Phil Steele ranks 25 hardest schedules in college football

The all-knowing college football magazine-maker that is Phil Steele has recently released the 2023 edition of his football bible. Within the hundreds of pages included in the book, Steele breaks down which teams have the toughest schedules for this upcoming fall.

Now, the usual suspects populate much of the Top 25 list of hardest schedules. You’ll see exclusively Power Five schools and more SEC teams than the rest, since it’s arguably the best conference in the college football world right now with three different programs winning the last four national championships. However, there is a healthy mix of teams from the other top conferences, including a Pac-12 team that apparently has one of the ten most challenging slates this year.

So take a look below at Steele’s full rankings of the 25 hardest college football schedules for the upcoming season. To no one’s surprise, it’s an SEC club leading the way…

1. Florida

Among SEC schools, it’s going to be the non-conference slate that makes or breaks your schedule, since we know every school is facing a gauntlet in conference play and SEC schools get four non-conference games each year. So, the Gators go on the road against top Pac-12 power Utah early in the year and then host likely top-15 Florida State to end the season.

Billy Napier better have his boys ready to compete in Year Two, otherwise he could be looking at a brutal record and that doesn’t bode well for his future in Gainesville beyond this fall.

2. South Carolina

Another SEC East club here. The Gamecocks luck out a bit by getting Mississippi State and Texas A&M as their West opponents, but like the Gators, it’s the non-conference slate that really presents the danger.

South Carolina bookends the season against bitter rivals, going on the road to face North Carolina and likely top-five 2024 NFL Draft pick Drake Maye in Week One, before getting a look at a revenge-seeking Clemson at home in late November. Plus, there’s road trips to Tennessee and Georgia mixed in. That’s pretty tough.

3. Michigan State

Michigan State gets a look at all three Big Ten teams who finished top-10 in last year’s final AP Poll: Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. Then, they get an out-of-conference visit from a fourth top-10 finisher in Washington. Among the top eight teams in the final 2022 AP Poll, MSU plays half of them.

The lucky break is that only one of those matchups comes on the road, so there’s a chance for some really special nights and an incredible season of football in Lansing. But you’d be a fool to expect the Spartans to sweep those contests.

4. Iowa State

Iowa State is set to play four teams off of Phil Steele’s own top-25: TCU, Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma. But lucky for the Cyclones, they’re getting three of those games at home and play two brand new Big 12 teams in Cincinnati and BYU.

They do have to go to the Cougars and Bearcats, who are pretty strong programs of late, and also visit Manhattan, KS, for a contest against reigning Big 12 champs Kansas State. There may not be a ton of national title contenders on the slate, but nearly every conference matchup presents a challenge in one way or another.

5. Purdue

Looking through Purdue’s schedule, the Boilermakers won’t likely be an underdog in a game until October, since they get lowly ACC clubs Virginia Tech and Syracuse in the non-conference along with their mid-major cupcakes.

But starting Oct. 7, Purdue may not be favored in another game until mid November, since they face, in a row: Iowa on the road, Ohio State at home, Nebraska on the road, and then Michigan on the road. After that, it’s Minnesota, Northwestern and Indiana to finish it off.

6. Missouri

Missouri faces your standard SEC East slate but gets a home visit from defending West champ LSU before going on the road vs. rival Arkansas to end the season. Plus, in the non-conference, they’ll go to Memphis, one of the better G5 programs in the country at the moment, and also host defending Big 12 champion Kansas State.

The Tigers start with two cupcake games and then dive straight into a 10-game gauntlet of Power Five matchups to close out the year, including contests vs. Georgia and Tennessee. It’ll be tough sledding in Columbia this fall.

7. Minnesota

The Gophers take trips to North Carolina, Iowa and Ohio State throughout the year while also hosting both Michigan schools plus Illinois. They may not have the most difficult schedule in the Big Ten, compared to MSU, but they very well may be second.

The key for PJ Fleck’s club is taking care of business early on. They get Nebraska at home to open the year, followed by their two cupcake games and the trip to Chapel Hill. Find a way to foil Drake Maye and Minnesota could head into a home game with Michigan at 5-0 and definitely ranked in the top-25.

8. Alabama

Seems crazy that Alabama wouldn’t have a top-five schedule, right? But they don’t. Three cupcake out-of-conference games really hurt the Tide here, even with the return game at home vs. Texas on the docket.

You look across their schedule, especially the away games … and it’s nothing to write home about. The Crimson Tide’s toughest away trip is either at in-state rival Auburn or Kentucky, neither of which are coming off great seasons. ‘Bama could be penciled in to win the division with this slate.

9. California

Look here, a Pac-12 school with one of the nation’s 10 toughest schedules? It may seem strange, but it’s absolutely true. Let’s take a look at the top seven finishers in the Pac-12 last season. It was, in order: USC, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Oregon State, UCLA and Washington State.

Well, California plays all seven of them this year, with four of those matchups coming on the road. Oh, and they welcome Auburn to California Memorial Stadium to begin the season. That’s one heck of a slate for any club, let alone in the Pac-12.

10. Texas

Most Big 12 schedules are created pretty equal, since there isn’t as vast a difference between the top tier programs and the bottom tier programs compared to leagues like the Big Ten and SEC. So it’s really the out-of-conference scheduling that makes the big difference here.

For Texas, they have one crown jewel in the non-conference: a road game at Alabama. Well, it doesn’t really get tougher than that, and if you’re stacking Big 12 schedules up against one another, the ‘Bama game pushes the Longhorns towards the very top.

For Phil Steele’s 11-25 schedule rankings, go ahead and check below:

Toughest schedules 11-25

11. Auburn

12. Ole Miss

13. LSU

14. West Virginia

15. Kansas State

16. Indiana

17. Stanford

18. Tennessee

19. Kentucky

20. Texas Tech

21. Notre Dame

22. Duke

23. Colorado

24. Texas A&M

25. Clemson

Recap

There you have it. For those curious, that’s 10 SEC teams in the top-25, as more than 70% of the conference accounted for 40% of this list. After them, it was five Big 12 schools, followed by four Big Ten schools and three that placed in the top 10. Three Pac-12 schools made the cut and just two ACC schools, both of which ranked in the 20s. Lastly, Notre Dame rounded us off as the lone independent and non-power conference program to make the list.