The 10 Most-Difficult Schedules In College Football In 2018

Author:
Andrew Holleran
Publish date:
Jan 31, 2018

UCLA Bruins cheerleaders entertain the crowd during the game against the Hawaii Warriors at the Rose Bowl. — PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: UCLA Bruins cheerleaders entertain the crowd during the game against the Hawaii Warriors at the Rose Bowl on September 9, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

Here are the 10 most-difficult schedules in college football next season.

The way a college football team schedules its non-conference games has become a major talking point with the College Football Playoff. Do you schedule tough to give yourself more chances for good wins? Or do you schedule easy to give yourself the best chance of going undefeated?

It was a major issue this past season. A couple of teams benefited or fell victim to their schedules.

Ohio State, for example, probably missed the College Football Playoff due to its game against Oklahoma. The Buckeyes were blown out by the Sooners and ended up missing out on the playoff. If OSU had scheduled an easy opponent in OU's place, Urban Meyer's team probably would've been a 12-1, Big Ten champion - a lock for the playoff.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, benefited from its easy schedule. The Badgers went undefeated in the regular season and were a win over Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game away from a playoff spot.

Easy schedules aren't always the way to go, though. Two seasons ago, Ohio State played at Oklahoma. The Buckeyes won decisively. It was probably that win that put OSU in the playoff over a couple of other teams.

This leads us to looking ahead to the 2018 season. One analyst has already started ranking the toughest schedules for the upcoming season.

Here are the 10 toughest. The rankings come from analyst Matt Smith.