A couple of weeks ago, I looked at when the last time each SEC team lost to a non-BCS team was. I decided later to look at when all of the BCS conference teams (and Notre Dame) fell to a non-BCS team.
I thought then that it was strange that only a third of the SEC has managed to avoid such a loss in the last decade. Turns out, that's not too bad. The entire list is after the jump, but here's all the BCS teams that have avoided a loss to a non-BCS program in the last 10 years:
- Florida, lost to Memphis 10/8/88.
- FSU, lost to Southern Miss 9/2/89.
- Ohio State, lost to Air Force 12/27/90.
- Auburn, lost to Southern Miss 10/5/91.
- Texas, lost to Louisville 9/25/93.
- Georgia, lost to Southern Miss 8/31/96.
- Boston College, lost to Navy 10/24/98.
- South Carolina, lost to East Carolina 9/18/99
- Miami, lost to East Carolina 9/25/99.
Without a non-BCS loss this season, we'll see LSU, Arkansas, and Penn State added to this list.
The conference with the most wins of this type is the MWC with 18, followed by CUSA with 16 and the MAC with 12. East Carolina and Southern Miss are tied for the greatest number of most-recent-non-BCS-losses with five apiece, followed by Fresno State, Navy, Toledo, UNLV, and Utah with four each.
The SEC is easily the best conference overall at avoiding non-BCS losses. The average amount of time between the teams' last losses and the recent national title game comes out to 2,852.5 days (second place is the ACC with an average of 1,695), and the median was 2,613.5 (second place is the Big Ten with 782 days).
The full list with the season records of each team at the time and sites is after the jump.
The conferences reflect where teams are now, except in rare circumstances (like Louisville in '93, which was independent then but in the Big East now). A favorable neutral site game was a regular season game played much closer to the BCS conference school than its opponent; an unfavorable neutral site game is the opposite.
South Florida is listed at the bottom with all hyphens because it has not yet lost to a non-BCS school since joining the Big East.
| Conference | Team | Record | Conference | Opponent | Record | Date | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC | Florida | 7-5 | CUSA | Memphis | 6-5 | 10/8/1988 | Home |
| ACC | Florida St. | 10-2 | CUSA | Southern Miss | 5-6 | 9/2/1989 | Neutral-Favorable |
| Big Ten | Ohio St. | 7-4-1 | MWC | Air Force | 7-5 | 12/27/1990 | Bowl-Liberty |
| SEC | Auburn | 5-6 | CUSA | Southern Miss | 4-7 | 10/5/1991 | Home |
| Big 12 | Texas | 5-5-1 | Independent | Louisville | 9-3 | 9/25/1993 | Road |
| SEC | Georgia | 5-6 | CUSA | Southern Miss | 8-3 | 8/31/1996 | Home |
| ACC | Boston College | 4-7 | Independent | Navy | 3-8 | 10/24/1998 | Home |
| SEC | South Carolina | 0-11 | CUSA | East Carolina | 9-3 | 9/18/1999 | Home |
| ACC | Miami (FL) | 9-4 | CUSA | East Carolina | 9-3 | 9/25/1999 | Neutral-Unfavorable |
| Big Ten | Penn St. | 5-7 | MAC | Toledo | 10-1 | 9/2/2000 | Home |
| SEC | LSU | 8-4 | CUSA | UAB | 7-4 | 9/23/2000 | Home |
| SEC | Arkansas | 6-6 | MWC | UNLV | 8-5 | 12/21/2000 | Bowl-Las Vegas |
| Pac-10 | Southern California | 6-6 | MWC | Utah | 8-4 | 12/25/2001 | Bowl-Las Vegas |
| Big Ten | Wisconsin | 7-6 | MWC | UNLV | 6-6 | 9/13/2003 | Home |
| Big 12 | Nebraska | 5-6 | CUSA | Southern Miss | 7-5 | 9/11/2004 | Home |
| SEC | Kentucky | 2-9 | MAC | Ohio | 4-7 | 10/2/2004 | Home |
| Big 12 | Missouri | 7-5 | MWC | New Mexico | 6-5 | 9/10/2005 | Home |
| SEC | Mississippi | 3-8 | MWC | Wyoming | 4-7 | 9/24/2005 | Home |
| Big East | Cincinnati | 4-7 | MAC | Miami (OH) | 7-4 | 9/28/2005 | Road |
| Big 12 | Kansas | 6-6 | MAC | Toledo | 5-7 | 9/15/2006 | Road |
| Big Ten | Northwestern | 4-8 | WAC | Nevada | 8-5 | 9/22/2006 | Road |
| Big East | Connecticut | 4-8 | Independent | Navy | 9-4 | 9/30/2006 | Home |
| Big 12 | Baylor | 3-9 | MWC | TCU | 8-5 | 9/1/2007 | Road |
| ACC | North Carolina St. | 5-7 | CUSA | UCF | 10-4 | 9/1/2007 | Home |
| ACC | North Carolina | 4-8 | CUSA | East Carolina | 8-5 | 9/8/2007 | Road |
| Big Ten | Minnesota | 1-11 | I-AA | North Dakota St. | - | 10/20/2007 | Home |
| Big Ten | Iowa | 6-6 | MAC | Western Mich. | 5-7 | 11/17/2007 | Home |
| ACC | Georgia Tech | 7-6 | WAC | Fresno St. | 9-4 | 12/31/2007 | Bowl-Humanitarian |
| Big 12 | Texas A&M | 4-8 | Sun Belt | Arkansas St. | 6-6 | 8/30/2008 | Home |
| Big East | Pittsburgh | 6-6 | MAC | Bowling Green | 6-6 | 8/30/2008 | Home |
| ACC | Virginia Tech | 10-4 | CUSA | East Carolina | 9-5 | 8/30/2008 | Neutral |
| Big East | Rutgers | 8-5 | WAC | Fresno St. | 7-6 | 9/1/2008 | Home |
| Big East | Syracuse | 3-9 | MAC | Akron | 5-7 | 9/6/2008 | Home |
| Pac-10 | Washington | 0-12 | MWC | BYU | 10-3 | 9/6/2008 | Home |
| Big East | West Virginia | 9-4 | CUSA | East Carolina | 9-5 | 9/6/2008 | Road |
| Pac-10 | Arizona | 8-5 | MWC | New Mexico | 4-8 | 9/13/2008 | Road |
| Pac-10 | Stanford | 5-7 | MWC | TCU | 11-2 | 9/13/2008 | Road |
| Pac-10 | Arizona St. | 5-7 | MWC | UNLV | 5-7 | 9/13/2008 | Home |
| Big 12 | Iowa St. | 2-10 | MWC | UNLV | 5-7 | 9/20/2008 | Road |
| Pac-10 | UCLA | 4-8 | WAC | Fresno St. | 7-6 | 9/27/2008 | Home |
| Big Ten | Michigan | 3-9 | MAC | Toledo | 3-9 | 10/11/2008 | Home |
| Big Ten | Indiana | 3-9 | MAC | Central Mich. | 8-5 | 11/1/2008 | Home |
| SEC | Tennessee | 5-7 | MWC | Wyoming | 4-8 | 11/8/2008 | Home |
| SEC | Alabama | 12-2 | MWC | Utah | 13-0 | 1/2/2009 | Bowl-Sugar |
| Pac-10 | Oregon | 10-3 | WAC | Boise St. | 14-0 | 9/3/2009 | Road |
| Big 12 | Oklahoma | 8-5 | MWC | BYU | 11-2 | 9/5/2009 | Neutral-Favorable |
| ACC | Duke | 5-7 | I-AA | Richmond | - | 9/5/2009 | Home |
| Big 12 | Colorado | 3-9 | MAC | Toledo | 5-7 | 9/11/2009 | Road |
| Big Ten | Michigan St. | 6-7 | MAC | Central Mich. | 12-2 | 9/12/2009 | Home |
| Pac-10 | Washington St. | 1-11 | WAC | Hawaii | 6-7 | 9/12/2009 | Home |
| Big 12 | Oklahoma St. | 9-4 | CUSA | Houston | 10-4 | 9/12/2009 | Home |
| Big 12 | Kansas St. | 6-6 | Sun Belt | La.-Lafayette | 6-6 | 9/12/2009 | Road |
| ACC | Maryland | 2-10 | Sun Belt | Middle Tenn. | 10-3 | 9/19/2009 | Home |
| Big Ten | Purdue | 5-7 | MAC | Northern Ill. | 7-6 | 9/19/2009 | Home |
| ACC | Virginia | 3-9 | CUSA | Southern Miss | 7-6 | 9/19/2009 | Road |
| Big 12 | Texas Tech | 9-4 | CUSA | Houston | 10-4 | 9/26/2009 | Road |
| Big East | Louisville | 4-8 | MWC | Utah | 10-3 | 9/26/2009 | Road |
| SEC | Vanderbilt | 2-10 | Independent | Army | 5-7 | 10/10/2009 | Road |
| SEC | Mississippi St. | 5-7 | CUSA | Houston | 10-4 | 10/10/2009 | Home |
| ACC | Wake Forest | 5-7 | Independent | Navy | 10-4 | 10/24/2009 | Road |
| Independent | Notre Dame | 6-6 | Independent | Navy | 10-4 | 11/7/2009 | Home |
| Big Ten | Illinois | 3-9 | WAC | Fresno St. | 8-5 | 12/5/2009 | Home |
| Pac-10 | Oregon St. | 8-5 | MWC | BYU | 11-2 | 12/22/2009 | Bowl-Las Vegas |
| Pac-10 | California | 8-5 | MWC | Utah | 10-3 | 12/23/2009 | Bowl-Poinsettia |
| Big East | South Fla. | - | - | - | - | - | - |