[h=1]Gators among teams with most difficult schedules[/h]
Phil Steele
ESPN PLUS ($ MATERIAL)
College football season is right around the corner, and one way to determine how teams will fare this season is by looking at their schedule strength. While every team plays 12 games, the makeup of each team's schedule is different.
There are those teams that must go on the road and face ranked teams multiple times, while other teams get the good fortune of playing their tougher games in front of the home fans. Also, depending on the composition of a team's conference schedule, certain teams miss the big boys, while others must go through their conference's top squads.
Below, I list the teams with the most daunting slates of games for 2019 and how it could affect the outcomes of their seasons.
[h=2]1. South Carolina Gamecocks (5.5 wins, 300-1 to win title)[/h]South Carolina returns 14 starters and comes in at No. 30 on my experience chart, but it will face my toughest-rated schedule for 2019. The Gamecocks also face a schedule that had a combined win percentage of 67.9 in 2018, the highest percentage of any FBS schedule. South Carolina will face three teams that finished in the top seven of the AP Poll last season: Alabama, Georgia and Clemson. In addition to those juggernauts, Will Muschamp's team faces Florida, Texas A&M, North Carolina and Appalachian State. <offer style="box-sizing: border-box;">Even with several key starters back, the improvement might not show up in the win/loss column, but the Gamecocks should get back to a bowl game.
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[h=2]2. Auburn Tigers (8 wins, 45-1)[/h]Although three of Auburn's nonconference foes are Tulane, Kent State and Samford, it faces Oregon to open the season in Arlington, Texas. By the end of the season, the Tigers could have faced the most top-25 teams of any FBS school, as their conference slate has them traveling to Texas A&M, Florida and LSU, and they face Mississippi State, Georgia and Alabama at home. Head coach Gus Malzahn is back to calling the plays and returns 14 starters, but the Tigers will have to pull off a couple of upsets to contend in the SEC.
[h=2]3. USC Trojans (7 wins, 100-1)[/h]The Trojans bring back 11 starters, including quarterback JT Daniels, who gets the benefit of throwing to an elite group of receivers but is learning under new offensive coordinator Graham Harrell. USC has a tough test in Week 2 against Stanford at home and two weeks later faces Utah, followed by a trip to Washington. The Trojans also take on Oregon at home and travel to Notre Dame and BYU for tough nonconference games. In all, USC faces nine bowl teams from a year ago and will need Daniels to take the next step if it is to contend in the Pac-12 South.
[h=2]4. Texas A&M Aggies (7.5 wins, 60-1)[/h]The Aggies' schedule sets up similarly to Auburn's, as three of their nonconference opponents are Texas State, Lamar and UTSA. But their final non-SEC game is a trip to Death Valley to face Clemson. In SEC play, the Aggies host Auburn and Alabama and travel to Georgia and LSU to close out the season. The offense returns seven starters, but only four return on defense. The Aggies will have their work cut out for them and could have a tough time matching last season's win total due to their arduous schedule.
[h=2]5. Colorado Buffaloes (3.5 wins, 1000-1)[/h]The Buffaloes face five Pac-12 teams on the road, including Oregon, Washington State and Utah. Colorado gets Washington and Stanford at home but faces the top four teams from the Pac-12 North last season. The Buffaloes bring back only four defensive starters, but new head coach Mel Tucker, who previously was the defensive coordinator at Georgia, knows a thing or two about defense. Despite returning a starting quarterback and an All-American wide receiver, Colorado faces an uphill battle with its schedule and could struggle to match last season's five wins.
[h=2]6. LSU Tigers (9 wins, 20-1)[/h]Aside from traveling to Texas in Week 2 to face the Longhorns, the Tigers have a pretty manageable schedule for the first five games. After that, LSU's next four opponents each won at least eight games in 2018, and that stretch includes trips to Mississippi State and Alabama. LSU's combined opponent win percentage from a year ago is 63.2, the fourth highest in the FBS. The Tigers get the benefit of having 16 starters back, but like most teams in the rugged SEC West, they will have to navigate a tough slate of conference games to be in contention to win the SEC.
[h=2]7. Tennessee Volunteers (6.5 wins, 300-1)[/h]The Vols get three straight home games to open the 2019 campaign, but in their next four games, they face Georgia, Mississippi State, Alabama and South Carolina. Tennessee brings back 10 starters on offense, including its top two rushers and top seven receivers. The Vols are the second-most experienced team in the SEC, coming in at No. 21 on my experience chart. The road to six wins will not be an easy one, but if the Vols can secure an upset or two, a bowl game is well within reach.
[h=2]8. UCLA Bruins (6 wins, 300-1)[/h]After a 3-9 season in Chip Kelly's first go-around, things don't get much easier in Year 2, as the Bruins take on what I rank as the eighth-toughest schedule. UCLA opens the year with a trip to Cincinnati, then hosts San Diego State and Oklahoma. Once the Bruins get into their Pac-12 schedule, they will face five road tests, with four coming against bowl teams from 2018. Most of UCLA's winnable conference games take place at home (Oregon State, Colorado, California). The Bruins are more experienced (No. 38 in my chart) and return 19 starters, so although it won't be a walk in the park, I still expect UCLA to contend for a bowl game.
[h=2]9. Michigan Wolverines (10.5 wins, 12-1)[/h]
The pressure is on Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines this season, and to make the challenge even tougher, they face my ninth-toughest schedule in 2019. After taking on Middle Tennessee in the opener, Michigan's other two nonconference foes are Army and Notre Dame, both of which won double-digit games last season. The Wolverines have to travel to Wisconsin and Penn State in Big Ten play but get Iowa, Michigan State and rival Ohio State at home. Michigan has the talent (13 starters return) to win the Big Ten and make the College Football Playoff, but it will have to navigate a challenging slate of tilts to get there.
[h=2]10. Florida Gators (9 wins, 35-1)[/h]Although the Gators play two FCS foes, they also take on two tough ACC opponents -- Miami to open the season and Florida State to close the campaign. The Gators' toughest stretch of games comes midseason, when they face Auburn, LSU, South Carolina and Georgia, with three of those games away from The Swamp. Even a trip to Missouri late in the season represents a difficult contest for Florida, as the Tigers beat the Gators 38-17 last year. However, Florida's offense and defense both rate in my top 20, and if the Gators can get past Georgia, I see them heading to the SEC title game for the first time since 2016.
Phil Steele
ESPN PLUS ($ MATERIAL)
College football season is right around the corner, and one way to determine how teams will fare this season is by looking at their schedule strength. While every team plays 12 games, the makeup of each team's schedule is different.
There are those teams that must go on the road and face ranked teams multiple times, while other teams get the good fortune of playing their tougher games in front of the home fans. Also, depending on the composition of a team's conference schedule, certain teams miss the big boys, while others must go through their conference's top squads.
Below, I list the teams with the most daunting slates of games for 2019 and how it could affect the outcomes of their seasons.
[h=2]1. South Carolina Gamecocks (5.5 wins, 300-1 to win title)[/h]South Carolina returns 14 starters and comes in at No. 30 on my experience chart, but it will face my toughest-rated schedule for 2019. The Gamecocks also face a schedule that had a combined win percentage of 67.9 in 2018, the highest percentage of any FBS schedule. South Carolina will face three teams that finished in the top seven of the AP Poll last season: Alabama, Georgia and Clemson. In addition to those juggernauts, Will Muschamp's team faces Florida, Texas A&M, North Carolina and Appalachian State. <offer style="box-sizing: border-box;">Even with several key starters back, the improvement might not show up in the win/loss column, but the Gamecocks should get back to a bowl game.
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[h=2]2. Auburn Tigers (8 wins, 45-1)[/h]Although three of Auburn's nonconference foes are Tulane, Kent State and Samford, it faces Oregon to open the season in Arlington, Texas. By the end of the season, the Tigers could have faced the most top-25 teams of any FBS school, as their conference slate has them traveling to Texas A&M, Florida and LSU, and they face Mississippi State, Georgia and Alabama at home. Head coach Gus Malzahn is back to calling the plays and returns 14 starters, but the Tigers will have to pull off a couple of upsets to contend in the SEC.
The pressure is on Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines this season, and to make the challenge even tougher, they face my ninth-toughest schedule in 2019. After taking on Middle Tennessee in the opener, Michigan's other two nonconference foes are Army and Notre Dame, both of which won double-digit games last season. The Wolverines have to travel to Wisconsin and Penn State in Big Ten play but get Iowa, Michigan State and rival Ohio State at home. Michigan has the talent (13 starters return) to win the Big Ten and make the College Football Playoff, but it will have to navigate a challenging slate of tilts to get there.
