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According to a proprietary strength-of-schedule formula developed by the odds-makers at www.SportsBettingDime.com, Arkansas, Kansas and Auburn have college football’s three toughest schedules, while the UTEP, Hawaii and Charlotte have the three easiest among the 130 Division 1 schools.
The @SBD Strength of Schedule formula is based upon opponents’ efficiency ratings from last season minus the production lost from the 2020 team; recruiting rankings; major transfers added and lost. The formula is then adjusted for each game based upon home and road games. As a point of reference, the toughest possible schedule would score 397.09, making Arkansas’ S.O.S (126.35) 31.82% of the hardest possible schedule. The easiest hypothetical schedule would score -471.94 making UTEP’s S.O.S (171.68) 36.38% of the easiest schedule.
Five of the 10 hardest schedules belong to teams in the Big 12, and of the five pre-season favorites for the national championship, Georgia (#29) has the hardest schedule followed by Ohio State (#33), Oklahoma (#38), Clemson (#45) and Alabama (#50).
Here’s a look at the strength-of-schedule for all 130 teams as well as a breakdown for each of the five power conferences – ACC, Big 12, BIG Ten, Pac-12 and SEC. For additional odds and analysis, visit https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/guides/resources/ncaaf-strength-schedule-rankings/
2021 NCAAF Strength-of-Schedule Rankings
TEAM RANK
Arkansas 1 126.35
Kansas 2 118.21
Auburn 3 104.06
Texas 4 102.48
Oklahoma St 5 101.39
Baylor 6 101.11
Mississippi St 7 97.18
Kansas State 8 90.82
Notre Dame 9 87.29
Ole Miss 10 82.70
REST OF SEC
Florida 16 65.10
Texas A&M 17 64.60
LSU 18 64.04
Tennessee 27 50.06
Georgia 29 49.24
S. Carolina 37 40.47
Missouri 46 21.50
Alabama 50 16.24
Vanderbilt 59 -1.62
Kentucky 70 -25.65