Toughest ACC non-conference schedule: GT of course

[forensicbuzz]

The ACC team's record over the past 15+ years against the SEC is dreadful. There is a reason the SEC is viewed as the better conference. Out of the 15 games between the conferences this year how many do you think the ACC will win. I would put the over/under at 5. It really comes down to how FSU does against FLA and LSU. They win both the narrative is different. GT is likely 0-2 vs the SEC. UK-Louisville is a big unknown but at this point I would think UK is favored. Clemson-USC-E will be tough but Clemson likely favored. UT over UVA by a big number. Wake over Vandy is the most in the bag for the ACC. A$M ve Miami - who knows.

That's a lazy look. You have to look at the match-ups. Top SEC teams playing bottom ACC teams makes for a skewed performance.

 

[Root4GT]

That's a lazy look. You have to look at the match-ups. Top SEC teams playing bottom ACC teams makes for a skewed performance.

What - the top 2 preseason ACC teams are Clemson and FSU. They play 3 games against the SEC with FLA and USC-E not in the top tier of the SEC. GT is the biggest weak link playing 2 upper tier SEC Teams. Of course many ot this board think GT is just the same as Ole Miss so no miss match there. The biggest miss match is Tenn-UVA. Your take is way off base! It's simple the ACC lacks quality teams. Maybe Miami will be good, if so they should handel A&M. If not it confirms the ACC is a bad conference.

Correction - the SEC plays 10 games against the ACC. My over/under drops to 3.5.

 

[roadkill]

The ACC team's record over the past 15+ years against the SEC is dreadful. There is a reason the SEC is viewed as the better conference. Out of the 15 games between the conferences this year how many do you think the ACC will win. I would put the over/under at 5. It really comes down to how FSU does against FLA and LSU. They win both the narrative is different. GT is likely 0-2 vs the SEC. UK-Louisville is a big unknown but at this point I would think UK is favored. Clemson-USC-E will be tough but Clemson likely favored. UT over UVA by a big number. Wake over Vandy is the most in the bag for the ACC. A$M ve Miami - who knows.

No, history has shown that the SEC narrative doesn't change if the results run counter to it. At best, it will be that the ACC still only has one good team.

 

[forensicbuzz]

What - the top 2 preseason ACC teams are Clemson and FSU. They play 3 games against the SEC with FLA and USC-E not in the top tier of the SEC. GT is the biggest weak link playing 2 upper tier SEC Teams. Of course many ot this board think GT is just the same as Ole Miss so no miss match there. The biggest miss match is Tenn-UVA. Your take is way off base! It's simple the ACC lacks quality teams. Maybe Miami will be good, if so they should handel A&M. If not it confirms the ACC is a bad conference.

Correction - the SEC plays 10 games against the ACC. My over/under drops to 3.5.

Go back and look at the last 15+ years you referenced. I already did this exercise once a couple of years ago. LSU is the only team that will actually go out and schedule a tough OOC P5 conference opponent with any regularity.

 

[Root4GT]

No, history has shown that the SEC narrative doesn't change if the results run counter to it. At best, it will be that the ACC still only has one good team.

Main reason is the ACC rarely wins important games against the SEC. Until the top ACC teams beat the top SEC teams the narrative will continue! Heck in the Pandemic year ND won the ACC Conference title. That says a whole lot about the Conference!

 

[forensicbuzz]

Main reason is the ACC rarely wins important games against the SEC. Until the top ACC teams beat the top SEC teams the narrative will continue! Heck in the Pandemic year ND won the ACC Conference title. That says a whole lot about the Conference!

Outside of bowl games or the recent playoffs, the top teams in the SEC historically won't play the top teams in the ACC. They just won't do it. Historically, they also won't play the top teams in the B1G or the B12. Alabama will every once in a while and, as I stated before, LSU will regularly. No one else schedules top teams. Typically, the ACC top teams don't schedule the SEC bottom feeders (Vandy, Missouri, Arkansas, USC, Arkansas, Miss St., etc). Apples and oranges.

 

[UgaBlows]

And Miami. Miami has the budget and fandom to be relevant again if they can put it all together.

And they still pull good ratings even after 15 years of suckitude

 

[ThatGuy]

If I could waive a magic wand, I would have scheduled Auburn every year. From 2012-2022, AU averaged a winning percentage of 0.58 ... about the same as GT's lifetime wpt. The Auburn-GT game was a BIG game ... parades, lots of fan experiences and it made GT relevant to the West Georgia and East Alabama recruits.

I just don't get scheduling Gardner Webb or University of Louisiana - Monroe. There is no excitement connected to those games.

+1.

Was a good rivalry - and hosted one of the best pranks in college football in 1896.

I'm still ticked off at the Belk Bowl for polling fans who they wanted in the 2018 Belk Bowl, and getting a resounding reply of GT-Auburn. GT fans, Auburn fans, and the general CFB landscape wanted that matchup. They of course then decided to go with USCe vs Virginia, sending us to Detroit for CPJ's final game.

 

[ThatGuy]

After reading through 6 pages of everyone's arguments on whether it's preferable to schedule cupcake OOC opponents or strong OOC opponents, I just have to say:

Girls, you're both pretty.

Seriously. There are cases to be made for each. One that really sticks with me is the narrative that "CU deserved the championship, because even with a 5th down, they still had a much stronger strength of schedule."

But there's an argument for the opposing as well. I can't tell you who Ohio State played in OOC games the last time they won a national championship. I also can't tell you how many cupcakes were on UCF's schedule in 2017. But I can tell you that they went undefeated.

Regardless, I tend to fall on the line of "schedule cupcakes until you can beat them, then start scheduling more difficult opponents." Unfortunately, given how far out games are scheduled, that's a pretty difficult feat to pull off in reality.

So I really have no solution.

 

[cpf2001]

I think we’re talking across each other so much due to a difference in if we’re prioritizing GT fans or other fans.

GT fans want to get excited about the games on the schedule; other fans are gonna be more or less interested in GT based on shallow things like “are they ranked” “how many wins did they have last year” etc.

2006 GT isn’t a really example because the team finished so flat, but if that team hadn’t imploded in the last three games then it’s a team that would’ve really benefited from having the ND loss replaced with a win over anyone else in terms of people tuning into late-season/postseason matchups for a 10-win-regular-season team instead of a 9-win one. Still would’ve had to take care of business against UGA, Wake, and WVU to pay it off, but you’d have more casual fan interest and Tv ratings in those games with another win on the books and a higher ranking.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

The ACC team's record over the past 15+ years against the SEC is dreadful. There is a reason the SEC is viewed as the better conference. Out of the 15 games between the conferences this year how many do you think the ACC will win. I would put the over/under at 5. It really comes down to how FSU does against FLA and LSU. They win both the narrative is different. GT is likely 0-2 vs the SEC. UK-Louisville is a big unknown but at this point I would think UK is favored. Clemson-USC-E will be tough but Clemson likely favored. UT over UVA by a big number. Wake over Vandy is the most in the bag for the ACC. A$M ve Miami - who knows.

Things go in cycles, right?

In the five seasons prior to Covid the ACC actually led the SEC in head to head games 28-26.

I tend to agree with those who say the SEC is stronger but not by as much as the SEC claims. For as long as I can remember SEC hype has exceeded reality.

The problem now, in my opinion, is that the SEC has been steadily pulling ahead of everyone while conferences like the ACC do nothing to keep up. So what used to be a cyclical thing, with conferences being up or down, may be over for good.

 

[Root4GT]

Things go in cycles, right?

In the five seasons prior to Covid the ACC actually led the SEC in head to head games 28-26.

I tend to agree with those who say the SEC is stronger but not by as much as the SEC claims. For as long as I can remember SEC hype has exceeded reality.

The problem now, in my opinion, is that the SEC has been steadily pulling ahead of everyone while conferences like the ACC do nothing to keep up. So what used to be a cyclical thing, with conferences being up or down, may be over for good.

This has been a long cycle. 13 of the last 17 National Championships have been won by SEC Teams. That’s a pattern.

 

[forensicbuzz]

This has been a long cycle. 13 of the last 17 National Championships have been won by SEC Teams. That’s a pattern.

You have to be in the game to win the game. The games they play puts them in position to be in those games. They don't play the same OOC schedules as everyone else, so there is that. That is a pattern too.

 

[Vespidae]

You have to be in the game to win the game. The games they play puts them in position to be in those games. They don't play the same OOC schedules as everyone else, so there is that. That is a pattern too.

Are you suggesting Youngstown State is a significantly greater challenge for Ohio State than Middle Tennessee is for Alabama? Yes tOSU plays ND, but Bama plays Texas.

Seems about the same.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Are you suggesting Youngstown State is a significantly greater challenge for Ohio State than Middle Tennessee is for Alabama? Yes tOSU plays ND, but Bama plays Texas.

Seems about the same.

Texas is 69-56 the past 10 years. They were 8-4 last year and 5-7 the year before. So, not really the Texas of old here. Plus this is a showcase game.

I’d like to see this year over year, not just occasionally.

 

[Vespidae]

Texas is 69-56 the past 10 years. They were 8-4 last year and 5-7 the year before. So, not really the Texas of old here. Plus this is a showcase game.

I’d like to see this year over year, not just occasionally.

Texas is favored in every game this year except against Bama.

Regardless, I don’t think the SEC plays a disproportionate number of weak teams compared to others. It seems most everyone does it. It’s a perception and that’s fine.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Texas is favored in every game this year except against Bama.

Regardless, I don’t think the SEC plays a disproportionate number of weak teams compared to others. It seems most everyone does it. It’s a perception and that’s fine.

It’s not a perception. I’ve done the analysis. Go back 20 years for each of the top SEC teams and you’ll see they typically dodge any OOC bullets, at least with any regularity. LSU is the outlier.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Toughest and weakest nonconference schedules entering the 2023 college football season

Our bowls expert looks at the standout nonconference slates this year

www.cbssports.com

 

[Vespidae]

It’s not a perception. I’ve done the analysis. Go back 20 years for each of the top SEC teams and you’ll see they typically dodge any OOC bullets, at least with any regularity. LSU is the outlier.

Saban was once criticized for Alabama‘s ranking given that FSU had tanked that year.

“Can you really say Bama should be No. 1 given how bad FSU has turned out?”

Saban retorted, “They were No 1 when we scheduled them 5 years ago.”

This year, SEC has 7 teams in the Top 25. That’s a pretty good slate to have to play week in and week out. Same for the B1G.

But I’ll be sure to follow Youngstown State to see how OSU fares.

 

[Root4GT]

It’s not a perception. I’ve done the analysis. Go back 20 years for each of the top SEC teams and you’ll see they typically dodge any OOC bullets, at least with any regularity. LSU is the outlier.

That was true 20 years ago, it's not anymore.
SEC Significant OOC Games:
Fla – Utah & FSU
UGA – GT
UK – Louisville
Mizzu – K State
USC-E – Clemson,
Tenn - UVA
Vandy – Wake
Auburn – California
Alabama – Texas
Arkansas – BYU
LSU – FSU
MSU - Arizona
Ole Miss – GT
Texas A&M - Miami