With the 2025 college football season kicking off this weekend with some Week 0 action, now is the perfect time to be reminded of this new wrinkle being inserted into the College Football Playoff equation. The College Football Playoff announced ahead of this season that a new strength of schedule metric will be added into the discussion, helping out Power Four leagues like the SEC a ton.
In short, teams with harder strengths of schedule will be rewarded for more high-quality wins, and not punished as severely for losses against teams of substance. Conversely, teams who do not have a strong strength of schedule may not be as rewarded for running roughshod on the tomato cans on their slate. Losses are magnified by those who do not schedule tough. Curt Cignetti is in utter shambles.
Per ESPN's Football Power Index, these are the 25 hardest schedules in college football.
- Florida Gators
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Texas Longhorns
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Wisconsin Badgers
- LSU Tigers
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- Auburn Tigers
- Syracuse Orange
- UCLA Bruins
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Purdue Boilermakers
- Northwestern Wildcats
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Oregon Ducks
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- USC Trojans
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Of the 25 teams with the hardest schedules in the country, 15 hail from the SEC. Only the Missouri Tigers do not crack the top 25. In fact, the nine hardest schedules reside in the SEC, as do 13 of the hardest 14. Only Wisconsin of the Big Ten and the Syracuse Orange of the ACC are in the top 15. Wisconsin is one of nine Big Ten teams making this list. Syracuse is the only ACC school on it, too.
Here is why this metric may help the SEC get four teams in, as well as make it harder for the Big 12.
How strength of record may impact the College Football Playoff field
The decision to include strength of schedule in the playoff conversation may be more about Alabama fans being sad over not making the 12-team field last year with a 9-3 record more than anything. However, I think what it does is make it even more important to schedule quality opponents in the non-conference. The Big Ten seems to be going about this all wrong with Indiana and Nebraska.
For the foreseeable future, I am going to look at eight of the 12 teams making the playoff to be from the SEC and Big Ten in most years. The other four spots will be reserved for the ACC champion, the Big 12 champion, the Group of Five champion and however we want to classify Notre Dame. We may get five teams in from that cluster, but it could be harder to get in as an at-large team now.
If early strength of schedule helps anyone, I would argue that it helps Georgia and Texas the most out of the SEC, as well as Ohio State out of the Big Ten. All three of these playoff locks are essentially reloading entering this season. They all have high ceilings, but equally high floors. What I am saying is that any of them going 10-2 will make the field. Heck, if any were to go 9-3, there might be a debate.
If there were ever a time for Indiana and Nebraska to add some meat in the non-conference, this is it.