Toughest Schedules Down the Stretch

Now that the college football season has reached its mid-way point, the schedule for the rest of the year becomes very crucial for many teams attempting to reach bowl eligibility.

Two schools have already attained the minimum of six Division-1 wins, Penn State and Virginia Tech, but have games remaining against both strong and weak teams. Another 15 teams need just one more win to be eligible for postseason play and should be able to pickup at least that many victories in their remaining five or six games.

But which schools have the toughest road to Bowl Land? A very basic formula indexing each team's remaining schedule reveals a number of middle-of-the-pack teams face the most formidable opponents down the stretch. The index ranged from a low of minus-22.67 (Florida International) to a high of 17.63, with 28 teams indexing at a 10 or higher. Some of the top teams have some pretty tough schedules, such as Texas (6th strongest), USC (15th) and California (22nd).

Other teams who are struggling a bit this year probably won't make the six wins needed for bowl eligibility based on their remaining schedules. Cincinnati's schedule is the 14th toughest, Washington's is 25th, and Illinois's is 27th.

Here, then, are the five toughest schedules for the rest of this college football season, starting with number five.

Kansas State (15.97)

Remaining schedule: at Texas Tech, vs. Texas A&M, vs. Colorado, at Iowa State, at Nebraska, vs. Missouri.

While the Big 12 might not be as strong from top to bottom as it usually is, that is if you listen to the "experts," there are more teams with winning records at this point than there seems to have been in years past. None of the opponents remaining on the Wildcats' schedule have a losing record. In fact, two have lost only once (Colorado and Nebraska), and Texas Tech is undefeated and has the top scoring offense in the country. Even Iowa State and Missouri are above .500 so far. If K-State wants to get back to the Big 12 title game, they'll have to fight through the meat of the conference to do so. Lucky for them, they don't have to play Texas.

Maryland (16.14)

Remaining schedule: vs. Virginia Tech, at Florida State, at North Carolina, vs. Boston College, at North Carolina State.

With the addition of Miami and Virginia Tech last year, and Boston College this year, the ACC has gotten nothing but stronger, as the rest of the conference can attest. But it's believed that the "great" ones elevate their game to a higher level when pushed by a more worthy opponent. The rest of the Terrapins' schedule has them taking on three top-15 teams in Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Boston College. The only blemish on the schedule that makes it a little weaker than it could be is the trip to Chapel Hill — the Tar Heels are just 2-3 thus far.

Minnesota (17.04)

Remaining schedule: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Ohio State, at Indiana, vs. Michigan State, at Iowa.

Yikes! Is the Big 10 loaded this year or what? Everyone but Purdue (surprising) and Illinois (not surprising) is at or above .500 — even Indiana is 4-1 so far. The good news for the Golden Gophers is that the three toughest of the remaining opponents have to play them in their house. They've already gone to Happy Valley (a loss) and the Big House (a win), and having to go to Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Michigan State would make things even worse than they are. But road trips to Indiana and Iowa make it seem a little more manageable as far as trying to take the conference crown.

Washington State (17.12)

Remaining schedule: vs. UCLA, at California, at Southern Cal, vs. Arizona State, vs. Oregon, at Washington.

The poor Cougars! They really wish they'd won those first two conference games against Oregon State and Stanford. The way this schedule shapes up, they might not win a conference game this year. Possible upsets could be UCLA or Oregon at home, but the way they've played the past couple of weeks, don't bet the farm on the underdog. And sure, the Huskies are not very good again, but the Cougs might either be too beat up or too demoralized to make the Apple Cup the blowout it should be.

With only two of their three wins qualifying toward bowl eligibility, the cry in the Palouse will be "wait until next year" again. Whoever made up this schedule must have either thought WSU would be better or didn't like them very much.

Oklahoma State (17.63)

Remaining schedule: at Texas A&M, at Iowa State, vs. Texas, vs. Texas Tech, at Baylor, at Oklahoma.

This schedule is brutal. The only consolation the Cowboys have is they get to play the two best teams in the conference at home (Texas and Texas Tech). And, if Oklahoma returns to the form everyone expected this year, this schedule gets even tougher. Okie State is in about the same predicament ole' Wazzu is: one of their three wins is against a 1-AA school and they've lost both their conference games. Maybe wins come at Iowa State and Baylor, but the prospects aren't looking all that good for a run at the Big 12 title.

The rest of the toughest: 6. Texas (15.67); 7. Baylor (15.63); 8. Texas A&M (15.50); 9. Oklahoma (14.80); 10. Stanford (14.74); 11. Pittsburgh (14.52); 12. Florida (14.24); 13. Colorado (13.93); 14. Cincinnati (13.53); 15. Southern Cal (13.26); 16. Indiana (13.13); 17. Iowa (12.40); 18. Michigan (21.38); 19. Kansas (12.36); 20. Missouri (12.07).