Checking the Difficulty of Big 12 2012 non-Conference Schedules
Posted on February 21, 2012 by Jacob Bunn
The Big 12 is entering a new chapter in its history with the subtraction of Missouri and Texas A&M from the conference and the addition of TCU and West Virginia. With that in mind, let's take a look at the non-conference schedules for each team in the realigned conference. Bear in mind that there will be nine conference games played (a round-robin), so unlike other conferences, Big 12 teams will only play three non-conference games.
Baylor: SMU, Sam Houston State, Louisiana-Monroe.
I know it is Baylor, but this is absolutely ridiculous. Baylor won its first Heisman Trophy this past year through the play of quarterback Blake Griffin III. It is easy to see how they may win another one with non-conference opposition such as this.
Iowa State: Tulsa, at Iowa, and Western Illinois.
The Cyclones will continue the traditional rivalry with Iowa, and Tulsa is always a formidable mid-major opponent.
Kansas: South Dakota State, Rice, and at Northern Illinois.
Charlie Weis is attempting to turn things around in Lawrence. Playing teams you can beat in your non-conference schedule will help you do just that. The Jayhawks should not have too much trouble getting three wins.
Kansas State: Missouri State, Miami, and North Texas.
Miami will be undergoing sanctions soon, so you can expect that game to be one-sided. Other than the Hurricanes, the Wildcats are going to play a non-FBS school and a directional school.
Oklahoma: TBA
To this point, the Sooners have not released their non-conference schedule officially. I do believe Notre Dame will be on the finished product. That could be an interesting contest.
Oklahoma State: Savannah State, at Arizona, and Louisiana-Lafayette.
Wow, could Savannah State prevent the Cowboys from making another historic run? Mike Gundy will take his team west to face Arizona under new head coach Rich Rodriguez. That is a significant BCS-conference opponent.
TCU: Grambling State, Virginia, and at SMU.
The Horned Frogs will have to play Virginia and travel to SMU. That is decent, and we can give them a break, considering it is their first season in a BCS league.
Texas: Wyoming, New Mexico, at Ole Miss.
Let's all break our arms patting the Longhorns on the back for boldly deciding to travel to Oxford, MS. Aside from the fact that Ole Miss has not defeated an FBS (which is the new term for Division 1) team on their home field since November 6th, 2010, when they beat Louisiana-Lafayette, it should be a rigorous task for Texas.
Texas Tech: Northwestern State, at Texas State, and New Mexico
Red Raider head coach Tommy Tuberville will probably not spend too many nights worrying about non-conference games this year. Would anyone like to predict which of these games will be the toughest? It's a toss up for me.
West Virginia: Marshall, James Madison, and Maryland.
West Virginia easily parted with the 'Backyard Brawl', the previously annual rivalry with Pittsburgh. But, the Mountaineers simply could not give up the yearly slugfest with Marshall. They will also receive a return trip from Maryland. In addition to those games, they are going to play James Madison. No word yet on whether the game will be played in Constitution Hall.
There has been a lot of finger-pointing throughout the past few years from conferences about which of them plays tougher non-conference opponents. We had to endure a lot of whining from Big 12 folks after Oklahoma State was denied the opportunity to play in the BCS Championship Game this past year. One of their main arguing points was the supposed superior schedules that they play in contrast to the SEC.
Personally, none of the aforementioned 2012 non-conference schedules are particularly daunting. Let's re-check this when non-conference schedules from other conferences come out and see where things stand.
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Email Jacob at jacob@bunnsports.com and follow him on Twitter at @JacobBunn
