Strength of schedule has become more important than ever before in college football. With the College Football Playoff Selection Committee choosing four teams to compete for the national title every season, it's not just important to win as many games as possible, you want to beat the best teams to help boost your resume.
This is why we've seen Power Five teams scheduling more Power Five opponents in nonconference play over recent seasons. Some conferences, like the Big Ten, have even adopted policies stating that they don't want their schools scheduling any more games against FCS school. And then there are conferences like the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12 that have moved to nine-game conference schedules rather than the traditional eight.
And they've done all of this in an effort to improve their strength of schedule in order to help ensure that their best teams have strong resumes worth considering for the CFP at the end of the season.
With all of this in mind, I wanted to figure out which teams were playing the toughest schedules in 2017 before the season even started. I went through each of the Power Five conferences, as well as the American Athletic Conference, to rate each team's schedule strength for 2017. I rated the teams based on how they've performed in my own personal rankings -- the same mathematical rankings I use to compile the Fornelli 50 and Bottom 25 -- over the last three years. This gave me a baseline, which I then tinkered with a bit.
It's one thing to play Alabama, but are you playing them in Tuscaloosa? At a neutral site? Are you coming off a bye?
These are all variables I considered and weighted. Road games are always more difficult, and having to play a team without having a Saturday off for the last month can wear on your team as well.
As no formula is perfect -- teams always surprise you, whether it's by exceeding expectations or failing to meet them -- I averaged each teams' individual ranking based on the last three years rather than just last season. This should give us a good idea of what to expect each team will be facing in the 2017 season. To conclude my series, we rank the schedules of the one conference hoping to join the ranks of the Power Five in the near future: the AAC.
| 1 |  |
| The 2017 season will not be easy for the Golden Hurricane. The nonconference portion of the schedule begins with a road game against Oklahoma State, and then after an easier game against UL-Lafayette, the Hurricane will once again hit the road to take on a Toledo program that's been a powerhouse in the MAC. Finally, it's a home game against New Mexico before beginning a conference schedule that doesn't have a lot of breathers. If you're a strong AAC program, Tulsa is playing you this season. Navy, Houston, Memphis, South Florida and Temple are all on the schedule, though if there's any good news, it's that only USF will be played on the road. | |
| 2 |  |
| ECU has a rather difficult nonconference slate. After the season opener against James Madison, the Pirates get West Virginia and Virginia Tech in consecutive weeks, though at least the Hokies will come to them. Later in the year, they play BYU as well. In conference play, the Pirates will hit the road for Houston and Memphis, while getting Temple and USF at home. | |
| 3 |  |
| Navy has another typically difficult Navy schedule. There are the annual affairs with Army and Air Force, as well as a road trip to South Bend for Notre Dame. In between that, the Mids will have to play Memphis, Temple and Houston all on the road as well. So while the home schedule is manageable, that road slate is going to be a headache. | |
| 4 |  |
| Overall, Tulane's schedule isn't incredibly difficult, but a road trip to Norman to take on Oklahoma in mid-September adds a quite a bit of weight. As will road trips to Navy, Memphis and ECU. The home schedule provides difficulties as well with USF, Cincinnati and Houston. | |
| 5 |  |
| Compared to a 2016 schedule that featured both Oklahoma and Louisville, Houston's 2017 slate is a lot more manageable. Though that's not to say it's easy. The Cougars will play both Arizona (road) and Texas Tech outside the AAC and have to go on the road for Temple, Tulsa and USF. Both Memphis and Navy will come to H-town this season. | |
| 6 |  |
| Geoff Collins' first season at Temple does not come with the most difficult schedule by any stretch. The season opens with a road game against Notre Dame, but the rest of the nonconference is Villanova, UMass and Army. In AAC play, both Navy and Houston come to Philly, but USF and Tulsa on the road won't be easy. | |
| 7 |  |
| On the surface, three games against Power Five opponents is a good thing, but when those three are Virginia, Missouri and Boston College, it doesn't do a whole lot for you. The Huskies also avoid Houston and Navy from the West, and while they must go on the road for Temple, the rest of what should be their most difficult conference games are at home at least. | |
| 8 |  |
| The Mustangs will have four very difficult games, all on the road against TCU, Houston, Navy and Memphis. After that, though, things get significantly less difficult. Aside from TCU the rest of the nonconference features Stephen F. Austin, North Texas and Arkansas State. | |
| 9 |  |
| The Bearcats schedule features a road game against Michigan in early September, and that one game does a lot to keep them out of the cellar here. Austin Peay, Miami (OH) and Marshall aren't a murderer's row outside the AAC, and the cross-divisional draw of Navy, SMU and Tulane could be a lot worse. | |
| 10 |  |
| Outside of conference play, the Knights play two Power Five teams in Georgia Tech and Maryland, but the Yellow Jackets will come to Orlando. Plus, if anything, that game against Tech will help prepare UCF for its road trip to Navy later in the season. That Navy game may prove to be the most difficult task in AAC play because even though the Knights must also play Memphis and USF, both of those games will be in Orlando. | |
| 11 |  |
| It's a rather soft landing for Charlie Strong, as his first four games at USF will be against San Jose State, Stony Brook, UConn and Illinois. The Bulls other nonconference game comes against UMass, so, all in all, it's one of the weaker noncons in the country, which definitely affects USF's ranking here. In conference play, the Bulls do draw both Houston and Tulsa from the West, but they're coming to Tampa. The most difficult road game in conference will likely be the season finale against UCF. | |
| 12 |  |
| There are definitely some difficult games here, as Memphis plays UCLA in mid-September and has a couple of road trips to take on both Houston and Tulsa later in the season, and those two games will be very important within the division. The rest of the noncon includes UL-Monroe, Southern Illinois and Georgia State. | |
