College football fans, the wait is over; the 2024 season has arrived. Using CFN’s proprietary strength of schedule metric, let’s dive into the programs with the hardest on-paper campaigns.
College Football Teams With the Hardest Schedules in 2024
CFN’s SOS model was crafted with careful consideration, using as many resources as possible ahead of the 2024 season. Using a bevy of metrics such as returning production, roster projections, coaching staffs, incoming talent, and home-field advantage, as well as other factors, the CFN SOS analyzes which teams have the most and least difficult schedules this season.
READ MORE: College Football Strength of Schedule for 2024
CFN’s strength of schedule metric included teams’ transfer portal classes, valued quarterbacks returning to their school, and continuation among the coaching staff into the ranking. These factors all awarded schedule difficulty more heavily based on merit and projection, as opposed to looking back at results from last season, though those results were factored in moderately.
10) Mississippi State Bulldogs | 18.25
The Jeff Lebby era begins in 2024, and he brought in former Baylor QB Blake Shapen to operate his offense. They’ll have three weeks to iron out the kinks against Eastern Kentucky, Arizona State, and Toledo. Yet, if the Bulldogs aren’t firing on all cylinders at that point, the wheels could fall off against Florida, Texas, Georgia, Texas A&M, and Arkansas.
9) Georgia Bulldogs | 18.54
How the Bulldogs perform against Clemson in Week 1 will set the tone for the rest of the year. They face Tennessee Tech the following week, allowing Georgia to get their reserves some valuable on-field reps. Then the schedule will mean more, with Kirby Smart’s squad taking on eight straight SEC opponents, including road bouts with Alabama, Texas, and Ole Miss.
However, concluding the season with UMass and Georgia Tech will keep the roster fresh for the College Football Playoff, which the team is favored to win outright.
8) Vanderbilt Commodores | 18.56
In Diego Pavia, we trust. Even with the New Mexico State QB in tow, it’s difficult to see how the Commodores will win more than a few games in 2024, as their SEC bottom-dwelling ways are likely to continue.
7) Purdue Boilermakers | 18.67
Ryan Walters is in the middle of a rebuild at Purdue, and it’s unlikely they will improve much — if at all — on their 4-8 campaign from 2023. There’s some talent on the roster, and Hudson Card is a solid collegiate QB, but outside of contests against Indiana State and Northwestern, there aren’t many clear wins on the Boilermakers’ schedule.
6) Michigan Wolverines | 18.83
The reigning national champs have had quite the offseason, with a coaching staff in place, numerous starters departing for the NFL, and, of course, the sign-stealing controversy. The season itself won’t be kinder, with Texas, USC, Oregon, and Ohio State on tap.
5) Oklahoma Sooners | 19.27
In the year of realignment, the Sooners are jumping to a new conference, as they’ll call the SEC home in 2024 and beyond.
After a light opening few weeks (Temple, Houston, and Tulane), the Sooners won’t have a reprieve until they face Maine in October. Even if they survive clashes with Tennessee, Auburn, Texas, South Carolina, and Ole Miss in that time, they end the season against Missouri, Alabama, and LSU.
4) UCLA Bruins | 19.63
As new head coach DeShaun Foster pointed out at Big Ten Media Days, UCLA is in LA. That introduction was awkward, to say the least, but the Bruins’ on-field introduction to the conference may not be much better. They face a completely retooled and Curt Cignetti-led Indiana program to kick off conference play in Week 2.
Then, they face LSU in “Death Valley,” no less, only to take on Oregon and Penn State right after. Iowa and USC feature later in the year, and UCLA will conclude the season against Fresno State, a team the Bruins haven’t beaten in their last four matchups dating back to 2003.
3) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 19.67
Following four straight losing seasons, Brent Key led Georgia Tech to a 7-6 campaign and their first bowl victory since 2016. However, the Yellow Jackets may come back down to Earth in 2024.
Florida State, Notre Dame, Miami (FL), and Georgia are near locks in the loss column, and although QB Haynes King and RB Jamal Haynes have been a revolution, there isn’t much around them.
2) USC Trojans | 19.77
Lincoln Riley’s squad joins the Big Ten without Caleb Williams, and the transition will test their limits. Michigan and Penn State welcome the Trojans to the conference, while bouts with LSU and Notre Dame bookend a torturous schedule.
KEEP READING: Must-See Games on the 2024 College Football Schedule
1) Florida Gators | 21.73
Gainsville? More like Painville, am I right? Not only do the Gators have to host Miami (FL), Texas A&M, Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss, but they also have to travel to Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida State. It’s a brutal schedule, and even though Florida has SEC-level talent of their own, it’s difficult to see them surpass the five or six wins they’ve posted the last two years under Billy Napier.
College Football Network has you covered with the latest news and analysis, rankings, transfer portal information, top 10 returning players, the 2024 college football season schedule, and much more!