Schedules no longer a problem in Big 12

Big 12 football remains a work in progress. No national championship since 2005. No national championship game since 2009. But also no departures since 2011. And no snubs from the College Football Playoff since 2016, which puts the Big 12 ahead of the Big Ten and the Pac-12. Both missed out on the four-team playoff last season.

Things are looking up for Big 12 football, and here’s one reason why. The Big 12 is scheduling better.

In December 2015, the Big 12 announced that, moving forward, its members would be required to play at least one non-conference game per year against a fellow Power 5 Conference opponent, or Notre Dame.

But in truth, most Big 12 schools had already started beefing up their schedules.

Texas Tech did not play a fellow power-conference opponent, outside of bowls, between 2003 and 2013. But since, Tech has played home-and-home with Arkansas and Arizona State, and Tech this season plays Ole Miss, along with midmajor sabretooth Houston.

Notorious soft scheduler Kansas State played UCLA in 2009-10, Miami in 201112, Auburn in 2014, Stanford in 2016, Vanderbilt in 2017

and will face Mississippi State this season.

TCU and West Virginia joined the league in 2012 and arrived with the mindset of playing quality nonconference schedules, which means the likes of LSU and Alabama were soon Big 12 nonconference opponents.

And now, Big 12 schedules stand up to the other Power 5 schedules. I ranked every nonconference schedule for all 64 Power 5 schools. The Big 12 ranks fourth (Texas), 12th (West Virginia), 18th (OU), 20th (TCU) and 22nd (Tech). That’s strong. That’s half the league in the upper third of Power 5 teams.

There are several factors that espouse the Big 12’s commitment to quality scheduling:

•The Big 12 has the biggest percentage of its games against fellow Power 5 schools. Eleven of the Big 12’s 30 nonconference games, 36.7 percent, are against the Power 5. Every Big 12 team except OSU plays a Power 5 opponent, and the Cowboys play midmajor power Boise State. Texas and West Virginia each play two Power 5 foes.

•Schedules can be fortified with strong mid-majors. OU lost to Brigham Young in 2009 and Houston in 2016, both in NFL stadiums. The Big 12 is playing 46.7 percent of its games (14 of 30) against either Power 5 foes or strong mid-majors. Only the Pac-12 (47.2 percent) is above the Big 12. The SEC is playing 26.7 percent of its nonconference games against Power 5 schools or strong mid-majors (Arkansas State and Memphis).

•The Big 12 still is playing too many Division I-AA (FCS) opponents, which can offer only 63 scholarships, compared to the 85 provided in Division I-A (FBS). Every Big 12 team but OU and Texas play a lower-division foe, meaning eight games out of 30, 26.7 percent. That’s about the going rate in the SEC, ACC and Pac-12, all of which is playing 25 percent of its non-conference games against I-AA teams. Only the Big Ten is taking the honorable route — Iowa is playing Northern Iowa and Illinois is playing Western Illinois, but no other I-AA opponent is on a Big Ten schedule.

So overall, Big 12 schedules have improved, and the Big 12’s status has risen. OU’s win at Ohio State last September was a paramount game in college football last season. This year, TCU gets a crack at Ohio State and Texas gets a crack at Southern Cal.

Big 12 football still has some problems. Scheduling is not one of them.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at (405) 760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok. com/berrytramel.