OTF Premium AP Poll Release Proves the Point of the SEC's 8-Game Conference Schedule

[CJ Vogel]

The Preseason AP Poll released this morning and The University of Texas comes in ranked as the No. 1 team in the country.

Of course, the preseason poll is merely a conversation point, but the program will certainly be able to flaunt the No. 1 by its name for a few more weeks. A few talking points I wanted to expand on following the release of the poll will certainly have some implications on the greater picture of the college football landscape.

***

– First, we were robbed of a true No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle to begin the season. I am positive the AP voters did not care to make that a priority, but it sure would have been fun to discuss for the next three weeks.

On top of that, week one is shaping up to be an all-timer.

• No. 1 Texas vs. No. 3 Ohio State
• No. 9 LSU vs. No. 4 Clemson
• No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 Miami (Fl.)

As we sit today, we are also just 12 days away from a top-25 matchup between Kansas State and Iowa State.

***

I wanted to compile a rundown of how many ranked opponents each SEC school faces. Entering the season, Texas will face five top-20 opponents.

• 7 – Florida, LSU, Miss State, Oklahoma
• 6 – Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina
• 5 – Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
• 4 – Auburn, Missouri, Tennessee

Any conversation about Texas' schedule being easy falls on deaf ears. 

But the greater conversation is in regards to the B1G vs. SEC scheduling difficulty and how it plays into the College Football Playoff conversation. Especially in regards to why the eight vs. nine conference game schedule was such a point of contention.

For instance, Illinois is ranked No. 12 in the country by the AP poll and has just two teams ranked on its schedule entering the 2025 season. Michigan, ranked No. 14, plays just two as well, one of which being Oklahoma in a non-conference meeting. And Oregon sees just two ranked foes as well.

• 4 – Ohio State
• 3 – Indiana, Penn State
• 2 – Michigan, Illinois, Oregon

***

The Big 12 only has four teams ranked inside the top 25, but if the list expanded to a top 30, the conference would have as many members mentioned as the B1G. Each would have seven.

BYU, Utah and Baylor came in just outside the initial ranking, with the three coming in at 26, 27, and 28 respectively.

[CJ Vogel]

Also, good luck to South Carolina and Oklahoma during these month long stretches. 

 

[CJ Vogel]

 

[Hornmatic]

Weak. Play 9 in conference like everyone else. 

[Hornmatic]

Oklahoma’s schedule is highly overrated. Tennessee will be average this year. Ole Miss and S. Carolina are no great shakes either. 

[Texus]

15 minutes ago, Hornmatic said:

Weak. Play 9 in conference like everyone else. 

CJ put data out there.  The 8 game conference schedules already produce far more difficult strengths of schedule.  

Until and unless the committee comes up with something concrete to account for strength of schedule when looking at win-loss records and playoff seeding, I don't expect anything to change.

[bourbasted]

Rat poison.

[Hornmatic]

21 minutes ago, Texus said:

CJ put data out there.  The 8 game conference schedules already produce far more difficult strengths of schedule.  

Based on one presason ap poll?

 

[Bunk Moreland]

44 minutes ago, Hornmatic said:

Oklahoma’s schedule is highly overrated. Tennessee will be average this year. Ole Miss and S. Carolina are no great shakes either. 

That’s why I’m predicting they’ll go 9-3. Their D should be excellent, which should keep them in pretty much every game. Michigan, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mizzou…fools gold that OU should spank. 

[closetojumping]

Um, what? Any time you are forced to cite a known and proven imbecile like Peter Burns to reinforce your position, it should alarm you that you are in the wrong position. An 8 game conference schedule in a 16 team league is a joke. It's basically indefensible without having to advocate for wanting a soft schedule. 

The FCS opponent stuffing in the SEC is also an embarrassment. Drop those games and UTEP for Texas and add 8 more conference slates and the sport is overall better off and the SEC will still get 4+ into a 16 game conference every year. 

Also, a number of these SEC teams have no business being ranked.

-SCar has a great player on each side of the ball but lost a ton of talented experience. All of the sudden Shane Beamer's program just reloads? That's laughable. They return one starter from their defensive front 7, which was the team strength. He's great, but he's one guy. They also replace a high draft pick in the secondary and at LB.

-ATM hasn't finished a season ranked in 5 years. They've only finished ranked twice in the last 11 seasons, and they've opened ranked in 9 of those years. They define overrated and their roster for this year says that continues.

-Oklahoma is in the same boat as ATM. "But they had a lot of roster change! They brought in a hot shot QB!" They had the worst OL statistically in FBS last year "but all those guys return!" Right.

-Tennessee has no business being ranked with their losses. They don't have an answer for the loss of Sampson, the conference's leading rusher and a key to their 2024 success in an offense predicated on rushing success. They also will be starting the former QB from ... App State.

-Florida will finish the season unranked. Lagway is made of glass and they're living off closing last year with 4 wins including against 2-10 FSU and unranked Tulane who had lost their QB and TB to the portal before the bowl game.

-Ole Miss has that one QB who had that one drive against Georgia last year. They lost a ton.

See FSU if you think a constant portal rotation of 20+ entries and exits can't kill you. That's what's churned in and out again at Ole Miss, LSU,  and OU. That's not tenable and at least one of those teams is going to be punished for missing on evaluations and having a mercenary culture, maybe several. The formidable opponents in this conference this year are Texas, Georgia, and Bama. Everybody else you can drop in a bag, shake it up, and pull out a name and it will look the same or worse than the other 13 teams. Same as the Big 10.