Greg McElroy names toughest schedules in the SEC

Despite some shots taken at their scheduling this offseason, the Southeastern Conference plays some very difficult slates throughout the fall. So, with less than two weeks until their openers, who has the toughest schedules for this season in the SEC?

Greg McElroy named the three most difficult schedules for the upcoming season in the SEC during an episode last week of ‘Always College Football’. He also would note that they’re arguably three of the most difficult in all of college football.

“We will start though in the SEC,” said McElroy. “I picked out three schedules that just stand out, man. They are brutal.”

McElroy began with Florida having not just the toughest schedule in the conference but in the entire sport for this season. That’s with the Gators opening with two easy ones before playing a non-stop demanding slate, with seven of the ten matchups being against teams in the Preseason AP Poll, from September 13th on.

“We’ll start with the Florida Gators. I think it’s toughest schedule in America,” said McElroy. “They have a three-game gauntlet from mid-September to early October – back-to-back road trips to LSU and Miami, you got a home game against Texas. It’s an absolute beast. And, if you really look through it, there’s really six games where they could be a legitimate underdog. They also have to play A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss. It’s a beast. So, here’s there road trips, man – at LSU, at Miami, at A&M, at Kentucky, at Ole Miss….Plus the neutral site against Georgia, man.”

“This is a very difficult schedule,” McElroy said. “I think the Gators might have the toughest schedule in all of college football.”

Then, in second, Oklahoma came in with their own grueling set of games. The Sooners will host a non-conference game against No. 14 Michigan before closing their conference schedule with six of their final seven against teams coming in currently ranked in that Preseason Top-25.

“We’ll go next to the Oklahoma Sooners, who, in the non-conference, pick up Michigan – okay, tough start there in week number two. They’ll play against the Wolverines there on September 6th,” McElroy said. “Auburn comes to them, Texas is a neutral site on October 11th. They’ll go to South Carolina, they’ll go to Tennessee, they’ll go to Alabama. They also get Mizzou, LSU, and Ole Miss at home.”

“This is a gauntlet, an absolute gauntlet of schedule for a team that I really have a lot of faith in. But, if you look at all those teams, how many of those will likely be ranked in the Top-25 when the Oklahoma Sooners have to play them? Probably most, if not all, of the aforementioned matchups,” said McElroy. “Very, very tough.”

Finally, in third, Arkansas slotted in here with another brutal schedule, including two very tough games in the non-conference against last year’s national runner-up in No. 6 Notre Dame and against one of the past few year’s better mid-majors in Memphis. Those will be before what the Razorbacks will then have to deal with in league play.

“We’ll go next to the Arkansas Razorbacks. Brutal,” said McElroy. “Probably going to start 2-0. Then you have a four-game stretch that I think is very, very challenging. They’re at Ole Miss – that’s on the 13th of September, they’re at Memphis – do not sleep on that Memphis game because it’s sandwiched right between a road trip to Oxford, Mississippi and Notre Dame coming to home on September 27th. Those three games in a row? Very tough. You get a little break there before you (go) on a roadtrip to Tennessee on October 11th.”

“You finish out with a handful of games at home – you’ve got A&M home, you’ve got Auburn at home. They’re at LSU – that’s coming off a bye. They’re at Texas on (November) 22nd before finishing up there in the Borderline Battle against Missouri,” McElroy said.

There are valid opinions out there on what scheduling is like in the SEC. Still, week in and week out, teams in the Southeastern Conference are having to play some of the hardest slates in the country, including these three this season with the Gators, Sooners, and Razorbacks.

“Those three teams in the SEC? I think those are the toughest schedules arguably in the entire country, but especially within the SEC,” stated McElroy.