NCAAF Strength-of-Schedule Rankings
Updated January 23, 2023 | Author: Patrick Cwiklinski
- See the college football strength-of-schedule rankings for all 131 FBS teams in 2022
- Auburn’s SEC slate rates as the toughest in the nation this year
- No Group of Five team has a schedule tougher than 38th (Navy)
The 2022 college football season is set to begin with Week Zero on Saturday, August 27. The charts and graphs below set out the strength-of-schedule rankings for the season, assuming a modicum of home-field advantage still exists.
Even more so than strength of schedule calculations in the NFL, SOS in college football should not be based too heavily on last season’s power ratings. There is far too much roster turnover from year to year. The calculations and rankings below factor in opponents’ efficiency ratings from last season plus how much production teams are losing in 2022, recent recruiting rankings, and major incoming transfers.
Use the rankings below in conjunction with the 2022 NCAAF win totals to find soft spots in the underbelly of the college football futures.
Jump to: National Rankings | ACC Rankings | Big Ten Rankings | Big 12 Rankings | Pac-12 Rankings | SEC Rankings
2022 NCAAF Strength-of-Schedule Rankings
| TEAM | RANK | SOS TOTAL |
|---|---|---|
| Auburn Tigers | 1 | 130.87 |
| Indiana Hoosiers | 2 | 117.08 |
| Arkansas Razorbacks | 3 | 109.24 |
| Northwestern Wildcats | 4 | 105.66 |
| Vanderbilt Commodores | 5 | 101.13 |
| Iowa Hawkeyes | 6 | 99.36 |
| Florida Gators | 7 | 92.15 |
| Mississippi State Bulldogs | 8 | 91.63 |
| Louisville Cardinals | 9 | 89.18 |
| Texas A&M Aggies | 10 | 88.41 |
| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 11 | 85.50 |
| LSU Tigers | 12 | 81.68 |
| Illinois Fighting Illini | 13 | 75.37 |
| Arizona Wildcats | 14 | 71.80 |
| Colorado Buffaloes | 15 | 70.32 |
| Maryland Terrapins | 16 | 68.94 |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | 17 | 67.09 |
| Michigan State Spartans | 18 | 65.72 |
| Stanford Cardinal | 19 | 65.38 |
| West Virginia Mountaineers | 20 | 63.66 |
| Texas Longhorns | 21 | 62.95 |
| Texas Tech Red Raiders | 22 | 62.54 |
| South Carolina Gamecocks | 23 | 62.25 |
| Oregon State Beavers | 24 | 57.81 |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | 25 | 56.68 |
| Kansas State Wildcats | 26 | 53.88 |
| Kentucky Wildcats | 27 | 53.64 |
| Oregon Ducks | 28 | 53.05 |
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights | 29 | 51.48 |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 30 | 50.49 |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers | 31 | 49.29 |
| Ole Miss Rebels | 32 | 45.95 |
| Syracuse Orange | 33 | 45.75 |
| Wisconsin Badgers | 34 | 43.55 |
| Florida State Seminoles | 35 | 43.26 |
| Michigan Wolverines | 36 | 41.71 |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | 37 | 40.75 |
| Navy Midshipmen | 38 | 39.69 |
| Oklahoma Sooners | 39 | 39.51 |
| Kansas Jayhawks | 40 | 38.80 |
| TCU Horned Frogs | 41 | 36.03 |
| Clemson Tigers | 42 | 36.00 |
| Purdue Boilermakers | 43 | 32.85 |
| Washington State Cougars | 44 | 30.37 |
| South Florida Bulls | 45 | 28.63 |
| Alabama Crimson Tide | 46 | 28.37 |
| Tennessee Volunteers | 47 | 27.66 |
| Baylor Bears | 48 | 25.07 |
| Oklahoma State Cowboys | 49 | 24.88 |
| Virginia Tech Hokies | 50 | 23.41 |
| Boston College Eagles | 51 | 23.38 |
| Iowa State Cyclones | 52 | 22.10 |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | 53 | 21.16 |
| Georgia Bulldogs | 54 | 20.41 |
| USC Trojans | 55 | 20.18 |
| Missouri Tigers | 56 | 20.02 |
| NC State Wolfpack | 57 | 17.71 |
| BYU Cougars | 58 | 14.26 |
| Colorado State Rams | 59 | 9.00 |
| Utah Utes | 60 | 8.78 |
| Pittsburgh Panthers | 61 | 5.50 |
| Wyoming Cowboys | 62 | 2.98 |
| Minnesota Golden Gophers | 63 | 1.65 |
| Virginia Cavaliers | 64 | 1.40 |
| Old Dominion Monarchs | 65 | -2.02 |
| Miami Hurricanes | 66 | -2.64 |
| Boise State Broncos | 67 | -4.29 |
| UL Monroe Warhawks | 68 | -4.73 |
| Tulane Green Wave | 69 | -5.21 |
| Arizona State Sun Devils | 70 | -5.23 |
| California Golden Bears | 71 | -6.74 |
| Rice Owls | 72 | -7.13 |
| Washington Huskies | 73 | -7.96 |
| East Carolina Pirates | 74 | -8.46 |
| Utah State Aggies | 75 | -12.14 |
| Tulsa Golden Hurricane | 76 | -13.50 |
| UNLV Rebels | 77 | -15.39 |
| UConn Huskies | 78 | -19.03 |
| Georgia Southern Eagles | 79 | -20.65 |
| SMU Mustangs | 80 | -22.99 |
| San Diego State Aztecs | 81 | -24.07 |
| New Mexico Lobos | 82 | -25.02 |
| Nevada Wolf Pack | 83 | -27.24 |
| Duke Blue Devils | 84 | -27.79 |
| Cincinnati Bearcats | 85 | -29.43 |
| Georgia State Panthers | 86 | -31.65 |
| Bowling Green Falcons | 87 | -35.51 |
| Akron Zips | 88 | -38.68 |
| San José State Spartans | 89 | -38.69 |
| Western Michigan Broncos | 90 | -40.60 |
| Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors | 91 | -41.90 |
| UCLA Bruins | 92 | -42.80 |
| Appalachian State Mountaineers | 93 | -45.78 |
| Memphis Tigers | 94 | -46.00 |
| Troy Trojans | 95 | -46.61 |
| Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders | 96 | -49.48 |
| Temple Owls | 97 | -50.61 |
| Louisiana Tech Bulldogs | 98 | -52.69 |
| UCF Knights | 99 | -53.12 |
| James Madison Dukes | 100 | -53.43 |
| Marshall Thundering Herd | 101 | -55.66 |
| Air Force Falcons | 102 | -56.01 |
| Houston Cougars | 103 | -59.41 |
| Charlotte 49ers | 104 | -60.35 |
| UTSA Roadrunners | 105 | -61.63 |
| Kent State Golden Flashes | 106 | -61.83 |
| Fresno State Bulldogs | 107 | -63.22 |
| Florida Atlantic Owls | 108 | -65.93 |
| Ball State Cardinals | 109 | -66.66 |
| Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | 110 | -66.91 |
| UAB Blazers | 111 | -68.68 |
| Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles | 112 | -70.93 |
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers | 113 | -71.94 |
| New Mexico State Aggies | 114 | -76.59 |
| Ohio Bobcats | 115 | -78.65 |
| Eastern Michigan Eagles | 116 | -79.92 |
| Buffalo Bulls | 117 | -80.91 |
| Central Michigan Chippewas | 118 | -81.46 |
| Toledo Rockets | 119 | -82.94 |
| Arkansas State Red Wolves | 120 | -85.44 |
| North Texas Mean Green | 121 | -87.16 |
| UMass Minutemen | 122 | -89.00 |
| Miami (OH) RedHawks | 123 | -92.63 |
| Northern Illinois Huskies | 124 | -93.04 |
| UTEP Miners | 125 | -101.40 |
| Texas State Bobcats | 126 | -103.98 |
| South Alabama Jaguars | 127 | -106.29 |
| Liberty Flames | 128 | -107.00 |
| Army Black Knights | 129 | -107.48 |
| Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns | 130 | -118.41 |
| Florida International Panthers | 131 | -124.16 |
Notes on the SOS ratings:
- The toughest hypothetical schedule (12 road games vs Ohio State) would score 420.51.
- The toughest schedule a team could play against 12 different opponents would score 275.34.
- The toughest real schedule (Auburn) scores 130.87, which is 31.12% as tough as the toughest hypothetical schedule.
- The easiest hypothetical schedule against an FBS opponent (12 home games vs New Mexico State) would score -394.07.
- The easiest real schedule (FIU) scores -171.68 , which is 31.51% as easy as the easiest hypothetical schedule.
- In theory, if FBS teams only played other FBS teams, the cumulative total of all the SOS scores would be zero. The team scores are a certain percentage above or below average. But in reality, the cumulative total of all the SOS scores is well below zero, because of dozens of games against FCS competition.
ACC Strength-of-Schedule Rankings
| TEAM | CONF. RANK | NAT’L RANK | SOS TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville Cardinals | 1 | 9 | 89.18 |
| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 2 | 11 | 85.50 |
| Syracuse Orange | 3 | 33 | 45.95 |
| Florida State Seminoles | 4 | 35 | 43.26 |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | 5 | 37 | 40.75 |
| Clemson Tigers | 6 | 42 | 36.00 |
| Virginia Tech Hokies | 7 | 50 | 23.41 |
| Boston College Eagles | 8 | 51 | 23.38 |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | 9 | 53 | 21.16 |
| NC State Wolfpack | 10 | 57 | 17.71 |
| Pittsburgh Panthers | 11 | 61 | 5.50 |
| Virginia Cavaliers | 12 | 64 | 1.40 |
| Miami Hurricanes | 13 | 66 | -2.64 |
| Duke Blue Devils | 14 | 84 | -27.79 |
Big Ten Strength-of-Schedule Rankings
| TEAM | CONF. RANK | NAT’L RANK | SOS TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Hoosiers | 1 | 2 | 117.08 |
| Northwestern Wildcats | 2 | 4 | 105.66 |
| Iowa Hawkeyes | 3 | 6 | 99.36 |
| Illinois Fighting Illini | 4 | 13 | 75.37 |
| Maryland Terrapins | 5 | 16 | 68.94 |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | 6 | 17 | 67.09 |
| Michigan State Spartans | 7 | 18 | 65.72 |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | 8 | 25 | 56.68 |
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights | 9 | 29 | 51.48 |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers | 10 | 31 | 49.29 |
| Wisconsin Badgers | 11 | 34 | 43.55 |
| Michigan Wolverines | 12 | 36 | 41.71 |
| Purdue Boilermakers | 13 | 43 | 32.85 |
| Minnesota Golden Gophers | 14 | 63 | 1.65 |
Big 12 Strength-of-Schedule Rankings
| TEAM | CONF. RANK | NAT’L RANK | SOS TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia Mountaineers | 1 | 20 | 63.66 |
| Texas Longhorns | 2 | 21 | 62.95 |
| Texas Tech Red Raiders | 3 | 22 | 62.54 |
| Kansas State Wildcats | 4 | 26 | 53.88 |
| Oklahoma Sooners | 5 | 39 | 39.51 |
| Kansas Jayhawks | 6 | 40 | 38.80 |
| TCU Horned Frogs | 7 | 41 | 36.03 |
| Baylor Bears | 8 | 48 | 25.07 |
| Oklahoma State Cowboys | 9 | 49 | 24.88 |
| Iowa State Cyclones | 10 | 52 | 22.10 |
Pac-12 Strength-of-Schedule Rankings
| TEAM | CONF. RANK | NAT’L RANK | SOS TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Wildcats | 1 | 14 | 71.80 |
| Colorado Buffaloes | 2 | 15 | 70.32 |
| Stanford Cardinal | 3 | 19 | 65.38 |
| Oregon State Beavers | 4 | 24 | 57.81 |
| Oregon Ducks | 5 | 28 | 53.05 |
| Washington State Cougars | 6 | 44 | 30.37 |
| USC Trojans | 7 | 55 | 20.18 |
| Utah Utes | 8 | 60 | 8.78 |
| Arizona State Sun Devils | 9 | 70 | -5.23 |
| California Golden Bears | 10 | 71 | -6.74 |
| Washington Huskies | 11 | 73 | -7.96 |
| UCLA Bruins | 12 | 92 | -42.80 |
SEC Strength-of-Schedule Rankings
| TEAM | CONF. RANK | NAT’L RANK | SOS TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn Tigers | 1 | 1 | 130.87 |
| Arkansas Razorbacks | 2 | 3 | 109.24 |
| Vanderbilt Commodores | 3 | 5 | 101.13 |
| Florida Gators | 4 | 7 | 92.15 |
| Mississippi State Bulldogs | 5 | 8 | 91.63 |
| Texas A&M Aggies | 6 | 10 | 88.41 |
| LSU Tigers | 7 | 12 | 81.68 |
| South Carolina Gamecocks | 8 | 23 | 62.25 |
| Kentucky Wildcats | 9 | 27 | 53.88 |
| Ole Miss Rebels | 10 | 32 | 46.97 |
| Alabama Crimson Tide | 11 | 46 | 28.37 |
| Tennessee Volunteers | 12 | 47 | 27.66 |
| Georgia Bulldogs | 13 | 54 | 20.41 |
| Missouri Tigers | 14 | 56 | 20.02 |
