CBS Sports ranks SEC Football schedules from hardest to easiest for 2025

Come late November and early December, Strength of Schedule will be a massive talking point. Teams will point to the metric to make their case for the College Football Playoff, especially with at-large bids on the line. SEC teams, in particular, wind up higher in the metric than others.

Even so, there are levels to each individual schedule due to the conference’s size. So, CBS Sports gave a crack at ranking SEC schedules from hardest to easiest during the 2025 season.

Different variables were factored into the equation, including nonconference and when certain games are played. Let’s check out the full one to 16 rankings, beginning with one of last season’s great underdog stories.

1. Vanderbilt Commodores

Diego Pavia has set sky-high expectations for Vanderbilt, saying there is a belief they can win an SEC Championship. The schedule certainly is not doing them any favors. Some tough games will take place outside of Nashville.

CBS Sports: “Vanderbilt hits the road to face four top 15 teams, including national title contenders Texas and Alabama. Diego Pavia always makes games interesting, but the Commodores might just buckle under the stress of the SEC’s most difficult slate.”

2. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Not where you want to be after failing to earn a single conference win a year ago. As CBS Sports points out, nobody will play more College Football Playoff teams from last season than Mississippi State.

CBS Sports: “Jeff Lebby was 0-8 in the SEC last season, and the schedule in Year 2 is probably more difficult. The Bulldogs face four CFP teams from a year ago — the highest total in the country.”

3. Arkansas Razorbacks

Arkansas finds itself as another under .500 team from 2024 with a tough road ahead. Not just against conference foes either, playing Notre Dame and at Memphis during the nonconference.

CBS Sports: “Sam Pittman is on the hot seat, and reaching bowl eligibility should probably be enough to save his job (again) against this schedule. Finding wins is difficult.”

4. Oklahoma Sooners

In the early portion of the season, all eyes in Norman are on the Michigan game Sept. 6. From there, games will just get tougher as the weeks go by for fourth-year head coach Brent Venables.

CBS Sports: “Believe it or not, the schedule is manageable heading into November, but that’s when the road gets bumpy.”

5. Florida Gators

Last offseason, all the talk surrounding Florida was how difficult its schedule looked. Now, playing virtually the same one, the roster assembled by Billy Napier helps ease some of the pain.

CBS Sports: “Florida may have played the toughest schedule in the country in 2024, and though it eases up a bit thanks to the slide of Florida State, it’s still no cake walk.”

6. Texas A&M Aggies

Kyle Field is as good a homefield advantage in the SEC. But it’s the games the Aggies will play away from College Station that have CBS Sports ranking them at No. 6.

CBS Sports: “Texas A&M’s schedule includes three straight road games — Arkansas, LSU and Missouri — and the Aggies finish the season at Texas in their first trip to Austin in 15 years.”

7. LSU Tigers

The message out of Baton Rouge has been simple in recent weeks. All focus is on the season opener against Clemson, a game the program feels like they have to have. If the Tigers accomplish their mission, can they push through the rest of the schedule?

CBS Sports: “Brian Kelly’s seven-year streak of 10-win seasons ended in 2024, but he’s built a team capable of starting a new run.”

8. Texas Longhorns

CBS Sports points out how Texas will likely be favored in seven of its eight SEC games. Some tough challenges still fall on the schedule, including the anticipated Week 1 matchup in Columbus.

CBS Sports: “Texas doesn’t ease into the schedule like many and opens the season on the road against reigning national champion Ohio State… The Longhorns are favored in every game in the SEC other than a trip to Georgia on Nov. 15, but that doesn’t mean the schedule is easy.”

9. Kentucky Wildcats

Now into the back half of the SoS rankings, Kentucky comes in at No. 9. SEC games come early and often for UK, having two under their belt before October even rolls around.

CBS Sports: “Kentucky knows all too well how mediocre quarterbacks can get you beat — and beat badly — in the SEC. Mark Stoops is betting on veteran transfer Zach Calzada to fix the Wildcats’ woes under center.”

10. Alabama Crimson Tide

For the first time since 2010, Alabama is set to face 10 power conference opponents in a season. Results are needed in Tuscaloosa to jump-start the post-Nick Saban era.

CBS Sports: “Believe it or not, the pressure is on Kalen DeBoer to deliver a 10-win season and playoff appearance. Anything less will lead fans to walk into the Gulf of Mexico.”

CBS Sports SEC Strength of Schedule rankings: Nos. 11-16

11. Auburn Tigers
12. Ole Miss Rebels
13. South Carolina Gamecocks
14. Georgia Bulldogs
15. Tennessee Volunteers
16. Missouri Tigers