How the NCAA would rank the SEC’s 2013 strength of schedule
Last February, SDS looked at the upcoming 2013 season’s strength of schedule. You can view that here. Based on prior season’s results, Kentucky had the SEC’s toughest upcoming schedule, with Arkansas, Missouri and Florida right behind them. Alabama and Vanderbilt had the two easiest schedules, based on the NCAA’s method of calculating strength of schedule.
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Now that 2013 is in the books, let’s take a look at what the actual results show. The following is how the NCAA would rank the SEC’s strength of schedule, with the wins and losses. It takes into account the SEC Championship Game as well. The first two columns count for the mentioned team in the opponent’s record, while the last two columns don’t take into account the mentioned team into the opponent’s record.
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Here’s what the results show:
| Team | Opp. Win % | Opp. Won-Loss | *Opp. Win% | *Opp. Won-Loss |
| Mississippi State | 66.4% | 97-49 | 67.9% | 91-43 |
| Florida | 63.4% | 92-53 | 63.2% | 84-49 |
| Texas A&M | 62.4% | 93-56 | 65% | 89-48 |
| Kentucky | 62% | 90-55 | 60.2% | 80-53 |
| Arkansas | 61.6% | 90-56 | 60.4% | 81-53 |
| Georgia | 61.6% | 90-56 | 64.2% | 86-48 |
| Tennessee | 61.6% | 90-56 | 61.9% | 83-51 |
| Ole Miss | 58.9% | 86-60 | 60.4% | 81-53 |
| South Carolina | 58.5% | 86-61 | 62.2% | 84-51 |
| Auburn | 56.7% | 89-68 | 61.1% | 88-56 |
| Missouri | 56.7% | 89-68 | 60.4% | 87-57 |
| LSU | 52.4% | 77-70 | 54.8% | 74-61 |
| Alabama | 51.4% | 75-71 | 55.2% | 74-60 |
| Vanderbilt | 42.8% | 62-83 | 43.6% | 58-75 |
Couple notes:
- Vanderbilt played the easiest schedule by far, and the Dores were the only team in the SEC to play a schedule below the .500 mark.
- Alabama had the second easiest schedule with barely over .500.
- Mississippi State played six currently ranked teams and lost to all of them; however, they won the other six games, bringing them to 6-6 and bowl eligible. The Bulldogs played the toughest schedule, with opponents winning 66.4 percent of their games and 67.9 percent if you remove the Bulldogs.
Photo Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
