Big Ten strength of schedule rankings 2025: Favorite Ohio State faces tough climb, Purdue can't catch a break
Never in the history of college football has strength of schedule been as important and controversial as it is today. With 12 College Football Playoff berths (for now, at least) and only a limited number of them reserved for conference champions, strength of schedule is often a key separator when comparing the resumes of teams vying for one of the at-large spots.
Hell, some conferences would argue strength of schedule should matter more than the results of the games on the schedule!
The truth is that "strength" is a relative term that often loses all meaning in such discussions. In one of the top conferences in the sport, nobody plays an easy schedule. Yes, some teams catch a break by avoiding some of the best teams in the league, but easier and easy aren't mutually inclusive terms.
In the Big Ten, you're not only playing nine conference games, but now you're flying all across the country to do so. Oregon will travel to Rutgers. Maryland will travel to UCLA. I don't care what the power rating of the team on your schedule says on any particular weekend; all that time traveling will wear on a team as a season progresses.
And it's all part of my process in determining which Big Ten schedule is the most difficult. As I've done for years, I take all these factors, put them in a spreadsheet, and then spit out an estimated SOS. Then I bring them here for you to read and tell me what I got wrong.
As always, we start with the most difficult and end with the least.
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