.25, 1): Northern Colorado, @Texas-El Paso, Duke, Southern Mississippi. Sadly, UTEP and USM may actually be bigger challenges for KU over the team they get credit for (Duke) but them's the breaks in this system. Warning: the schedules from here on out get outrageously bad.
    
11. Texas (0, 0): Louisiana-Monroe, @Wyoming, Texas-El Paso, Central Florida. Again, what's with Big 12 teams going on the road to mid-majors? Outside of that, for a team of Texas's caliber this is a really bad schedule. Unlike Oklahoma, there is no margin of error for Texas - they must win all their games to have a shot at the title, in all likelihood. Just pathetic. But wait, there's one more!
12. Texas Tech (0, 1): North Dakota, Rice, @Houston, New Mexico. What, does the Big 12 feel sorry for C-USA and the Mountain West or something? If I'm counting it right there are 8 mid-major road games. Anyway, this schedule makes me sad. While there's no gauruntee TTU will be anywhere near as good this year as they were last year, they should at least help to continue the Big 12 South's dominance over the North. They certainly won't be flexing any Big 12 muscle outside the conference, that's for sure.

Well, that wraps things up for our most favorite BCS conference located between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Next up, the Pacific 10! Stay tuned!

Rating the 2008 Non-Conference Slate, Part 4: Big XII

Onward, to everyone's favorite red-meat conference, the Big XII.

1. Colorado (2 legit, 1 DI-AA): (N)Colorado State, Eastern Washington, @Florida State, West Virginia. Gets an edge over Baylor since FSU and WVU are better than Washington State, Wake Forest, and UConn. Also, Colorado is not Baylor.
   
2. Baylor (2, 1): Wake Forest, Northwestern State, Washington State, @Connecticut. Good job getting 3 BCS teams, though I have to wonder if it's because they're being scheduled as a BCS-patsy.
   
3. Oklahoma (1.25, 1): Tennessee-Chattanooga, Cincinnati, @Washington, Texas Christian. Not as exciting as Nebraska's schedule, but 2 BCS teams give the Sooners a slight edge. The away game also helps, and TCU isn't terrible.
   
4. Nebraska (1, 0): Western Michigan, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Virginia Tech. This is pretty much Virginia Tech and nothing else. Don't get me wrong, this is another one of those inter-sectional matchups I like to see, but the rest of the schedule sucks, even if there are no DI-AA teams on it.
   
5. Texas (1, 0): Florida Atlantic, @Texas-El Paso, Arkansas, Rice. Texas pretends it's in the SWC again and schedules an away game in El Paso for some reason. Nonetheless, they'll go 4-0 against this slate.
   
6. Texas A&M (0.75, 0): Arkansas State, @New Mexico, Miami (FL), Army. Reprises the Miami game from last year, otherwise, not much going on here. Though @UNM raises an eyebrow.
   
7. Missouri 0.75, 1): (N)Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, Nevada, Buffalo. I like the Illinois game. Not so much everything else.
   
8. Oklahoma State (0.75, 1): (N)Washington State, Houston, Missouri State, Troy. I'm not going to look it up, but I imagine the Wazzou neutral-site game is in Seattle. Nothin' much else going on here.
   
9. Kansas (0.75, 1): Florida International, Louisiana Tech, @South Florida, Sam Houston State. Man, these schedules are rapidly going downhill. I don't really have an opinion on this schedule either way, other than that there's not much to look forward to here.
   
10. Kansas State (0.5, 1): Louisiana-Lafayette, Montana State, @Louisville, North Texas. And less so here, though I'm trying to remember my logic that ranked South Florida ahead of Louisville. Oh well.
    
11. Iowa State (0.5, 1): South Dakota State, Kent State, @Iowa, @Nevada-Las Vegas. Well, at least they're not getting scheduled as a BCS patsy. Yet.
    
12. Texas Tech (0, 1): Tulsa, @Nevada, Southern Methodist, Massachusetts. This isn't quite as bad as Indiana's schedule, but the TTU machine should have no problems putting up at least 150 points on this bunch.
    

Rating the Non-Conference Slate, Part 4: Big XII

Today's rankings will example the Big XII conference. Short and sweet because I'll also discuss the NCAA title game and the Braves' opener.

So, here we go for the Big XII:

1. Colorado (3 legit, 0 DI-AA): Colorado State, @Arizona State, Florida State, Miami (OH). CSU and CU is a huge rivalry game and will be played at a neutral site this year. Add that and FSU to a road game at a BCS conference team and you probably have one of the Big 12's best non-conference slates. While others have 1 really good name, CU has 3 decent ones and no I-AA teams.
2. Nebraska (2, 0): Nevada, @Wake Forest, Southern Cal, Ball State. You could certainly schedule worse mid-majors than Nevada. Surprising road game @Wake, but between that and their game at @USC last year they've shown a willingness to travel for intra-BCS games. USC completing the home-and-home also helps.
   
3. Missouri (2, 1): Illinois, @Mississippi, Western Michigan, Illinois State. Game against Illinois is in Kansas City, so probably not much of a neutral site. @Ole Miss earns some brownie points, but the fact they're ranked here speaks more to the quality of the rest of the schedules in this conference.
4. Kansas State (1, 1): @Auburn, San Jose State, Missouri State, @Fresno State. Apparently this is a response an oft-repeated criticism of KSU scheduling soft opponents. I don't think they counted on Fresno going 4-8 last year, though. @Auburn is the highlight here.
5. Oklahoma State (1, 1): @Georgia, Florida Atlantic, @Troy, Sam Houston State. It boggles the mind that any Big 12 team would on the road to Troy after the Missouri game a few years back. KSU gets the nod, however, for going to Auburn over UGA.
6. Texas A&M (1, 1): Montana State, Fresno State, UL-Monroe, @Miami (FL). Once again, shame about Fresno going 4-8 last year, otherwise this looks significantly better.
   
7. Oklahoma (1, 0): North Texas, Miami (FL), Utah State, @Tulsa. I suspect Tulsa is having record season ticket sales this year. Just a hunch.
8. Iowa State (1, 1): Kent State, Northern Iowa, Iowa, @Toledo. 2 MAC teams and 2 in-state rivals. Not much to get excited about here, which is probably also applicable to ISU's season as a whole.
9. Texas Tech (0, 1): Southern Methodist, Texas-El Paso, @Rice, Northwestern State. TTU hits the old Southwest Conference circuit and will probably be the most well-attended at Rice Stadium (capacity: 70,000) in a long time.
10. Texas (0, 0): Arkansas State, Texas Christian, @Central Florida, Rice. Nothing much to see here, yes, Arkansas State is DI-A....wait, hold on. @Central Florida? How on Earth did that happen? Did Texas schedule a 4 for 1 deal?
11. Baylor (0, 1): @Texas Christian, Rice, Texas State, @Buffalo. @Buffalo, eh? I guess they wanted a break from the Texas heat.
12. Kansas (0, 1): Central Michigan, Southeast Louisiana, Toledo, Florida International. I don't really even have anything witty to say about this schedule, and I can't think of a good Mangino joke. Alas.

Don't forget to check out our next installment as we investigate that haven of round-robin scheduling, the Pac-10.