No one can criticize WVU's football scheduling.
OK, so, maybe the 2017 Mountaineer non-conference slate isn't the most difficult. Yet it still shows a date with Virginia Tech in Landover, Maryland. And take a gander at every future West Virginia schedule available. You'll find not one, but two non-conference Power 5 teams contracted through 2024. Also, those scheduled include Tennessee, Florida State, Pitt and Penn State.
Yet hearken back to Dec. 8, 2015.
The Big 12's collective non-conference scheduling was criticized to the point that the "Baylor rule" was put in place.
Remember that? Oklahoma, sitting at 11-1, had slipped to No. 4 in the final College Football Playoff rankings and barely squeezed in. Two days later, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced future scheduling requirements. Baylor's name was attached to the rule by the media because of the Bears' repeatedly easy non-conference schedules.
Anyway, Bowlsby couldn't mandate changes to existing contracts. But with an eye on the CFP, he said future non-conference schedules must include a Power 5 team or Notre Dame with but one FCS team allowed.
"Coupled with the nine-game, full round-robin conference schedule our teams play, it will not only benefit the teams at the top of our standings each season, but will impact the overall strength of the conference," Bowlsby said via a release.
Since then, you may know, a championship has also been added. But how is the league doing meeting the spirit of Bowlsby's decree?
Well, OK. Not great, but OK.
So far no Big 12 school appears as ambitious as WVU. The closest is Texas, which plays Maryland and USC both this coming season and in 2018. Also, while the Longhorns so far have but one Power 5 team scheduled each season after 2018, the list includes LSU in 2019 and 2020, Ohio State in 2022 and 2023 and Michigan in 2024 and 2027.
The rest of what has been announced:
Baylor - The Bears have Duke this season and next, no Power 5 team scheduled so far in 2019, and then it's mostly barren until 2023 and 2024 dates with Utah. Oregon is on there in 2027 and 2028. BYU doesn't count.
Iowa State - But one Power 5 team - rival Iowa - appears so far through 2023.
Kansas - The Jayhawks have no Power 5 teams this season (the only Big 12 school like that) and then one through 2024. Opponents are of the Rutgers, Boston College and Duke ilk.
Kansas State - The Wildcats play at Vanderbilt this coming season, have none scheduled in 2018 and then one through 2021.
Oklahoma - The Sooners' schedules resemble those of UT with dates against Ohio State this season, UCLA in 2018 and 2019, Tennessee in 2020 and 2024, Nebraska in 2021 and 2022 and others with Michigan and LSU. So far, though, but one Power 5 per season is listed through 2030.
Oklahoma State - The Cowboys are at Pitt this season and play Arizona State in 2022 and 2023. So far, though, no Power 5 teams have been announced in 2018 or 2021. (There is an opening for the former.) Oregon State is scheduled in 2019 and 2020.
TCU - The Horned Frogs have one Power 5 team scheduled through 2027 and Purdue in 2029. They are at Arkansas this season and play Ohio State in Arlington, Texas, in 2018.
Texas Tech - The Red Raiders play one Power 5 team through 2020, have none announced for 2021 and then one through 2027.
A snapshot of this coming season?
Well, there will be opportunities for Big 12 teams to make waves. Yet the teams' scheduling as a whole is somewhat head-scratching.
Fox Sports, for instance, ranked the five most important league non-conference games. And they are these: Oklahoma at Ohio State; WVU-Virginia Tech in Landover; Texas at USC; TCU at Arkansas; and Baylor at Duke.
Get that? At, neutral, at, at, at.
Oklahoma State is also playing at South Alabama. TCU is playing at SMU. Iowa State is playing at Akron. Texas Tech is playing at Houston. Also, Kansas is playing at Ohio.
So you get the drift. Yes, progress is being made toward Bowlsby's decree, but there's room for scheduling improvement. WVU has certainly been carrying the torch there so far. And, yes, the Big 12 has opportunities to turn heads early in the upcoming season. But by playing away from home in most of the marquee match-ups, seizing on those opportunities will be more difficult.
If ever there was a time to rise though...