Texas tried to schedule Wisconsin but the Badgers wussed out.
Texas had scheduled quality opponents prior to this year (OhioSt, Arkansas, TCU) and maybe they realized their current NC schedule sucked so they tried to bring in a big10 school, but Wisky wouldnt play em.
CFB needs a conference vs conference challenge like they do in CBB.
Yes, to directly put in my .02 for the thread topic, SEC OOC games are scheduled cake-walks for the most part. And shooting from the hip, I would say that so are the majority of the other top 40/50 programs around the country.
That said, as we all know, competition is not the overriding factor behind scheduling. And working the system, as the term suggests, does "work."
And the press or the professional pundits of the RX calling them out makes damn fine reading material and stirs a thought-provoking debate, that's for sure. But I think it's a bit like the war on drugs situation - ie. direct confrontation is good for spreading the word that there's something rotten in Denmark, but calling on people to do the right thing is never going to bring about the change you want.
So the only solution is to provide a more attractive alternative. I think the best solution proposed in this thread (by sdf) was an annual conference challenge at the beginning of the year, like in basketball.
Of course, the limitations here would be geographic - ie. butts in the seats and area TV interests. If conferences with adjacent TV/fan bases paired, several great early season OOC matchups could be had yearly. ANd so long as there's money to be had, the conferences and schools would probably be willing to listen.
Thing about it is - would the projected extra money be enough to justify actually going through with it? The issue of "conference prestige" is central to this question, as well as the number of NFL recruits, which are the basis of the school to ensure future recruits and a quality program in the long-run.
The purses would have to be big enough for Apollo to step into the ring with the southpaw from Philly, you know?
Like any business deal, if the long-term risks outweigh the short term gains, the brass will stamp it no-go. (Ie. -cupcake OOC games allow offensive and defensive players to pad stats that translate into NFL draft status and therefore future recruiting, etc....)
However, I think that conference challenges that feature several games (ie. likely to balance in terms on W/Ls) the TV ratings said matchups could generate as well as hits of people on discussion forums at ESPN or whtever network and the ads said traffic supported... well, I think this is the only idea I've ever heard of that could spice up OOC games.
I guess I say this as I have little confidence that the BCS will alter itself in any way to encourage schools to schedule more challenging OOC games.
Anyway, once more week to go until it all begins again. Let's win some money this year everyone!