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College football writer Phil Steele recently unveiled his strength of schedule rankings to this point in the season. The list suggests one of the top four teams in the CFP standings is being severely undervalued.
Steele is a known commodity in the sports world. His annual preseason preview is something many look forward to each and every year.
On Thursday, he dropped a list of “toughest schedule ratings for games played year to date.” Here was the result.
Here are my toughest schedule ratings for games player year to date
1 South Carolina
2 Colorado
3 Alabama
4 Utah
5 California
6 Purdue
7 Indiana
8 Stanford
9 Illinois
10 Virginia
11 Houston
12 Florida St
13 Auburn
14 Wash St
15 Arkansas
16 Texas A&M
17 Texas
18 Iowa St— Phil Steele (@philsteele042) November 2, 2023
Topping the list is South Carolina, who’s struggled through that difficult slate to a 2-6 record. In their defense, three of those losses have come against Top 20 teams, including top-ranked Georgia.
Colorado follows at No. 2, having already faced Oregon, USC, and UCLA. It won’t get any easier with Oregon State next up on the schedule.
No. 3 is interesting in Alabama, a squad that’s 7-1 to this point and ranked No. 8 in the recently released CFP standings.
But it’s another potential playoff contender that folks are pointing to as to being undervalued.
The committee unveiled a Top 4 of Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, and Florida State. Many were critical of those debut rankings as fans couldn’t get a read on how the selection criteria was weighted.
Did the committee favor strength of schedule? You’d believe so with OSU at No. 1, a team not many believe to actually be the nation’s best.
But looking at the next two teams on the list, that theory goes out the window. Michigan and Georgia, to this point, haven’t played a team that’s currently in the AP Top 25. The Bulldogs’ lone “ranked” win came against Kentucky, a team now on a three-game losing streak.
Meanwhile, Florida State came in at No. 4 despite owning wins over LSU, Duke, and Clemson.
Phil Steele listed the Seminoles’ schedule to this point as the 12th-toughest in college football, leading one to believe FSU should be above UGA and UM given the respect the CFP voters gave Ohio State.
Fans agreed.
“Hmmm… Not seeing the three undefeated teams ranked above FSU on this list,” one follower wrote.
“CFP should’ve ranked FSU higher,” said another.
The Seminoles have already gone through the meat of their schedule though rivalry matchups with Miami and Florida remain. Then there’s the ACC title game, which could give Florida State one more chance at a big win.
We’ll see if the ‘Noles can finish strong and gain a bit more respect in the CFP standings as the year goes on.