Mossman: Does Strength of Schedule Matter?

| Mossman Prophecies

Kenny Mossman
Sr. Associate Athletics Director / Communications

Kenny Mossman joined the OU staff in August of 2001 as director of media relations. In August of 2002, he was promoted to assistant athletics director. He was promoted to associate AD for media relations and communication in August 2004, then received his latest promotion in June 2006. Previously, he worked at Illinois State and Kansas State.

At OU, he supervises media relations, publications, graphic design, SoonerSports.com, licensing and Sooner Vision.

In media relations, with his primary sport responsibility pertaining to football, he and his staff have promoted winners of the Heisman, Bednarik, Butkus, Lombardi, Nagurski, O'Brien and Thorpe Awards. In all, OU has won 10 college football national player awards and 20 All-America citations during his tenure.

Full Bio | OU Athletics Administration

If the proof is indeed in the pudding, strength of schedule doesn't amount to a hill of Snack Pack.

Oklahoma currently finds itself ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press poll. We can assume that the Sooners arrived there based on two losses. Two losses, that is, to ranked opponents on neutral or hostile fields by a single point.

Here's a little food for thought. Of the 19 programs rated ahead of Oklahoma in the AP poll, only three have played more ranked opponents than OU and only six have played as many.

Also, only four played more than one non-conference game away from home.

Strength of schedule is best enjoyed in the summer. Scheduling announcements, especially those that involve a pair of high-profile teams, draw a smattering of appreciation from the pollsters, who, at that time of year anyway, decry those college football programs that feast on cream puffs.

Those denouncements end promptly, if we are to read the ballots correctly, on Aug. 30.

I have always admired Joe Castiglione and Bob Stoops for signing up for the glamorous opponents. It's fun to ride through the streets of Tuscaloosa, gaze at the San Gabriel's and bask in the sun of Miami.

And at times, I guess that scheduling philosophy has served OU well. I guess.

I am not advocating a change for Oklahoma. I believe what the boss and the HBC are doing is right for college football.

I am simply pointing out that the connoisseurs who appreciate their allegiance to history and the electricity of a mega-matchup are becoming harder to find.

And you most definitely won't find them in the pudding.

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Mossman Prophecies | Archive
Read an inside perspective from the OU Athletics Department on the latest Sooner sports topics. Senior Associate Athletics Director for Communications Kenny Mossman provides his thoughts in his online column at SoonerSports.com.

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Mossman: Does Strength of Schedule Matter?

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