In today's Oregon State profile, I compliment them for being fearless in their non-conference scheduling. It has increased their strength of schedule to among the highest non-SEC teams in the country. I'm not sure the respect you get for scheduling like this is worth the cost of losing extra games (not in today's college football), but it's respectable nonetheless.

Taking conference schedules into account, how tough have Oregon State's slates been in recent years? To find out, I consulted my FO colleague Brian Fremeau's FEI Strength of Schedule numbers. Below are the top 100 SOS figures since 2003. Wade through the SEC teams, and you'll see Oregon State with a rather respectable position.

(Wonder how South Carolina managed an 11th-place F/+ rating last year despite five losses? Here's how.)

Top Single-Season Strength of Schedule

Ratings According to FEI SOS (2003-10)

Year Team SOS Rk 2010 South Carolina 0.013 1 2006 Kentucky 0.023 2 2010 Arkansas 0.023 3 2005 Colorado 0.026 4 2006 Arkansas 0.029 5 2004 Virginia Tech 0.030 6 2006 Alabama 0.031 7 2009 Tennessee 0.032 8 2004 Arizona State 0.034 9 2010 LSU 0.035 10 2010 Auburn 0.038 11 2009 Arkansas 0.039 12 2009 South Carolina 0.040 13 2003 Florida 0.040 14 2008 Miami 0.040 15 2010 Ole Miss 0.041 16 2009 LSU 0.041 17 2005 Arkansas 0.042 18 2010 Wake Forest 0.044 19 2010 Mississippi State 0.045 20 2005 Ohio State 0.045 21 2004 Arizona 0.045 22 2004 Notre Dame 0.046 23 2006 Florida 0.047 24 2003 Georgia 0.047 25 2009 Florida State 0.047 26 2006 LSU 0.048 27 2007 Auburn 0.049 28 2010 Clemson 0.049 29 2010 Oregon State 0.050 30 2006 Tennessee 0.051 31 2004 North Carolina 0.051 32 2006 Oregon 0.051 33 2008 South Carolina 0.052 34 2007 Oregon State 0.054 35 2010 Alabama 0.054 36 2007 Tennessee 0.055 37 2008 Ole Miss 0.056 38 2004 Oregon State 0.057 39 2009 Alabama 0.058 40

After the jump: the rest of the Top 100, plus overall SOS averages.

Year Team SOS Rk 2007 UCLA 0.059 41 2007 South Carolina 0.059 42 2003 Auburn 0.059 43 2007 Arizona 0.059 44 2010 Georgia 0.060 45 2010 Louisiana Monroe 0.060 46 2007 Mississippi State 0.061 47 2004 Stanford 0.061 48 2006 South Carolina 0.061 49 2005 Florida State 0.061 50 2006 Washington 0.061 51 2010 Florida State 0.064 52 2007 Washington State 0.064 53 2009 Mississippi State 0.065 54 2004 Washington 0.066 55 2005 Minnesota 0.067 56 2009 Virginia Tech 0.067 57 2006 Arizona 0.068 58 2010 Virginia Tech 0.068 59 2006 Nebraska 0.068 60 2004 Louisiana Tech 0.070 61 2009 Georgia Tech 0.070 62 2008 LSU 0.071 63 2009 Florida 0.072 64 2008 Arkansas 0.072 65 2005 USC 0.073 66 2004 LSU 0.073 67 2008 Oklahoma 0.073 68 2006 Vanderbilt 0.073 69 2004 Kentucky 0.074 70 2008 Alabama 0.076 71 2006 Georgia 0.076 72 2004 Tennessee 0.077 73 2005 Michigan State 0.077 74 2005 Michigan 0.077 75 2004 USC 0.077 76 2006 Arizona State 0.078 77 2004 Iowa 0.078 78 2006 Cincinnati 0.078 79 2009 North Carolina 0.079 80 2006 California 0.079 81 2008 Virginia 0.080 82 2005 Oklahoma 0.080 83 2008 Vanderbilt 0.081 84 2008 Florida State 0.081 85 2007 Washington 0.082 86 2010 Arizona 0.082 87 2007 California 0.082 88 2009 Kentucky 0.082 89 2008 Boston College 0.082 90 2006 Notre Dame 0.082 91 2003 South Carolina 0.082 92 2009 Miami 0.083 93 2006 Oregon State 0.083 94 2005 Northwestern 0.084 95 2008 Virginia Tech 0.084 96 2010 Tennessee 0.084 97 2009 Florida International 0.084 98 2004 California 0.084 99 2005 Texas 0.085 100

Now, here are the overall per-season SOS averages.

Average FEI SOS Ratings For All

FBS Teams (2003-10)

Team Avg Rk Arkansas 0.067 1 LSU 0.078 2 Tennessee 0.085 3 Florida 0.086 4 South Carolina 0.092 5 Florida State 0.096 6 Georgia 0.103 7 Alabama 0.104 8 Auburn 0.104 9 Virginia Tech 0.114 10 Washington 0.114 11 Miami 0.114 12 Arizona 0.118 13 Georgia Tech 0.123 14 Kentucky 0.125 15 Notre Dame 0.126 16 Oklahoma 0.127 17 Oregon State 0.127 18 Mississippi 0.128 19 Mississippi State 0.130 20 North Carolina 0.132 21 Arizona State 0.135 22 Ohio State 0.140 23 USC 0.140 24 Stanford 0.140 25 Oregon 0.142 26 Clemson 0.143 27 Michigan 0.144 28 UCLA 0.146 29 California 0.147 30 Wake Forest 0.152 31 Vanderbilt 0.156 32 Washington State 0.160 33 Texas A&M 0.161 34 Maryland 0.166 35 Duke 0.171 36 North Carolina State 0.172 37 Penn State 0.182 38 Colorado 0.186 39 Virginia 0.187 40 Michigan State 0.189 41 Texas Tech 0.194 42 Syracuse 0.199 43 Boston College 0.205 44 Illinois 0.205 45 West Virginia 0.206 46 Cincinnati 0.206 47 Baylor 0.212 48 Wisconsin 0.214 49 Texas 0.214 50 Purdue 0.215 51 Nebraska 0.217 52 Iowa 0.221 53 Oklahoma State 0.223 54 Minnesota 0.233 55 Northwestern 0.242 56 Indiana 0.252 57 Pittsburgh 0.256 58 South Florida 0.264 59 Connecticut 0.267 60 Kansas 0.273 61 Missouri 0.275 62 Kansas State 0.278 63 Louisville 0.281 64 BYU 0.285 65 Louisiana Tech 0.303 66 Iowa State 0.309 67 East Carolina 0.313 68 San Diego State 0.313 69 Marshall 0.317 70 Rutgers 0.317 71 Fresno State 0.331 72 Louisiana Monroe 0.347 73 Colorado State 0.348 74 Air Force 0.356 75 New Mexico 0.365 76 Utah State 0.367 77 Wyoming 0.371 78 UNLV 0.374 79 Utah 0.385 80 Hawaii 0.385 81 Troy 0.389 82 Central Florida 0.395 83 Florida International 0.405 84 TCU 0.416 85 Florida Atlantic 0.420 86 Temple 0.426 87 Western Kentucky 0.426 88 Southern Mississippi 0.429 89 North Texas 0.447 90 Rice 0.447 91 Central Michigan 0.449 92 Navy 0.453 93 Houston 0.454 94 Tulsa 0.459 95 Miami (OH) 0.467 96 Boise State 0.471 97 Arkansas State 0.474 98 UAB 0.477 99 Bowling Green 0.477 100 San Jose State 0.480 101 Louisiana Lafayette 0.491 102 SMU 0.498 103 New Mexico State 0.498 104 Middle Tennessee 0.500 105 Ball State 0.501 106 Tulane 0.506 107 UTEP 0.512 108 Army 0.516 109 Idaho 0.518 110 Ohio 0.520 111 Western Michigan 0.530 112 Memphis 0.538 113 Eastern Michigan 0.541 114 Buffalo 0.541 115 Akron 0.547 116 Northern Illinois 0.555 117 Toledo 0.564 118 Kent State 0.565 119 Nevada 0.573 120

So Oregon State has, on average, played the ninth-toughest non-SEC schedule in the country over the years. They have four-year performance averages nearly identical to those of Oklahoma State (average SOS ranking: 54th) and Utah (80th), but they've won fewer games (and been given less respect) in the process.