Welcome back, college football fans, to episode 673 which is the summary of our preseason strength of schedule (PS-SOS) countdown as we are but two days away from the first games of the season. If you are just joining us, here’s the good news: everything we talked about (less a few editorial comments) are in the tables below along with some new information.
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As a final reminder (for this season) of the process behind PS-SOS, we started with each of the 266 Division I (D1) teams (both FBS [those who are bowl eligible] and FCS [those who are not]) and reviewed their schedules. We had to have some sort of value for the teams they play so we used our 2025 Score metric (the value based on a combination of performance and strength of schedule metrics that we use to rank the teams), adjusting the D1 Scores for away or neutral site games (those are more “valuable” than home games), and applying an adjusted value for non-D1 opponents (this includes divisions II and III as well as NAIA – only applicable to FCS games). We then take the mean for each team and that is PS-SOS. We use last year’s Score because until the first games end this Thursday night, every team is tied for first (or last) with a Score of 0.000. While we recognize that some team’s opponents will be better (and worse) than last year, we have no way to “know” which ones. FYI, any preseason poll, especially those that rank the “best” teams before games are played are based on a combination of guesswork, history, and possible some interviews. None of the models are right – some are useful. All preseason ranking polls (human or computer) apply unnecessary bias to the process. That is why we don’t have one. After today’s post, we will not speak of PS-SOS again for one reason: it is irrelevant once the games begin and not connected to the 2026 GCR.
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But today, we wanted to summarize our just-for-fun foray into the teams that challenge themselves (or not). Before we sum up the conferences, let’s list some individual teams. Starting with the FCS (Big Sky, CAA, Ivy, MEAC, MVC, BSOV, PAT, Pioneer, SoCon, SLAN, SWAC, UAC, and Indies), we compiled the Top 15 most-challenged schedules and the Bottom 15 least-challenged schedules for the 128 teams. The numbers following the team’s name are the PS-SOS and the overall rank (out of 266 teams). Note: Chicago St is playing football for the first time ever and not playing a “real” FCS schedule. Note part 2: West Florida promoted to FCS from Division II and is playing a true FCS schedule.
| Rank | Most-Challenged FCS | Conf | Least-Challenged FCS | Conf |
| 1 | Merrimack [5.32 (139)] | Indie | Chicago St [2.36 (266)] | Indie |
| 2 | Portland St [5.21 (140)] | Big Sky | Jackson St [2.55 (265)] | SWAC |
| 3 | Abilene Chr [4.78 (141)] | UAC | SC St [2.63 (264)] | MEAC |
| 4 | Towson [4.72 (142)] | CAA | Dayton [2.89 (263)] | Pioneer |
| 5 | N Iowa [4.64 (143)] | MVC | Alabama A&M [2.96 (262)] | SWAC |
| 6 | Idaho [4.57 (144)] | Big Sky | Morehead St [3.04 (261)] | Pioneer |
| 7 | Fordham [4.54 (145)] | PAT | Alabama St [3.05 (260)] | SWAC |
| 8 | William & Mary [4.53 (146)] | PAT | Steph F Austin [3.08 (259)] | SLAN |
| 9 | Howard [4.5 (147)] | MEAC | Alcorn St [3.09 (258)] | SWAC |
| 10 | Utah Tech [4.49 (148)] | Big Sky | MS Valley [3.23 (257)] | SWAC |
| 11 | Citadel [4.47 (149)] | SoCon | Rio Grande [3.26 (256)] | SLAN |
| 12 | Holy Cross [4.47 (150)] | PAT | NC A&T [3.26 (255)] | CAA |
| 13 | E Kentucky [4.45 (151)] | UAC | St Thomas [3.26 (254)] | Pioneer |
| 14 | Mercyhurst [4.42 (152)] | NEC | West Florida [3.26 (253)] | UAC |
| 15 | Samford [4.41 (153)] | SoCon | Davidson [3.27 (252)] | Pioneer |
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There are 70 Group of 6 (American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac 12, Sun Belt, and UCONN) teams fighting for the automatic playoff spot. 13 of these teams play a more challenging schedule than the least-challenged Core 4 team! Our top and bottom 15 are below. Note: Sacramento St promoted to the Group of 6 joining the MAC. Note part 2: North Dakota St promoted joining the Mountain West).
| Rank | Most-Challenged Group 6 | Conf | Least-Challenged Group 6 | Conf |
| 1 | Rice [8.25 (65)] | Amer | North Dakota St [6.4 (138)] | MWC |
| 2 | Oregon St [8.23 (66)] | P12 | Toledo [6.51 (137)] | MAC |
| 3 | Utah St [8.19 (68)] | P12 | UMASS [6.52 (136)] | MAC |
| 4 | Tulane [8.08 (71)] | Amer | Buffalo [6.57 (135)] | MAC |
| 5 | Charlotte [8.04 (72)] | Amer | Tulsa [6.57 (134)] | Amer |
| 6 | Boise St [7.99 (73)] | P12 | Sacramento St [6.66 (133)] | MAC |
| 7 | Temple [7.97 (74)] | Amer | Louisiana [6.69 (132)] | Sun |
| 8 | Southern Miss [7.9 (75)] | Sun | Ohio [6.73 (131)] | MAC |
| 9 | UTSA [7.88 (76)] | Amer | Wyoming [6.74 (130)] | MWC |
| 10 | Colorado St [7.87 (77)] | P12 | E Michigan [6.75 (129)] | MAC |
| 11 | Ga Southern [7.82 (78)] | Sun | Hawaii [6.8 (128)] | MWC |
| 12 | FAU [7.8 (79)] | Amer | Mid Tenn [6.84 (127)] | C-USA |
| 13 | Missouri St [7.79 (80)] | C-USA | Air Force [6.85 (126)] | MWC |
| 14 | Memphis [7.77 (82)] | Amer | FIU [6.91 (125)] | C-USA |
| 15 | Washington St [7.76 (83)] | P12 | New Mexico [6.92 (124)] | MWC |
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There are 68 Core 4 (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, and Notre Dame) teams. The ACC has 3 in the top 15 but 7 in the bottom. The Big 12 only has Baylor in the top and 3 teams in the bottom. The Big Ten is the epitome of extremes with 6 in the top (including the top 2) and 4 in the bottom. The SEC has 5 in the top and none in the bottom. I’ve read a few articles this preseason about Texas Tech’s (lack of a) schedule which the school is blaming on “no one wants to play us.” Somehow every other Core 4 team is in the Top 70, and Tech is 11 places behind that. To get the point difference between TXTC and Houston, look at Ohio St and Nebraska: a 0.34 PS-SOS difference. There is more differential between the bottom two and between Houston and Notre Dame at 10th easiest.
| Rank | Most-Challenged Core 4 | Conf | Least-Challenged Core 4 | Conf |
| 1 | Ohio St [10.03 (1)] | Big Ten | Texas Tech [7.79 (81)] | Big 12 |
| 2 | Michigan [9.91 (2)] | Big Ten | Houston [8.13 (70)] | Big 12 |
| 3 | North Carolina [9.85 (3)] | ACC | Pittsburgh [8.16 (69)] | ACC |
| 4 | Stanford [9.85 (4)] | ACC | Virginia [8.23 (67)] | ACC |
| 5 | Texas [9.79 (5)] | SEC | Rutgers [8.29 (64)] | Big Ten |
| 6 | Northwestern [9.7 (6)] | Big Ten | UCF [8.39 (63)] | Big 12 |
| 7 | Nebraska [9.69 (7)] | Big Ten | Clemson [8.39 (62)] | ACC |
| 8 | Oklahoma [9.67 (8)] | SEC | Miami FL [8.42 (61)] | ACC |
| 9 | Arkansas [9.59 (9)] | SEC | Wisconsin [8.43 (60)] | Big Ten |
| 10 | Purdue [9.58 (10)] | Big Ten | Notre Dame [8.45 (59)] | Indie |
| 11 | Michigan St [9.55 (11)] | Big Ten | SMU [8.54 (58)] | ACC |
| 12 | Mississippi St [9.5 (12)] | SEC | Penn St [8.54 (57)] | Big Ten |
| 13 | Baylor [9.48 (13)] | Big 12 | Maryland [8.57 (56)] | Big Ten |
| 14 | Kentucky [9.48 (14)] | SEC | California [8.6 (55)] | ACC |
| 15 | Boston College [9.45 (15)] | ACC | NC St [8.64 (54)] | ACC |
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We hope you enjoyed that breakdown. Over 25 posts, we went through all of the conferences (including two sets of independent teams). Here is the summary from most-challenged conference to least-challenged. The PS-SOS is the mean value for each conference. The Avg Rank is the mean individual rank for each conference’s members out of 266.
| Rank | Conf (Teams) | PS-SOS | Avg Rank | Most-Challenged Team | Least-Challenged Team |
| 1 | SEC (16) | 9.292 | 23.9 | Texas [9.79 (5)] | South Carolina [9.03 (40)] |
| 2 | B1G (18) | 9.140 | 31.7 | Ohio St [10.03 (1)] | Rutgers [8.29 (64)] |
| 3 | ACC (17) | 8.948 | 39.5 | North Carolina [9.85 (3)] | Pittsburgh [8.16 (69)] |
| 4 | B12 (16) | 8.869 | 42.8 | Baylor [9.48 (13)] | Texas Tech [7.79 (81)] |
| 5 | P12 (8) | 7.822 | 75.0 | Oregon St [8.23 (66)] | San Diego St [7.36 (101)] |
| 6 | IND (2) | 7.709 | 90.0 | Notre Dame [8.45 (59)] | UCONN [6.97 (121)] |
| 7 | AAC (14) | 7.676 | 86.7 | Rice [8.25 (65)] | Tulsa [6.57 (134)] |
| 8 | SUN (14) | 7.310 | 104.0 | Southern Miss [7.9 (75)] | Louisiana [6.69 (132)] |
| 9 | USA (10) | 7.276 | 109.0 | Missouri St [7.79 (80)] | Mid Tenn [6.84 (127)] |
| 10 | MAC (13) | 7.009 | 116.7 | Kent St [7.7 (87)] | Toledo [6.51 (137)] |
| 11 | MWC (10) | 6.952 | 123.3 | UNLV [7.42 (96)] | North Dakota St [6.4 (138)] |
| 12 | PAT (10) | 4.237 | 173.4 | Fordham [4.54 (145)] | Georgetown [3.66 (224)] |
| 13 | IVY (8) | 4.146 | 173.9 | Dartmouth [4.38 (155)] | Princeton [3.74 (214)] |
| 14 | NEC (8) | 4.064 | 183.0 | Mercyhurst [4.42 (152)] | Robert Morris [3.52 (232)] |
| 15 | SKY (13) | 4.044 | 187.1 | Portland St [5.21 (140)] | S Utah [3.36 (248)] |
| 16 | MVC (9) | 4.021 | 185.1 | N Iowa [4.64 (143)] | Illinois St [3.37 (245)] |
| 17 | UAC (8) | 4.013 | 188.9 | Abilene Chr [4.78 (141)] | West Florida [3.26 (253)] |
| 18 | SCN (10) | 3.989 | 189.1 | Citadel [4.47 (149)] | E Tenn St [3.39 (241)] |
| 19 | FCS (2) | 3.844 | 202.5 | Merrimack [5.32 (139)] | Chicago St [2.36 (266)] |
| 20 | CAA (13) | 3.808 | 205.2 | Towson [4.72 (142)] | NC A&T [3.26 (255)] |
| 21 | BSC (8) | 3.672 | 218.5 | Gardner Webb [4 (182)] | W Illinois [3.31 (250)] |
| 22 | STH (10) | 3.626 | 215.5 | Houston Chr [4.11 (176)] | Steph F Austin [3.08 (259)] |
| 23 | MEAC (6) | 3.563 | 220.5 | Howard [4.5 (147)] | SC St [2.63 (264)] |
| 24 | SWAC (12) | 3.396 | 233.6 | Prairie View [3.93 (192)] | Jackson St [2.55 (265)] |
| 25 | PFL (11) | 3.341 | 244.4 | San Diego [3.69 (219)] | Dayton [2.89 (263)] |
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That’s it for today and with that the 2026 PS-SOS is a thing of the past (unless someone comments or questions). Tune in tomorrow for a G’s Explanation in which we will discuss our season schedule, process changes, and other important preparation for the football season. Thank you for reading (it’s why we do this), commenting or making suggestions (it’s how we improve), and sharing with others (it’s how we grow). Until tomorrow, JoJo and G
