FishDuck Article Administrator No. 1 Share Posted May 6 I hereby disavow my headline! Not that it isn’t the truth, it is. However, does going LARGE with out-of-conference (OOC) scheduling make sense when we have a Playoff format that’s senseless, coupled with a Playoff Committee that, unlike its college basketball counterpart when ranking teams, prefers whimsey over viable, disclosed to the public, metrics. Yes, the Playoff Committee in 2024-25 ... B1G & SEC 2025 OOC Schedules: BIG, Go to Your Room! | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM I hereby disavow my headline! Not that it isn’t the truth, it is. However, does going LARGE with out-of-conference (OOC) scheduling make sense when we have a… 2 Two Sites: FishDuck and the Our Beloved Ducks forum, The only "Forum with Decorum!" And All-Volunteer? What a wonderful community of Duck fans! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 2 Share Posted May 6 Jon...your research and conclusions are amazing...thanks so much! 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 3 Share Posted May 6 It is amazing what the SEC has done for the OOC games....never would have thought it going into this! 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 4 Share Posted May 6 "No soup for you!" LOL! And thanks again, Charles, for the terrific editing job. College Football News (CFN) re-ranked CFB teams 1-136 post-spring based upon strength-of-schedule (SOS). The ranking considers roster changes after the second portal opening, including the Tennessee/UCLA 'QB trade.' I added the ranking for each conference member team (I know, get a life, right ) and divided by the number of conference teams to arrive at a back-of-the-envelope average SOS calculation for each conference. Using all the games to be played in 2025 when determining conference SOS, the B1G is much closer to the SEC than when using only out-of-conference (OOC) games. Makes sense as the B1G plays nine regular season games, one more than the SEC. While each SEC team, with the exception of Ole Miss, plays a P4 opponent OOC, for many teams in Dixie, the other three OOC games are against Hot Garbage; against teams ranked in the bottom third in the preseason rankings. Below are the results for the 'Power 4' conferences. Showing the conference team with the most difficult SOS compared to the bottom ranked team illustrates the difference in degree of difficulty found in these mega-conference in-conference schedules. SEC - 25.00 - Top team No. 1 Florida. Bottom team No. 63, Missouri. Nine SEC teams in the Top 25. B1G - 26.38 - Top team No. 2 Wisconsin. Bottom team No. 62 Penn State. (Another reason why pollsters are high on the Nits in 2025-26.) FYI - Ohio State No. 14, OBD No. 19, USC No. 15, UW No. 18, Michigan No. 21, Illinois No. 44, and Indiana No. 53. Ten B1G teams in the Top 25. ACC - 43.52 - Top team No. 8 Stanford. Bottom Team No. 68 Wake Forest. Three ACC teams in the Top 25. B12 - 45.93 - Top team No. 17 TCU. Bottom team No. 69 Texas Tech. Two B12 teams in the Top 25. (No. 6 Notre Dame does not play four G6 teams this season as it did in 2024. Games at Miami and Arkansas replace two G6 opponents.) SOS rankings will differ from site to site, but all of the top sites' rankings will show a clear separation between the Power 2 B1G and SEC and the Lesser 2 ACC and B12. Why would or should the Power 2 allow a committee that does its business in the dark to ignore the obvious; teams in the B1G and the SEC have much harder rows to hoe. Charles, thanks again. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 5 Share Posted May 6 On 5/6/2025 at 9:39 AM, Jon Joseph said: Why would or should the Power 2 allow a committee that does its business in the dark to ignore the obvious; teams in the B1G and the SEC have much harder rows to hoe. Absolutely! I hated it back when Clemson was getting to the Championship. Yes, they won. But they got there after playing an ACC schedule! It's not that much tougher in the ACC now. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 6 Share Posted May 6 The Eyes On the Prize revenue split in the ACC is one reason Clemson and Notre Dame recently agreed to play every year through 2038. This will also help Notre Dame with its standalone broadcast deal with NBC. I think a Super Conference is coming before 2038. I see Notre Dame, Clemson, FSU, and UNC making the Super Conference cut. Maybe UVA? Miami is a smaller private school without an on-campus stadium, and the Super Conference does not need three teams in Florida. When it comes to the CFB PO, there simply is no salient argument that supports the Little Guy, including Smaller Guys teams from the ACC and the B12, having the same access to the PO as the Power 2. No 'mid-major' has won or will win a CFB PO. There was a chance with a one-game BCS, but not now with having to win three or four games vs. top competition. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 7 Share Posted May 6 More on the Tigers vs. the Domers. Clemson, Notre Dame to announce 12-year scheduling agreement - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Clemson and Notre Dame are set to announce a 12-year scheduling agreement that will pit the two college football powers against each other annually through 2038. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 8 Share Posted May 6 Notre Dame is a conference unto itself? When it comes to the CFB PO, this is true. The Notre Dame Conference: Unique agreement with Clemson only strengthens Irish's bid to remain independent - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM More special treatment for Notre Dame shows why there's no reason for the Fighting Irish to join a conference Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike West No. 9 Share Posted May 6 Great article Jon (as usual)! I wouldn’t have guessed the SEspnC would take on more challenging competition. Could it be they’re looking to expand their TV ratings beyond those dominant numbers in conference games? And the playoffs. What do you think of keeping the format at 12? Especially with the opaque grading system the committee uses? Personally, I believe the P2 will always get 7, if not 8 in the current format if it’s expanded. Since controversy actually drives ratings, is it possible the P2 keeps the status quo and tweaks the regular season more? If we see a Super League, who gets invited? How many teams would participate? Would ratings collapse for the sport overall? The SEC completely drives ratings, with only Michigan and Ohio State pulling comparable numbers. Much to mull over for Sankey and Pettitti. Plenty for us to speculate about. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 10 Share Posted May 7 Here's Your B1G Playoff Dark Horse. ESPN's Heather Dinich predicts Illinois will be this year's Indiana - On3 WWW.ON3.COM . 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
