Welcome back, college sports fans, to episode 672 and our most-challenged conference in our preseason strength of schedule (PS-SOS) countdown. On July 7th in episode 647, we introduced this year’s PS-SOS countdown and started with #25 Pioneer League (PS-SOS of 3.341 and an average team rank of 244.4 out of 266 teams) on July 9th. We went through the 14 FCS conferences naming #14 Patriot League as the most challenged. The FBS began in episode 662 was #11 Mountain West and in our last episode we talked about the second most-challenged conference: The Big Ten.
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The schedule this week will be intense. We are taking tomorrow off from posting as we finalize the program for games! Tuesday we are going to put a summary of all 25 conferences together from least challenged to most to close the door on the pre-season. Wednesday we are going to talk about some logistical changes in how we are planning to present our G’s Expectations, or What to Watch as well as timing for our G’s Evaluations or the Ranking of all Division I (D1) teams. Thursday is day 1 of the 2026 college football season with 4 FCS games kicking off at 6:00pm out of 22 through the evening. On Friday we have 7 more FCS games followed by Saturday’s nearly 50 games including the FBS opening games. That means our first ranking, albeit somewhat abbreviated, will be released on Sunday, August 30th.
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But today is about the most-challenged conference in D1 football this season, the 16-team Southeastern Conference (SEC) with a mean PS-SOS of 9.292 and an average rank of 23.9 out of 266 teams. This offseason, the SEC announced they would begin a 9-game conference schedule joining the Big 12 and the Big Ten. Because there are out-of-conference rivalries between the SEC and the ACC (Florida/Florida St, Georgia/Georgia Tech, Kentucky/Louisville, and South Carolina/Clemson), they opted to require each member to play at least one other Core 4 (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, or Notre Dame) during the season, and 9 of those 16 games are on the road or at a neutral site. Note: the Big 12 and ACC also play 10 Core 4 teams while the Big Ten does not have that requirement. Three SEC teams have Top 10 schedules, 8 are in the Top 25, and all 16 are in the Top 40 – there are 68 total Core 4 teams. In comparison 8 Big Ten teams, 9 ACC teams, 10 Big 12 teams, and Notre Dame are ranked below 40 in PS-SOS. The most-challenged team in the SEC has a PS-SOS of 9.79 (Texas) and the least-challenged team’s PS-SOS is 9.03 (South Carolina) for a difference of 0.76. For comparison the Big Ten’s difference is 1.74 (Ohio St/Rutgers), the ACC’s is 1.69 (North Carolina/Pittsburgh), and the Big 12’s is 1.69 (Baylor/Texas Tech). That means that South Carolina’s schedule is not that different from Texas’. Every SEC team plays 10 Core 4 games, 1 Group of 6 team, and 1 FCS team. SEC fans (and most sportswriters) talked about the SEC gauntlet in previous seasons. Well, the gauntlet just got harder. In the table below, (4) indicates those non-conference Core 4 opponents, (G) indicates those Group of 6 games, (F) indicates those FCS foes, and (N) indicates a neutral site game. With no further ado, we are proud to present the conference with the highest PS-SOS for 2026, the SEC:
| Team (Conf Rank) | Home Field | 2025 Record (Rank) | 2026 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away/Neutral Games | Hardest | Easiest |
| Texas Longhorns (1) | Austin, TX | 10-3 (16) | 9.79 (5) | Texas St (G), Ohio St (4), UTSA (G), Florida, Mississippi, Mississippi St, Arkansas | Tennessee, Oklahoma (N), Missouri, LSU, Texas A&M | at Texas A&M (12.51) | Arkansas (6.59) |
| Oklahoma Sooners (2) | Norman, OK | 10-3 (12) | 9.67 (8) | UTEP (G), New Mexico (G), Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas A&M, Missouri | Michigan (4), Georgia, Texas (N), Mississippi St, Florida, Missouri | at Michigan (11.58) | UTEP (4.87) |
| Arkansas Razorbacks (3) | Fayetteville, AR | 2-10 (101) | 9.59 (9) | North Alabama (F), Georgia, Tulsa (G), Tennessee, Missouri, South Carolina, LSU | Utah (4), Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Texas | at Utah (13.23) | North Alabama (2.32) |
| Mississippi St Bulldogs (4) | Starkville, MS | 5-8 (77) | 9.50 (12) | ULM (G), Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Auburn, TN Tech (F) | Minnesota (4), South Carolina, LSU, Texas, Mississippi | at Mississippi (13.06) | TN Tech (4.61) |
| Kentucky Wildcats (5) | Lexington, KY | 5-7 (62) | 9.48 (14) | Youngstown St (F), Alabama, South Alabama (G), LSU, Vanderbilt, Florida, Louisville (4) | Texas A&M, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri | at Texas A&M (12.51) | Youngstown St (3.97) |
| Florida Gators (6) | Gainesville, FL | 4-8 (71) | 9.36 (21) | FAU (G), Campbell (F), Mississippi, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt | Auburn, Missouri, Texas, Georgia (N), Kentucky, Florida St (4) | at Texas (12.52) | Campbell (1.96) |
| Tennessee Volunteers (7) | Knoxville, TN | 8-5 (35) | 9.23 (24) | Furman (F), Kennesaw St (G), Texas, Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky, LSU | Georgia Tech (4), Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt | at Texas A&M (12.51) | Furman (3.05) |
| Alabama Crimson Tide (8) | Tuscaloosa, AL | 11-4 (15) | 9.22 (25) | East Carolina (G), Florida St (4), South Carolina, Georgia, Texas A&M, Chattanooga (F), Auburn | Kentucky,Mississippi St, Tennessee, LSU, Vanderbilt | at Vanderbilt (12.30) | East Carolina (3.17) |
| Mississippi Rebels (9) | Oxford, MS | 13-2 (10) | 9.20 (27) | Charlotte (G), LSU, Missouri, Auburn, Georgia, Wofford (F), Mississippi St | Louisville (N4), Florida, Vanderbilt, Texas, Oklahoma | at Oklahoma (12.47) | Wofford (3.74) |
| Missouri Tigers (10) | Columbia, MO | 8-5 (39) | 9.17 (28) | Ark Pine Bluff (F), Troy (G), Florida, Texas A&M, Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma | Kansas (4), Mississippi St, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia | at Georgia (13.40) | Ark Pine Bluff (2.38) |
| LSU Tigers (11) | Baton Rouge, LA | 7-6 (42) | 9.14 (30) | Clemson (4), LA Tech (G), Texas A&M, McNeese (F), Mississippi St, Alabama, Texas | Mississippi, Kentucky, Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas | at Mississippi (13.06) | McNeese (2.61) |
| Vanderbilt Commodores (12) | Nashville, TN | 10-3 (13) | 9.11 (31) | Austin Peay (F), Delaware (G), NC St (4), Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee | Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi St, Florida | at Georgia (13.40) | Austin Peay (4.48) |
| Georgia Bulldogs (13) | Athens, GA | 12-2 (7) | 9.10 (34) | TN St (F) ,W Kentucky (G), Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Missouri, Georgia Tech (4) | Arkansas, Alabama, Florida (N), Mississippi, South Carolina | at Mississippi (13.06) | TN St (2.22) |
| Auburn Tigers (14) | Auburn, AL | 5-7 (56) | 9.05 (36) | Southern Miss (G), Florida, Vanderbilt, LSU, Arkansas, Samford (F) | Baylor (N4), Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi St, Alabama | at Georgia (13.40) | Samford (0.63) |
| Texas A&M Aggies (15) | College Station, TX | 11-2 (11) | 9.04 (38) | Missouri St (G), Arizona St (4), Kentucky, Arkansas, Citadel (F), Tennessee, Texas | LSU, Missouri, Alabama, South Carolina, Oklahoma | at Oklahoma (12.47) | Citadel (2.70) |
| South Carolina Gamecocks (16) | Columbia, SC | 4-8 (75) | 9.03 (40) | Kent St (G), Towson (F), Mississippi St, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Georgia | Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Clemson (4) | at Oklahoma (12.47) | Towson (3.30) |
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That’s it for today. Tune in Tuesday for the summary of the PS-SOS ranking. Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing with others as we continue to strive to get better and grow. See you in a couple of days, JoJo and G
