Welcome back, college sports fans, to episode 671 and the penultimate in our preseason strength of schedule (PS-SOS) countdown for all 25 Division I (D1) conferences. We started with the Pioneer League, who plays the overall least-challenging schedule this season and have made it through to number two. With only 7 days left before the opening kickoff, the season is palpably close. Sunday, August 23rd, we’ll talk about the most-challenged conference for this season followed by a Tuesday (8/25) summary of all 25 conferences, PS-SOS-wise. Wednesday (8/26), we’ll talk through the changes in presentation for this season (if you recall how we showed the daily games during March Madness, you’ll have an idea) in a G’s Explanation. Then starting on Thursday, we’ll post our first G’s Expectation of the season.
…..
Back to PS-SOS. As a reminder, every team is currently tied for first (or last) with performance scores of 0.000 (because no team has performed yet) and strength of schedule scores of 0.000 (because no team has had an opponent yet). Those two metrics combine to form the Score metric, which is used for our Evaluation, aka ranking. All 266 teams from Indiana (last year’s undefeated champion and the top of the GCR) to Chicago St (playing football for the first time ever this season, thus having no past ranking) are all tied with a Score of 0.000. In the GCR, every team earns, good or bad, where they are placed. The PS-SOS takes each team’s 2025 Score (special values for non-D1 teams and a 0.000 for Chicago St), with adjustments for away and neutral site games overlaid onto the teams’ 2026 schedules. The old statistical adage, “all models are wrong; some are useful,” our model is “wrong” because it assumes every team will just repeat last season’s values (note: that is impossible). But not only is it kind of fun to speculate a little, everybody else’s models (including preseason polls) are wrong too. The GCR does not have a preseason ranking. The PS-SOS is an estimate of the difficulty of schedules, not what teams will do with said schedule.
…..
But this post is about the conference with the second most-challenged schedule (mean of each team’s PS-SOS). The 18-team Big Ten takes the runner up spot with a PS-SOS of 9.140 (meaning the combined average opponent for a Big Ten team is equivalent to playing an FBS team that will end the season with 9.140 wins on a neutral site, every game). The average rank is 31.7 out of 266. both of these numbers are second among all conferences. The top two most-challenged schedules are in this conference with Ohio St (10.03/1) and Michigan (9.91/2) leading the way. Three other teams are in the top 10 (Northwestern, Nebraska and Purdue). They tie for the most teams in the Top 25 PS-SOS with 8. Defending champ Indiana is 9th in conference and 32nd overall. But with 68 Core 4 (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, and Notre Dame) teams, seven Big Ten teams rank between 48-60 – the lower quartile for the big boys. The Big Ten plays a full 9-game conference schedule but has no requirement for the other three games (note: the ACC, Big 12, and SEC all require a total of at least 10 Core 4 games). Five teams in the Big Ten only play 9 (Indiana, Nebraska, Penn St, Southern Cal, and Washington). Of those five, only Penn St and Southern Cal do not play an FCS game). Only Purdue plays 11 (although both non-conference Core 4 opponents are home games.) The 18 members only play 8 non-conference away (or neutral) games, and two of those are against Group of 6 teams. The Big Ten has won each of the last three national championship games with different teams (Indiana 2025, Ohio St 2024, Michigan 2023). Prior to this streak, Ohio St won in 2002 and 2014 in the only other championships in the BCS/Playoff era. The last winner, other than the three in the current streak, was Penn St in 1986. The Big Ten has a lot to be proud of and will be contenders every year. Maybe this streak is the beginning of a long run, but the games must be played first. Thankfully we are just a few days away. In the table below, (4) indicates a game against a non-conference Core 4 team, (G) indicates a Group of 6 matchup, (F) indicates a bout against an FCS foe, and (N) indicates a neutral site contest. With no further ado, we are proud to present the 2026 Big Ten:
| Team (Conf Rank) | Home Field | 2025 Record (Rank) | 2026 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away/Neutral Games | Hardest | Easiest |
| Ohio St Buckeyes (1) | Columbus, OH | 12-2 (2) | 10.03 (1) | Ball St (G), Kent St (G), Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, Northwestern, Michigan | Texas (4), Iowa, Indiana, Southern Cal, Nebraska | at Indiana (15.18) | Ball St (5.46) |
| Michigan Wolverines (2) | Ann Arbor, MI | 9-4 (25) | 9.91 (2) | W Michigan (G), Oklahoma (4), UTEP (G), Iowa, Penn St, Indiana, Michigan St, UCLA | Minnesota, Rutgers, Oregon, Ohio St | at Ohio St (14.22) | UTEP (4.87) |
| Northwestern Wildcats (3) | Evanston, IL | 7-6 (49) | 9.70 (6) | South Dakota St (F), Colorado (4), Penn St, Ball St (G), Rutgers, Iowa, Illinois | Indiana, Michigan St, Oregon, Ohio St | at Indiana (15.18) | South Dakota St (4.37) |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers (4) | Lincoln, NE | 7-6 (55) | 9.69 (7) | Ohio (G), Bowling Green (G), North Dakota (F), Maryland, Indiana, Washington, Ohio St | Michigan St, Oregon, Illinois, Rutgers, Iowa | Indiana (13.20) | North Dakota (4.90) |
| Purdue Boilermakers (5) | West Lafayette, IN | 2-10 (109) | 9.58 (10) | Indiana St (F), Wake Forest (4), Notre Dame (4), Minnesota, Washington, Maryland, Wisconsin | UCLA, Illinois, Penn St, Iowa, Indiana | at Indiana (15.18) | Indiana St (2.01) |
| Michigan St Spartans (6) | East Lansing, MI | 4-8 (86) | 9.55 (11) | Toledo (G), E Michigan (G), Nebraska, Illinois, Northwestern, Washington, Oregon | Notre Dame (4), Wisconsin, UCLA, Michigan, Rutgers | at Notre Dame (13.69) | E Michigan (5.89) |
| Southern Cal Trojans (7) | Los Angeles, CA | 9-4 (17) | 9.43 (16) | San Jose St (G), Fresno St (G), Louisiana (G), Oregon, Washington, Ohio St, Maryland | Rutgers, Penn St, Wisconsin, Indiana, UCLA | at Indiana (15.18) | San Jose St (5.25) |
| Washington Huskies (8) | Seattle, WA | 9-4 (23) | 9.27 (23) | Washington St (G), Utah St (G), E Washington (F), Minnesota, Iowa, Penn St, Indiana | Southern Cal, Purdue, Nebraska, Michigan St, Oregon | at Oregon (14.04) | E Washington (3.07) |
| Indiana Hoosiers (9) | Bloomington, IN | 16-0 (1) | 9.11 (32) | North Texas (G), Howard (F), W Kentucky (G), Northwestern, Ohio St, Minnesota, Southern Cal, Purdue | Rutgers, Nebraska, Michigan, Washington | Ohio St (12.36) | Howard (2.90) |
| UCLA Bruins (10) | Pasadena, CA | 3-9 (95) | 9.10 (35) | San Diego St (G), Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan St, Nevada (G), Illinois, Southern Cal | California (4), Maryland, Oregon, Minnesota, Michigan | at Oregon (14.04) | Nevada (5.29) |
| Iowa Hawkeyes (11) | Iowa City, IA | 9-4 (18) | 8.92 (44) | N Illinois (G), Iowa St (4), N Iowa (F), Ohio St, Wisconsin, Purdue, Nebraska | Michigan, Washington, Minnesota, Northwestern, Illinois | Ohio St (12.36) | N Iowa (2.66) |
| Illinois Illini (12) | Champaign, IL | 9-4 (24) | 8.81 (48) | UAB (G), Duke (4), S Illinois (F), Purdue, Oregon, Nebraska, Iowa | Ohio St, Michigan St, Maryland, UCLA, Northwestern | at Ohio St (14.22) | S Illinois (4.18) |
| Minnesota Golden Gophers (13) | Minneapolis, MN | 8-5 (44) | 8.80 (49) | E Illinois (F), Mississippi St (4), Akron (G), Michigan, Iowa, UCLA, Northwestern | Washington, Purdue, Indiana, Penn St, Wisconsin | at Indiana (15.18) | E Illinois (2.30) |
| Oregon Ducks (14) | Eugene, OR | 13-2 (3) | 8.79 (50) | Boise St (G), Portland St (F), UCLA, Nebraska, Northwestern, Michigan, Washington | Oklahoma St (4), Southern Cal, Illinois, Ohio St, Michigan St | at Ohio St (14.22) | Portland St (0.94) |
| Maryland Terrapins (15) | College Park, MD | 4-8 (92) | 8.57 (56) | Hampton (F), Virginia Tech (4), UCLA, Rutgers, Illinois, Wisconsin, Penn St | UCONN (G), Nebraska, Ohio St, Purdue, Southern Cal | at Ohio St (14.22) | Hampton(1.94) |
| Penn St Nittany Lions (16) | University Park, PA | 7-6 (34) | 8.54 (57) | Marshall (G), Buffalo (G), Wisconsin, Southern Cal, Purdue, Minnesota, Rutgers | Temple (G), Northwestern, Michigan, Washington, Maryland | at Washington (11.65) | Buffalo (6.16) |
| Wisconsin Badgers (17) | Madison, WI | 4-8 (81) | 8.43 (60) | W Illinois (F), E Michigan (G), Michigan St, Southern Cal, Rutgers, Minnesota | Notre Dame (N4), Penn St, UCLA, Iowa, Maryland, Purdue | vs Notre Dame (12.80) | W Illinois (2.04) |
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights (18) | Piscataway, NJ | 5-7 (74) | 8.29 (64) | UMASS (G), Southern Cal, Howard (F), Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan St | Boston College (4), Maryland, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Penn St | Indiana (13.20) | UMASS (2.87) |
…..
That’s it for today. Tune in Sunday for a look at the most-challenged conference for 2026. Thank you for reading, commenting/suggesting, and sharing with others. Only one more week. We can make it. Until next time, JoJo and G.
