The countdown to the college football season will continue with practices and spring games as the anticipation continues to build for the fall. It didn’t take long for college football experts and fans to break down the schedules and dissect everything from difficulty to potential trap games. The schedules play a major role in determining how the season plays out and not just because some at least on paper appear to be easier than others. Here is a look at the four ACC teams with the toughest schedules.
Pittsburgh Panthers
Opponents’ Combined 2015 Record: 86-57
The Panthers won six straight games to open the ACC portion of their schedule before dropping their final two to close out the season with a 6-2 conference record and 8-5 overall. Their schedule will make it a lot tougher on them to hit those marks in 2016. Pittsburgh will have to travel to both defending ACC division winners in North Carolina and Clemson, along with another trip to Big 12 contender Oklahoma State. Factor in a matchup with Miami that will happen right before their November game at Clemson and it’s clear they will face an uphill climb. The Panthers won’t get any breaks against Penn State and Marshall at home and their challenging non-conference slate will make the ACC grind that much more difficult to deal with.
Florida State Seminoles
Opponents’ Combined 2015 Record: 86-58
Florida State is a popular early pick to challenge Clemson for ACC supremacy next season, but an extremely difficult schedule could prevent them from reaching their potential. The Seminoles have the talent – as per usual – but will be challenged from the opening kickoff when they open the season against the Ole Miss Rebels in Orlando. Florida State will follow that game with a trip to Louisville and another against an improved South Florida side within the first month of the season, and it will be hard for them to bounce back if they stumble early on. Factor in games against reigning ACC division champions Clemson and North Carolina along with trips to an improving Miami side and North Carolina State, and it’s clear that Florida State will be in tough. The year wraps up with the annual in-state rivalry game versus Florida, who has clearly improved under Jim McElwain, so that game is no longer a cakewalk. By that time the Seminoles could already be on the outside looking in to the College Football Playoff conversation if they suffer a loss or two.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Opponents’ Combined 2015 Record: 86-57
The Yellow Jackets will need to capitalize on their early season schedule with Boston College, Mercer and Vanderbilt in their first three weeks. Those games might produce three wins but it gets tough after that. That’s because the intensity will really pick up with their next four games coming against Clemson, Miami, Pittsburgh and Georgia Southern, then they travel to North Carolina and Georgia in November. The Yellow Jackets would have already been in tough to avoid back-to-back losing seasons and an extremely difficult schedule clearly won’t make it any easier on them.
Syracuse Orange
Opponents’ Combined 2015 Record: 84-59
Syracuse has been welcomed to a power conference with a tough slate that will make it that much more difficult to challenge for a .500 record in 2016. The Orange will open against Colgate, then play five bowl teams from a year ago over its next six games. The home game against Louisville will be tough, and then they face Notre Dame at a neutral site. After that, Syracuse will also have to visit both Clemson and Pittsburgh in November as well as host North Carolina State and Florida State. That leaves the Orange with nine bowl opponents for 2016. If we were talking about a team like Clemson, they would probably have the talent, depth and coaching to survive such a schedule. However, a run-of-the-mill program like Syracuse will have a really tough time to win even half of those games. It’s hard to get much more difficult than what they’re facing for a team that will clearly be in tough in the ACC next season.
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