crawfish
06-02-2007, 07:47 PM
DESTIN, Fla. — And the winner is — Georgia.
The Georgia Bulldogs, should they go undefeated this season, have the best chance of not getting "Auburn-ed" when the Bowl Championship Series Nos. 1 and 2 are selected for the BCS national championship game in the Louisiana Superdome on Jan. 7, 2008. Georgia was voted as having the most difficult non-conference schedule by a panel of 12 voters at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings this week.
It was Auburn that went 12-0 in 2004 but failed to get into the BCS title game at the Orange Bowl in Miami, losing out to 12-0 USC and 12-0 Oklahoma. Auburn, which finished 13-0, lost points in the BCS system for having easier nonconference schedules than USC and Oklahoma. Auburn's non-league opponents that season were Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech and The Citadel. "With the 12-game schedule now, if you think you're good enough to play in the BCS championship game, you would be very foolish not to have at least one real good opponent on your schedule," said college football analyst Tony Barnhart.
Georgia has two this season. It opens on Saturday, Sept. 1, against Oklahoma State of the Big 12 on ESPN2 and closes its regular season on Nov. 24 against Georgia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference. "Oklahoma State is going to be very good next year," Barnhart said. "And Gerogia Tech will be a top 25 team. Both of those are very good non-conference teams. No other SEC team has that tough a schedule the way it looks now. Oklahoma State is going to have a great offense." Georgia's other two non-conference games are typical SEC-type breathers against Western Carolina (2-9) and Troy, though Troy did win the Sun Belt Conference in 2006 and the New Orleans Bowl to finish 8-5.
This will be the second consecutive 12-game regular season, and Georgia athletic director Damon Evans said that provides more opportunities for more interesting non-conference affairs. "It lets you get bigger games, but you do have to remember the games already on the schedule in your league," he said. "If you're going to get a game with a BCS team, you're going to have to go there, too."
LSU has one of the more interesting non-conference games as it hosts Virginia Tech on Sept. 8 on ESPN, but LSU received only two votes for the toughest schedule as its other three games are against Middle Tennessee (7-6 last season), Tulane (4-8) and Louisiana Tech (3-10). "The LSU-Virginia Tech game is one of the more interesting match-ups," Barnhart said. "It's a very representative schedule," LSU coach Les Miles said. "I think with that schedule if you win all your games or most of them, we'll be in the picture."
Arkansas, meanwhile, will not be seen on your television picture unless it's an SEC game. The Razorbacks play Troy, North Texas (3-9 last season), Florida International (0-12) and Chattanooga (3-8). All but Chattanooga are in the Sun Belt. Arkansas finished 12th in the voting with 10 last place votes. "Arkansas is by far the worst," Barnhart said. "There isn't one BCS team on its non-conference schedule." Another writer said Arkansas is attempting to win the Sun Belt as opposed to sunny California. "We did play USC the last couple of years," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. Both games were memorable. USC won by a combined 120-31.
Coming in second for the toughest schedule was Tennessee, which will venture out to California on Sept. 1 for a 7 p.m. game on ABC. "Tennessee year in and year out plays as interesting cross-sectional games as anybody," Barnhart said. Tennessee also hosts Southern Mississippi, which is virtually always viewed as a difficult opponent, along with Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette — a pair of 6-6 Sun Belt teams a year ago.
Auburn has got the message about scheduling and came in third on the toughest scale. It hosts Big 12 Kansas State (7-6 last season), South Florida (9-4 with a Papajohns.com bowl win), New Mexico State (4-8) and Tennessee Tech (4-7).
"Voters are always looking at something to separate the great teams," Barnhart said. "That's the nonconference schedule." (Source Credit: Newstar By Glenn Guilbeau)
http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics30/360/QM/QMELWMUSSQOEELJ.20070425161813.jpg http://media.theinsiders.com/Media/College_Football/74100_AuburnPhoto.JPG
The Georgia Bulldogs, should they go undefeated this season, have the best chance of not getting "Auburn-ed" when the Bowl Championship Series Nos. 1 and 2 are selected for the BCS national championship game in the Louisiana Superdome on Jan. 7, 2008. Georgia was voted as having the most difficult non-conference schedule by a panel of 12 voters at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings this week.
It was Auburn that went 12-0 in 2004 but failed to get into the BCS title game at the Orange Bowl in Miami, losing out to 12-0 USC and 12-0 Oklahoma. Auburn, which finished 13-0, lost points in the BCS system for having easier nonconference schedules than USC and Oklahoma. Auburn's non-league opponents that season were Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech and The Citadel. "With the 12-game schedule now, if you think you're good enough to play in the BCS championship game, you would be very foolish not to have at least one real good opponent on your schedule," said college football analyst Tony Barnhart.
Georgia has two this season. It opens on Saturday, Sept. 1, against Oklahoma State of the Big 12 on ESPN2 and closes its regular season on Nov. 24 against Georgia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference. "Oklahoma State is going to be very good next year," Barnhart said. "And Gerogia Tech will be a top 25 team. Both of those are very good non-conference teams. No other SEC team has that tough a schedule the way it looks now. Oklahoma State is going to have a great offense." Georgia's other two non-conference games are typical SEC-type breathers against Western Carolina (2-9) and Troy, though Troy did win the Sun Belt Conference in 2006 and the New Orleans Bowl to finish 8-5.
This will be the second consecutive 12-game regular season, and Georgia athletic director Damon Evans said that provides more opportunities for more interesting non-conference affairs. "It lets you get bigger games, but you do have to remember the games already on the schedule in your league," he said. "If you're going to get a game with a BCS team, you're going to have to go there, too."
LSU has one of the more interesting non-conference games as it hosts Virginia Tech on Sept. 8 on ESPN, but LSU received only two votes for the toughest schedule as its other three games are against Middle Tennessee (7-6 last season), Tulane (4-8) and Louisiana Tech (3-10). "The LSU-Virginia Tech game is one of the more interesting match-ups," Barnhart said. "It's a very representative schedule," LSU coach Les Miles said. "I think with that schedule if you win all your games or most of them, we'll be in the picture."
Arkansas, meanwhile, will not be seen on your television picture unless it's an SEC game. The Razorbacks play Troy, North Texas (3-9 last season), Florida International (0-12) and Chattanooga (3-8). All but Chattanooga are in the Sun Belt. Arkansas finished 12th in the voting with 10 last place votes. "Arkansas is by far the worst," Barnhart said. "There isn't one BCS team on its non-conference schedule." Another writer said Arkansas is attempting to win the Sun Belt as opposed to sunny California. "We did play USC the last couple of years," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. Both games were memorable. USC won by a combined 120-31.
Coming in second for the toughest schedule was Tennessee, which will venture out to California on Sept. 1 for a 7 p.m. game on ABC. "Tennessee year in and year out plays as interesting cross-sectional games as anybody," Barnhart said. Tennessee also hosts Southern Mississippi, which is virtually always viewed as a difficult opponent, along with Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette — a pair of 6-6 Sun Belt teams a year ago.
Auburn has got the message about scheduling and came in third on the toughest scale. It hosts Big 12 Kansas State (7-6 last season), South Florida (9-4 with a Papajohns.com bowl win), New Mexico State (4-8) and Tennessee Tech (4-7).
"Voters are always looking at something to separate the great teams," Barnhart said. "That's the nonconference schedule." (Source Credit: Newstar By Glenn Guilbeau)
http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics30/360/QM/QMELWMUSSQOEELJ.20070425161813.jpg http://media.theinsiders.com/Media/College_Football/74100_AuburnPhoto.JPG