Welcome back college football fans to the latest episode in our annual preseason strength of schedule (SOS) countdown by conference. Since our third-most-difficult conference, the ACC, episode published last Sunday, both the Coaches’ and the AP polls have dropped. I’ve seen a ton of comparisons between these, our final two conferences: the SEC and the Big Ten. In nearly every article I’ve read from ESPN, the Atlantic, the Bleacher Report, Sporting News, and others, the SEC is being lauded for having the most difficult schedule, as a conference, in 2025. Had I used the new beta-test rankings from last season, it could have been different, but, with the method I’ve used for the last few years, the SEC is relegated to the penultimate conference. Controversial bit part one.
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I think, in part, it’s the 8-game conference schedule vs the nine in the Big Ten. The average B10 team plays 9.61 Core 4 teams per school while the SEC comes in at 9.13. The ACC, by the way, average 9.53 while the Big 12 leads with a 9.83. Take away the in-conference (aka required games) and the ACC leads with 1.53, followed by the SEC at 1.13, the Big 12 at 0.83 and then the Big Ten at 0.61. The difference between the Big Ten/SEC and the Big 12/ACC is, and here’s controversial bit part two, the overall strength with the conference games – not so much at the top as each conference has contenders, but in the middle and lower ends. I’m eager to see how this season plays out in full new model mode and how the conferences stack up against each other.
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The other thing about these preseason SOS rankings is that I use the unweighted average score so if a team (see Wake Forest in the ACC) has a particular easier than it should be schedule, it can bring the entire conference down. In the SEC, the first twelve teams are in the top 50 (as a proof of the above comments, one publication has all 16 SEC teams in the top 25 SOS), then Georgia (who had an unusually difficult schedule last season) comes in at 64th – there are 68 Core 4 teams. But that’s just falling off the cliff. At the bottom with ocean waves crashing around them we have Mississippi (101st), Missouri (116th), and Tennessee (118th) – there are 138 FBS teams (Core 4 and Group of 5). Compare Tennessee’s score of 6.81 (think about it as the average number of wins per opponent) to Arkansas’s 10.36 (3rd). The SEC averaged 8.50 vs the Big Ten’s 8.68. Mississippi is not playing a non-conference Core 4 team, although they are playing Washington St who is in the Pac-2 limbo for now.
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I get that the goal is the playoff and that wins seem to be the deciding factor with SOS a convenient tie-breaker when a “reason” is needed, but there has to be some rigor. The Top 25 polls are just that – polls, judgment calls often without watching any of the games played. I started what became the GCR when the BCS was ending in rebellion of the elimination of statistical ranking to offset the human element. I do believe there needs to be hard and transparent data, both FBS and FCS playoff spots, even when that data fails to support the teams I pull for or the conferences I love the most. When someone is wearing a mask, they don’t want anyone to recognize them while they are doing something they shouldn’t be, and in like fashion, when someone says “we looked at our metrics” without sharing them and “the data clearly shows” without explaining why, they are simply trying to avoid being caught with the ubiquitous human biases that none of can avoid. This is the third bit of controversy. You (or I) may not always agree with the weekly GCR Top 264, but the calculations are unbiased.
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The SEC should be stacked again this year (but not you, Mississippi St and Auburn is an unknown). I’m looking forward to this year’s version of Any Given Saturday (great series on Netflix, btw). It sounds weird to say this, but the SEC is in a slump without winning a championship in two years. There are sixteen teams ready to go to war to bring the trophy back. One thing about the SEC in-conference schedule this season: every team is playing the same eight teams they played last year, just switching home/away if not a neutral site game.
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In the table below, (F) indicates a game against an FCS foe, (G) indicates a match against a Group of 5 opponent, (4) indicates a non-conference Core 4 tilt, and (N) indicates a neutral site game. With no further ado, JoJo and I are proud to present the second-most challenged conference in 2025, the Southeastern Conference.
| Team | Home | 2024 Record (Rank) | 2025 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away/Neutral Games |
| Arkansas Razorbacks (1) | Fayetteville, AR | 7-6 (55) | 10.36 (3) | Alabama A&M (F), Arkansas St (G), Notre Dame (4), Texas A&M, Auburn, Mississippi St, Missouri | Mississippi, Memphis (G), Tennessee, LSU, Texas |
| Kentucky Wildcats (2) | Lexington, KY | 4-8 (57) | 9.73 (7) | Toledo (G), Mississippi, E Michigan (G), Texas, Tennesee, Florida, Tennessee Tech (F) | South Carolina, Georgia, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Louisville (4) |
| Texas A&M Aggies (3) | College Station, TX | 8-5 (31) | 9.60 (8) | UTSA (G), Utah St (G), Auburn, Mississippi St, Florida, South Carolina, Samford (G) | Notre Dame (4), Arkansas, LSU, Missouri, Texas |
| Mississippi St Bulldogs (4) | Starkville, MS | 2-10 (36) | 9.33 (11) | Arizona St (4), Alcorn St (F), N Illinois (G), Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi | Southern Miss (G), Texas A&M, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri |
| LSU Tigers (5) | Baton Rouge, LA | 9-4 (26) | 8.90 (19) | LA Tech (G), Florida, Southeastern (F), South Carolina, Texas A&M, Arkansas, W Kentucky (G) | Clemson (4), Mississippi, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Oklahoma |
| Florida Gators (6) | Gainesville, FL | 8-5 (32) | 8.78 (22) | Long Island (F), South Florida (G), Texas, Mississippi St, Tennessee, Florida St (4) | LSU, Miami FL (4), Texas A&M, Georgia (N), Kentucky, Mississippi |
| South Carolina Gamecocks (7) | Columbia, SC | 9-4 (22) | 8.72 (24) | South Carolina St (F), Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Alabama, Coastal Car (G), Clemson (4) | Virginia Tech (4N), Missouri, LSU, Mississippi, Texas A&M |
| Oklahoma Sooners (8) | Norman, OK | 6-7 (43) | 8.61 (29) | Illinois St (F), Michigan (4), Auburn, Kent St (G), Mississippi, Missouri, LSU | Temple (G), Texas (N), South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama |
| Texas Longhorns (9) | Austin, TX | 13-3 (4) | 8.58 (35) | San Jose St (G), UTEP (G), Sam Houston (G), Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Texas A&M | Ohio St (4), Florida, Oklahoma (N), Kentucky, Mississippi St, Georgia |
| Vanderbilt Commodores (10) | Nashville, TN | 7-6 (70) | 8.44 (38) | Charleston So (F), Georgia St (G), Utah St (G), LSU, Missouri, Auburn, Kentucky | Virginia Tech (4), South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee |
| Auburn Tigers (11) | Auburn, AL | 5-7 (81) | 8.30 (46) | Ball St (G), South Alabama (G), Georgia, Missouri, Kentucky, Mercer (F), Alabama | Baylor (4), Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Vanderbilt |
| Alabama Crimson Tide (12) | Tuscaloosa, AL | 9-4 (18) | 8.11 (50) | ULM (G), Wisconsin (4), Vanderbilt, Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma, E Illinois (F) | Florida St (4), Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, Auburn |
| Georgia Bulldogs (13) | Athens, GA | 11-3 (7) | 7.85 (64) | Marshall (G), Austin Peay (F), Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas, Charlotte (G) | Tennessee, Auburn, Florida (N), Mississippi St, Georgia Tech (4) |
| Mississippi Rebels (14) | Oxford, MS | 10-3 (15) | 7.18 (101) | Georgia St (G), Arkansas, Tulane (G), LSU, Washington St (G), South Carolina, Citadel (F), Florida | Kentucky, Georgia, Oklahoma, Mississippi St |
| Missouri Tigers (15) | Columbia, MO | 10-3 (27) | 6.84 (116) | C Arkansas (F), Kansas (4), Louisiana (G), South Carolina, UMASS (G), Alabama, Texas A&M, Mississippi St | Auburn, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Arkansas |
| Tennessee Volunteers (16) | Knoxville, TN | 10-3 (10) | 6.81 (118) | E Tennessee St (F), Georgia, UAB (G), Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico St (G), Vanderbilt | Syracuse (4N), Mississippi St, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida |
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That’s it for today. Tune in Sunday for the Big Ten preview. We are but a week and a half from week 0 action. This countdown is nearly complete as the countdown to college football 2025 is heading to 0:00. Thank you for reading and especially sharing with others. Until next time, JoJo and G
