Why Athletic Directors Should Schedule All Cupcakes

As fans, we love to see our teams play a big-time program from another conference. Bragging rights are on the line.  We have a great excuse for a new road (or plane) trip.  The buildup to the games is much better than those against Western Illinois and The Citadel. Still, athletic directors and coaches should rethink scheduling them. After 10 years of existence, the BCS rankings have not given any meaningful advantage to a team because of its non-conference schedule. The BCS has, however, rewarded teams with weak non-conference schedules and punished teams with tough non-conference schedules.  Teams appear to be rewarded for any win and punished for any loss.  Conference games have proven to be much more important in deciding bowl matchups. If I were an athletic director of a team with any sort of hopes for BCS contention, I would schedule a steady diet of cupcakes. It seems that almost every year, some team takes some media heat for blowing through a ... (link)