Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire says USC, Texas A&M and NC State all turned down scheduling requests

As always, the conversation around college football in the 2025-2026 offseason has revolved around strength of schedule.

Conference bragging rights are based on it. The College Football Playoff selection committee incorporates a strength of schedule and strength of resume metric into their ranking system. Perceptions of team strength can swing wildly based on assumptions of their schedule's difficulty.

Predictably, the Big Ten and SEC dominate most lists of the toughest schedules in the country in 2026.