Non-BCS teams set a couple of records today with the preseason rankings that came out. In the BCS era, no more than 3 non-BCS teams have been ranked in the preseason polls. This season, they have 4 (Boise State, TCU, Utah, and BYU). In the BCS era, a maximum of 1 team has been ranked in the top 20 in the preseason. This year there are 3 (Boise State, TCU, and Utah). They still have yet to field a top 10 pre-season team. If Boise State runs the table and wins a BCS game, maybe they can do it next year.
A quick run-down of the non-BCS teams:
Boise State only has one team on their schedule that is ranked in the preseason polls: Oregon at number 14 in week 1. Only one other team on their schedule got any votes (Nevada with 11 votes).
TCU has zero non-conference games against ranked opponents, but has two in-conference ranked opponents. They get one of those games at home (Utah, 18) and one on the road (BYU, 24).
Utah has a total of 3 games against teams in the rankings, all on the road, 2 in conference (TCU, 17, and BYU, 24), and 1 out of conference (Oregon, 14, at Autzen).
BYU plays 4 teams ranked in the preseason top 25, 3 at home, and 1 at a neutral site: 2 conference games (both at home: TCU, 17, and Utah, 18) and 2 non-conference ones (Oklahoma in Dallas, 3, and Florida State, 19, at home). They also are the only one of the four non-BCS teams with a top 10 opponent.
Run-down of the top 5:
Florida plays 3 teams ranked in the preseason polls: neutral site against Georgia (13), at LSU (9), and home against Florida State (19). 2 conference games and a rivalry game.
Texas only plays 2: neutral site against Oklahoma (3) and at Oklahoma State (11). No non-conference games against ranked opponents, no Big 12 North games against ranked opponents.
Oklahoma plays 4: neutral sites against Texas (2) and BYU (24), at Nebraska (22), home against Oklahoma State (11).
USC tops the list with 5 (4 of them on the road, 2 of them non-conference games!): at Ohio State (6), at Cal (12), at Notre Dame (23), Oregon State (25) in the Coliseum, and at Oregon (14).
Alabama rounds out the poll's top 5 and has 3 opponents ranked in the preseason. All of them are top 10 teams, however, one at home (LSU, 9), one on the road (Mississippi, 10), and one neutral site (Virginia Tech, 7).
At the top of the schedule, BYU's schedule is as tough as most of the top 5, and at the bottom of the schedule it's probably tougher: no Sun Belt teams or I-AA teams. It's just that pesky middle portion of the schedule where the top 5 teams (and BCS conferences) have the edge. UNLV will never be a South Carolina, Colorado State isn't even a Maryland. Until the middle of the MWC improves, it won't matter how much the top of the MWC improves, as far as the BCS is concerned...unless it expands (i.e. adding Boise State)...
On a side note: there are ZERO Big East teams, and THREE Mountain West teams. Which one is the BCS conference again with guaranteed millions of dollars every year? There are more teams in the rankings from the state of Idaho (which everybody knows is a hotbed for football talent...) than the entire Big East.
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