A few interesting facts about the 2007-2008 SEC Basketball Schedule:
Most Common Opponent: Clemson (4 Times)
Most Conference Against: Tie- ACC, Big East, Southland (13 Times each)
Games Against Power Conferences: 46 (ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 10)
Best Opponent: North Carolina (vs. Kentucky)
Worst Opponent: Arkansas-Monticello(vs. Tennessee)
Opponents in Each Conference:
America East (2): Stony Brook, Vermont
ACC (13): Clemson (4), Florida State, Georgia Tech (2), Miami (2), North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest (2)
Atlantic 10 (8): George Washington (2), LaSalle, UMass, Temple (2), Xavier (2)
Atlantic Sun (11): Belmont, Campbell, East Tennessee State, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville, Kennesaw, Lipscomb, Mercer (2), North Florida, Stetson
Big 12 (9): Baylor (2), Missouri (2), Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M (2)
Big East (13): UConn, DePaul (2), Georgetown, Louisville, Providence (2), Rutgers, St. John's, Villanova (2), West Virginia (2)
Big Sky (0):
Big South (8): Charleston Southern (2), High Point, Liberty, UNC Asheville (2), Radford, Winthrop
Big Ten (7): Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State (2), Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Big West (2): UC-Irvine (2)
Colonial (1): Towson
Conference USA (10): UAB, Central Florida, Houston, Memphis, Rice, Southern Miss (2), Tulane (3)
Division II (3): Arkansas-Monticello, Augusta State, Chaminade
Independents (6): Chicago State, UNC-Central, Presbyterian (3), UT Pan American
Horizon League (1): Valparaiso
Ivy (0):
MAAC (1): Iona
MAC (2): Miami, Toledo
MEAC (5): Delaware State (2), Florida A&M, North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State
Missouri Valley (4): Missouri State (2), Southern Illinois, Wichita State
Mountain West (1): New Mexico
Northeast (0):
Ohio Valley (8): Austin Peay, Jacksonville State, Murray State, Tennessee Martin (2), Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech (2)
Pac 10 (4): Arizona State, Oregon State, Southern Cal, Washington
Patriot (1): Lafayette
Southern (8): Appalachian State, Chattanooga, The Citadel, College of Charleston, Elon, Georgia Southern, Wofford (2)
Southland (13): Central Arkansas, Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls State (2), Northwestern State (2), Southeast Louisiana (3), Texas A&M Corpus Christi (2), UT San Antonio
SWAC (9): Alabama A&M (2), Alabama State, Grambling, Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M, Southern, Texas Southern (2)
Summit (2): North Dakota State, Oral Roberts
Sun Belt (11): Florida International, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe (2), Middle Tennessee State, South Alabama (3), Troy (2), Western Kentucky
West Coast (4): Gonzaga (2), Loyola Marymount, San Diego
WAC (2): Louisiana Tech, Utah State
Using the RPI numbers from last year, I determined the strength of each team's schdule. Some notes: "Expected" opponents in tournaments were used; Any team not in Division I last season was given an RPI rating of 330; Of course some teams from last year will be better, others worse, for the ranking.
Most of the conference has pretty impressive schedules. Vanderbilt and Arkansas both play very competitive, balanced schedules. Each school plays a good variety of high majors and competitive mid-majors.
Kentucky and Alabama play the most teams in the top 50 of the RPI from last year, with Kentucky taking on UNC, Indiana, Louisville, and Memphis. Alabama will play Georgetown, Texas A&M, and Clemson. Kentucky also has many schools on the lower end of the RPI in their schedule, thus lowering their overall ranking.
Georgia and Ole Miss do not necessarily challenge themselves, though the Dogs do have Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, and Wisconsin, and the Rebels play Clemson.
The most surprising fact was Florida. The defending national champions have the second weakest schedule in the league, with the only challenges coming from Florida State and Ohio State, with the remainder of the schedule exceptionally weak.
And then there is Auburn. The average of their opponents is over 200 on the RPI, which is inexcusable. The Tigers were looking toward a breakthrough season with experienced players returning, but if they even go 8-8 in the league, they will be hard pressed to make the tournament. The best out of conference opponents are Xavier and West Virginia, not exactly world beaters.
| School | Top 50 | 51-100 | 101-200 | 201-300 | 300+ | Avg. |
| Arkansas | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 142.9 |
| Vanderbilt | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 145.7 |
| Alabama | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 152.5 |
| Mississippi State | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 154.6 |
| Kentucky | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 159.7 |
| Tennessee | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 162.9 |
| South Carolina | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 166.6 |
| LSU | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 169.5 |
| Georgia | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 178.4 |
| Ole Miss | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 178.5 |
| Florida | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 196.4 |
| Auburn | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 206.8 |
