Tennessee with the 8th hardest schedule, per ESPN

[FranklinVFL]

Wow. 9 of top 10, and 15 out of top 25 from the SEC

It just means more

 

[sjt18]

LOL... 9 of the top 10 and 15 of 16 teams in the top 25. Playing in the SEC is hard. I guess that's news?

And who is missing? Everyone's "darling"... Mizzou.

 

[sjt18]

Am I wrong or are 24 of the 25 from either the SEC or Big 10? When are we going to get rid of the sham and just have those two conferences in a division of their own?

 

[pimo1]

Now granted, my 3 year old knows more about college football than ESPN these days.

And it's also worth noting that this list loses a ton of credibility by having Ohio State anywhere on it (they don't even play a ranked team until mid-October, one of a whopping 3 they play all year).

But it's still good to know that's the perception of our schedule.


View attachment 665287

Uhh OSU actually has a semi legit schedule this season.. things have changed in the big 10... that being said their OOC schedule is a joke not a single P4 game. They play Iowa, Oregon on the road, Pen State on the road, and Michigan. All of those will likely be ranked teams. I would have probably put them at 17 behind South Carolina but the rest is about right. Georgia at 3 is kinda high though maybe pundits believe in Clemson Florida and Ole miss a lot? I think they are top 10 but not 3. In my eyes UT has a tougher schedule than them.

 

[IndianaVol]

Sorry, but not sorry, for Florida - I'll be surprised if Napier is still coach after this season.

 

[hUTch2002]

Sorry, but not sorry, for Florida - I'll be surprised if Napier is still coach after this season.

Florida has the toughest schedule I’ve seen since us back in like 2008 or 2009. I forget which but one of those years was absolutely brutal. We played something like 8 top 20 teams I think.

 

[NEO]

I don’t care what team you are in the SEC now your schedule is gonna suck. Every other conference is just a joke now.

 

[hUTch2002]

I don’t care what team you are in the SEC now your schedule is gonna suck. Every other conference is just a joke now.

The Big 53 is now somewhat close to what the SEC was before adding Texas and Oklahoma.

 

[JohnWardForever]

Granted, it’s preseason so you never know for sure this early but I don’t see how a schedule with Bama, UGA, OU, NC State, UF and UK could be middle of the pack nationwide. No way.

I agree, that's a tough 6. But then there's Chatt (Lower division really hurts ) Kent (132) & Utep (128) both ranked in the bottom 7 in the Country above only Monroe & Kennesaw St.

 

[NEO]

The Big 53 is now somewhat close to what the SEC was before adding Texas and Oklahoma.

What is the big 53? Big 12, acc, big ten?

 

[VFL-82-JP]

What is the big 53? Big 12, acc, big ten?

Maybe it's the B10 (18 teams) + B12 (16) + ACC (17) + PAC leftovers (2).

But then, that leaves out Notre Dame, which belongs in any group that has both the B10 and the ACC.

So not sure what Hutch means by Big 53.

 

[Vol423]

Phil Steele 2024 Toughest schedules. Quite a disparity.

1 Florida
2 UCLA
3 USC
4 Georgia Tech
5 Houston
6 Purdue
7 West Virginia
8 Georgia
9 Alabama
10 Stanford
11 Virginia
12 Florida St
13 Colorado
14 Vanderbilt
15 Michigan
16 Mississippi St
17 Oklahoma
18 Arkansas
19 Arizona St
20 Wisconsin
21 Washington
22 Michigan St
23 BYU
24 Kentucky
25 Northwestern
26 LSU
27 Louisville
28 Clemson 8 Clemson
29 Iowa St 9 Iowa St
30 Illinois 0 Illinois
31 Boston College
32 South Carolina
33 Texas A&M
34 Maryland
35 Ohio St
36 Texas
37 Minnesota
38 TCU
39 Duke
40 Mississippi
41 Oregon
42 Baylor
43 Miami, Fl
44 Texas Tech
45 California
46 Kansas St
47 Iowa
48 Wake Forest
49 Penn St
50 Nebraska
51 Pittsburgh
52 Tennessee
53 UCF
54 Oklahoma St
56 Auburn
62 Missouri

Apparently Phil has been heavily partaking with @TrippieRedd.

 

[JohnWardForever]

Apparently Phil has been heavily partaking with @TrippieRedd.

Actually Steele's Poll is probably more accurate than espn's talking heads. Steele is the most thorough CFB analyst out there. He rates every player on every team, every position group on every team, % of returning Offensive & Defensive production, Lettermen, Coaching, I mean he leaves nothing out. espn phones it in.

 

[Vol423]

Actually Steele's Poll is probably more accurate than espn's talking heads. Steele is the most thorough CFB analyst out there. He rates every player on every team, every position group on every team, % of returning Offensive & Defensive production, Lettermen, Coaching, I mean he leaves nothing out. espn phones it in.

On second thought, clearly Phil Steele thinks that UT is the cream of the SEC crop in 2024. All our opponents seem to be ranked with tougher schedules than us. We’re making their schedules harder, but Phil expects us to win the games, so our schedule is comparatively weaker. He’s still smoking some serious crap though.

 

[chuckiepoo]

On second thought, clearly Phil Steele thinks that UT is the cream of the SEC crop in 2024. All our opponents seem to be ranked with tougher schedules than us. We’re making their schedules harder, but Phil expects us to win the games, so our schedule is comparatively weaker. He’s still smoking some serious crap though.

The disparity between the two evaluations is what strikes me. I’ve always thought Phil Steele was a solid analyst.

 

[hUTch2002]

I agree, that's a tough 6. But then there's Chatt (Lower division really hurts ) Kent (132) & Utep (128) both ranked in the bottom 7 in the Country above only Monroe & Kennesaw St.

I get that maybe kicking us to around 20-25 but not in the 50s. Then again, I saw where he ranked UCLA so now I just assume his rankings are terrible. I wonder what he’s basing it on.

 

[hUTch2002]

What is the big 53? Big 12, acc, big ten?

Big 10. I thought saying it was similar to the SEC while still using “Big” would’ve made it obvious but I suppose not. Sorry about that.

 

[hUTch2002]

Maybe it's the B10 (18 teams) + B12 (16) + ACC (17) + PAC leftovers (2).

But then, that leaves out Notre Dame, which belongs in any group that has both the B10 and the ACC.

So not sure what Hutch means by Big 53.

Just exaggerating due to the ridiculousness of having a billion teams in these conferences. I’m super impressed that you came up with something that equaled 53 though. Well done!

 

[hUTch2002]

Actually Steele's Poll is probably more accurate than espn's talking heads. Steele is the most thorough CFB analyst out there. He rates every player on every team, every position group on every team, % of returning Offensive & Defensive production, Lettermen, Coaching, I mean he leaves nothing out. espn phones it in.

Agreed in general but no way UCLA has the second toughest schedule.

 

[NEO]

Big 10. I thought saying it was similar to the SEC while still using “Big” would’ve made it obvious but I suppose not. Sorry about that.

Yeah Big 10 has 18 teams. Even they know 8 of their teams are total garbage. I think our margin of victory over the big 10 in bowl games is like 21 points going back to the jones era.

You take OSU and Michigan out of that conference and it folds in 1 hour.