I hate rewarding teams that choose not to schedule a couple of BCS schools and at least a competitive non-BCS team...
I think, at the start of the year, it was the cupcake opponents thinking "Yes, we get to play Kansas!"
I can see Mangino's mindset, though. His team went 6-6 last year and was left out of a bowl. He figured if he could get 3 wins this year in-conference, they'd get to go bowling.
Put his non-conference schedule is no weaker than, say, Arkansas's. And if they were undefeated right now, they'd be #1 because they started out ranked.