It Isn't That Hard

August 13, 2017

Since I always complain about the schedules, it seemed fair to take the other side and document how difficult it is for a Big5 conference team to schedule another Big5 conference team for an interconference game. It turns out that any pair of Big5 conference teams could have scheduled an inter-conference game this year.

Define a "scheduling opportunity" to be a week between August 24th and November 29th that does not include a conference game and for which an interconference game with a Big5 opponent is not already scheduled. Then for each week find all of the Big5 teams that also have opportunities that week. It turns out that every pair could be connected. Here's a list of the top-25 teams from last year's final computer rankings with counts of how many Big5 opponents they could have scheduled against Big5 teams, top25 teams, and teams from the top half of last year's final computer rankings.

RankAll | T25 | T½TeamConfWeek 0Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Week 6Week 7Week 8Week 9Week 10Week 11Week 12Week 13
150 | 15 | 31AlabamaSEC50 | 15 | 31 27 | 8 | 1532 | 10 | 20     1 | 0 | 0  6 | 2 | 5 
249 | 15 | 32ClemsonACC49 | 15 | 3234 | 8 | 23      10 | 4 | 8   5 | 3 | 4 
350 | 16 | 35Ohio StateB1050 | 16 | 35  23 | 7 | 1614 | 4 | 8   11 | 4 | 8     
452 | 17 | 37WashingtonP1252 | 17 | 37 28 | 11 | 2029 | 9 | 21    10 | 3 | 8     
654 | 17 | 37OklahomaB1254 | 17 | 3735 | 9 | 24 31 | 9 | 21 13 | 3 | 8        
749 | 14 | 31Florida StateACC49 | 14 | 31 29 | 8 | 18   8 | 2 | 4     5 | 2 | 3 
750 | 16 | 35MichiganB1050 | 16 | 35 29 | 10 | 2224 | 8 | 17 15 | 4 | 10        
851 | 17 | 36WisconsinB1051 | 17 | 3635 | 9 | 2330 | 11 | 2324 | 8 | 1714 | 4 | 8         
851 | 17 | 37Southern CaliforniaP1251 | 17 | 3733 | 8 | 24            
950 | 17 | 35Penn StateB1050 | 17 | 3534 | 9 | 22 24 | 8 | 17   5 | 1 | 4      
1250 | 16 | 32LSUSEC50 | 16 | 3233 | 9 | 2127 | 9 | 16  13 | 4 | 8        
1452 | 17 | 37StanfordP1252 | 17 | 3733 | 8 | 24 30 | 9 | 21    10 | 3 | 8     
1654 | 18 | 37Oklahoma StateB1254 | 18 | 3734 | 9 | 2330 | 11 | 21   9 | 3 | 5       
1750 | 16 | 33Miami-FloridaACC50 | 16 | 3334 | 9 | 2431 | 10 | 20 16 | 3 | 8 8 | 2 | 4       
1753 | 17 | 37ColoradoP1253 | 17 | 3734 | 8 | 2429 | 11 | 2030 | 9 | 21        9 | 5 | 7 
1749 | 14 | 30FloridaSEC49 | 14 | 30 26 | 7 | 14     7 | 4 | 6   6 | 2 | 5 
1850 | 15 | 32Virginia TechACC50 | 15 | 32 30 | 9 | 1929 | 10 | 1916 | 3 | 8  5 | 1 | 4      
2049 | 16 | 32LouisvilleACC49 | 16 | 32   16 | 3 | 811 | 4 | 7    4 | 1 | 4   
2050 | 16 | 31TennesseeSEC50 | 16 | 31 27 | 9 | 15 18 | 5 | 10 8 | 3 | 4   5 | 1 | 4   
2050 | 15 | 31AuburnSEC50 | 15 | 3133 | 8 | 20 32 | 10 | 20     1 | 0 | 0  6 | 2 | 5 
2154 | 17 | 37West VirginiaB1254 | 17 | 37 29 | 10 | 2031 | 9 | 21 13 | 3 | 8        
2749 | 15 | 31Georgia TechACC49 | 15 | 31 30 | 9 | 1929 | 11 | 19  7 | 1 | 3       
2854 | 18 | 37Kansas StateB1254 | 18 | 3734 | 9 | 2329 | 11 | 20 17 | 6 | 11         
2949 | 14 | 31PittsburghACC49 | 14 | 3133 | 7 | 22   13 | 4 | 8    4 | 1 | 4   
2953 | 17 | 37Washington StateP1253 | 17 | 3734 | 8 | 2429 | 11 | 20 19 | 6 | 11       9 | 5 | 7 

This is slightly misleading because only a few teams actually schedule games for the week beginning August 24th. If we leave that week out though, we still have 1447 of 1696 possible interconference matchups between Big5 opponents available but unused.

RankAll | T25 | T½TeamConfWeek 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Week 6Week 7Week 8Week 9Week 10Week 11Week 12Week 13
145 | 14 | 28AlabamaSEC 27 | 9 | 1532 | 11 | 20     1 | 0 | 0  6 | 2 | 5 
239 | 12 | 28ClemsonACC34 | 8 | 23      10 | 4 | 8   5 | 3 | 4 
337 | 13 | 25Ohio StateB10  23 | 8 | 1614 | 4 | 8   11 | 4 | 8     
447 | 17 | 34WashingtonP12 28 | 12 | 2029 | 10 | 21    10 | 3 | 8     
649 | 15 | 33OklahomaB1235 | 9 | 24 31 | 10 | 21 13 | 3 | 8        
733 | 9 | 19Florida StateACC 29 | 8 | 18   8 | 2 | 4     5 | 2 | 3 
745 | 15 | 33MichiganB10 29 | 11 | 2224 | 9 | 17 15 | 4 | 10        
851 | 18 | 36WisconsinB1035 | 9 | 2330 | 12 | 2324 | 9 | 1714 | 4 | 8         
833 | 8 | 24Southern CaliforniaP1233 | 8 | 24            
943 | 14 | 30Penn StateB1034 | 9 | 22 24 | 9 | 17   5 | 1 | 4      
1247 | 16 | 30LSUSEC33 | 9 | 2127 | 10 | 16  13 | 4 | 8        
1447 | 15 | 34StanfordP1233 | 8 | 24 30 | 10 | 21    10 | 3 | 8     
1650 | 17 | 34Oklahoma StateB1234 | 9 | 2330 | 12 | 21   9 | 4 | 5       
1750 | 16 | 33Miami-FloridaACC34 | 9 | 2431 | 10 | 20 16 | 3 | 8 8 | 2 | 4       
1752 | 17 | 36ColoradoP1234 | 8 | 2429 | 12 | 2030 | 10 | 21        9 | 5 | 7 
1734 | 11 | 20FloridaSEC 26 | 8 | 14     7 | 4 | 6   6 | 2 | 5 
1848 | 14 | 31Virginia TechACC 30 | 9 | 1929 | 10 | 1916 | 3 | 8  5 | 1 | 4      
2029 | 7 | 17LouisvilleACC   16 | 3 | 811 | 4 | 7    4 | 1 | 4   
2040 | 11 | 23TennesseeSEC 27 | 9 | 15 18 | 5 | 10 8 | 3 | 4   5 | 1 | 4   
2046 | 15 | 29AuburnSEC33 | 8 | 20 32 | 11 | 20     1 | 0 | 0  6 | 2 | 5 
2149 | 16 | 35West VirginiaB12 29 | 11 | 2031 | 10 | 21 13 | 3 | 8        
2744 | 14 | 30Georgia TechACC 30 | 9 | 1929 | 11 | 19  7 | 1 | 3       
2853 | 19 | 36Kansas StateB1234 | 9 | 2329 | 12 | 20 17 | 6 | 11         
2937 | 10 | 25PittsburghACC33 | 7 | 22   13 | 4 | 8    4 | 1 | 4   
2953 | 18 | 37Washington StateP1234 | 8 | 2429 | 12 | 20 19 | 6 | 11       9 | 5 | 7 

I guess we should count ourselves lucky that 40 of the 209 D1A interconference games have both teams from Big5 Conferences.

Home→
↓Road
ACCB10B12NDP12SECAACCUSAIndMACMWSBCFCS
ACC212062111120
B10220221010000
B12210121002010
ND310100000000
P12111101110300
SEC300121300000
AAC224210312110
CUSA453014423030
Ind010004520510
MAC591111043210
MW151073203010
SBC1300210332130
FCS132708149103111110
See the full list of Missed Big5 Interconference Scheduling Opportunities for the report for all 65 Big5 conference teams+Notre Dame .

© Copyright 2017, Paul Kislanko
Football Home