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The Big Twelve's Worst Scheduled Football Games In 2014

Every year teams try to go out and buy wins against their brethren from the Championship Subdivision. There are clear mismatches each year that are embarrassingly easy for schools that will be competing for a conference championship and a potential playoff berth and yet, like clockwork, there they are every year.

By M. Hofeld
Christian Petersen

That's not the only reason a game shouldn't be scheduled though. Sometimes a Bowl Subdivision team gets caught with their pants down and is shown up by a team thought to be a lesser. Ahem...cough...looking at you Kansas State. If you're going to take a step down to schedule an opponent, try to avoid the national powers. If you've got significant holes that need to be filled then you probably shouldn't set yourself up for embarrassment.

The other mistake is to schedule a Bowl Subdivision team from a smaller conference and is really only known regionally. Yeah, this can be a bad idea sometimes as well because you're still in the no win situation possibly looking bad or even losing to a team that you should have run over. Perception is still perception regardless of if its fair or not.

For various reasons, here are ten games that never should have been scheduled by Big XII schools.

10. September 13th UTSA at OSU: O-State played this game on the road last season and now UTSA takes a ride to Stillwater. The Road Runners have a senior-led offense and won't be a joke for an Oklahoma State squad that has a lot of question marks.

9. September 12th Baylor at Buffalo: Could someone please remind the Bears that they are the defending Big XII champs. Big XII champions don't travel to Buffalo!

8. August 30th North Dakota State at Iowa State: Oh man. Did we not learn anything from Kansas State last season? The Bison are the defending Championship Subdivision champions and are used to pulling upsets. The good news for the Cyclones is that NDSU quarterback Brock Jensen has moved on to the NFL.

7. September 6th Towson at West Virginia: This is a crucial season for WVU Head Coach Dana Holgorsen and week two could be a bit dicey if the Mountaineers don't shore up their defense. Towson went 13-3 last season and were the FCS runners up.

6. August 30th Central Arkansas at Texas Tech: There's not a better way to follow up a big bowl win than to open up the season against a 7-win FCS squad.

5. August 30th Samford  at TCU: The Bulldogs were nationally ranked and missed winning the Southern Conference by just one game. The Frogs ended 2013 by losing five of their final six games. There is potential for an upset here but it most likely won't happen. The longshot though is that the Frogs win going away and that places them in a bad spot.

4. September 6th Northwestern State at Baylor: It's hard not to sound like a bitter football fan when discussing the Bears 2014 schedule but come on, Northwestern State was a .500 club last season and with the talent that Baylor has coming back this game is beneath them.

3. September 6th Missouri State at OSU: Oklahoma State joins Baylor in making this list twice. Three games into the season the Cowboys are playing a Missouri State team that finished 5-7 last year.

2. September 6th Southeast Missouri State at Kansas: Well, Kansas has to start somewhere and when you look through the Jayhawks' schedule this game becomes a must win.

1. August 30 Stephen F Austin at Kansas State: An article on Big XII football and poor scheduling isn't complete without a Bill Snyder team. SFA was 3-9 last season, making them the worst FCS squad that will play a Big XII team this season.

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