Unofficial Big 12 Strength of Schedule

mj4cy

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Mar 28, 2006
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I ran through the schedules of the Big12 teams with winning conference records just out of curiosity to see who had the hardest schedule:

TEAMRECORDOPPONENTS RECORD
KANSAS5-445-36
IOWA STATE6-341-40
OKLAHOMA 7-241-40
KANSAS STATE6-341-40
OKLAHOMA STATE7-238-43
TEXAS8-138-43
TEXAS TECH5-437-44
WEST VIRGINIA6-332-49

Takeaways:

1. West Virginia confirmed my suspicion as to how they achieved a 6-3 record. Easiest schedule by far.
2. Kansas deserves some kudos for obtaining a winning record with the hardest schedule (and QB issues all year).
3. I miss the round robin format.
 
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I ran through the schedules of the Big12 teams with winning conference records just out of curiosity to see who had the hardest schedule:

TEAMRECORDOPPONENTS RECORD
KANSAS5-445-36
IOWA STATE6-341-40
OKLAHOMA STATE7-241-40
KANSAS STATE6-341-40
OKLAHOMA7-241-40
TEXAS8-138-43
TEXAS TECH5-437-44
WEST VIRGINIA6-332-49

Takeaways:

1. West Virginia confirmed my suspicion as to how they achieved a 6-3 record. Easiest schedule by far.
2. Kansas deserves some kudos for obtaining a winning record with the hardest schedule (and QB issues all year).
3. I miss the round robin format.
I'd be interested in this for the SEC.
 
I had an error with OSU and fixed it. Should be 38-43 not 41-40.
 
That would look even worse if they played a nine game slate.

My take on the SEC is they're really not the juggernaut of a conference the media loves to claim from a top to bottom standpoint. However, they obviously produce very elite top level teams (2-3 each year). They also help themselves any chance they can get. 8 game conference schedules and cupcake week in November ect....
 
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Don't think it works as well with divisions. Look at the big ten west, they get to round robin the entire west so there has to be a winner and loser in those 6 games.
Hawkeyes played one team that was better than 7-5 all season, losing 31-0 to Penn State. Coming soon, a throttling vs Michigan.
We played six games against teams better than 7-5, beating Oklahoma State and K-State
 
My take on the SEC is they're really not the juggernaut of a conference the media loves to claim from a top to bottom standpoint. However, they obviously produce very elite top level teams (2-3 each year). They also help themselves any chance they can get. 8 game conference schedules and cupcake week in November ect....

The SEC is fueled by the media hype machine and insanely passionate fans.
 
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Hawkeyes played one team that was better than 7-5 all season, losing 31-0 to Penn State. Coming soon, a throttling vs Michigan.
We played six games against teams better than 7-5, beating Oklahoma State and K-State
Collectively, the Big 10 West went 8-14 against the Big 10 East this year. And 2 of those 7 wins were Iowa's against MSU and Rutgers. People used to make fun of the Big XII North. The Big 10 West is the worst division in the history of divisions.
 
I ran through the schedules of the Big12 teams with winning conference records just out of curiosity to see who had the hardest schedule:

TEAMRECORDOPPONENTS RECORD
KANSAS5-445-36
IOWA STATE6-341-40
OKLAHOMA7-241-40
KANSAS STATE6-341-40
OKLAHOMA STATE7-238-43
TEXAS8-138-43
TEXAS TECH5-437-44
WEST VIRGINIA6-332-49

Takeaways:

1. West Virginia confirmed my suspicion as to how they achieved a 6-3 record. Easiest schedule by far.
2. Kansas deserves some kudos for obtaining a winning record with the hardest schedule (and QB issues all year).
3. I miss the round robin format.
I don’t know if you did this, but one thing I always take into account is removing the wins/losses to the team being considered. For example, when evaluating ISU, remove every win ISU had from opponent records and remove the losses as well. Then you see records based on all non-head to head competition. For a team like Texas that removes a bunch of opponent losses. For a team at the bottom of the conference that removes opponent wins.
 
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Do strength of schedule calculations also take into account when and where the games were played? Seems as though certain teams can be considered much stronger at certain times of the year based on personnel available, injuries, quality of play, etc.

Often, a team like Iowa State improves a ton from September to November, while this year's Baylor team likely phoned it in from mid-October on.

Then again, there is likely bias that has to be considered, too.
 
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