SEC Teams Dominate Top 11 Toughest College Football Schedules 2025

The 2025 college football season features some of the toughest schedules in the nation, particularly for teams in the Group of Five and Southeastern Conference (SEC). Tulane faces a daunting non-conference slate with games against Northwestern, Duke, South Alabama, and Ole Miss, aiming to leverage these challenges for a College Football Playoff berth. Vanderbilt is ranked second nationally for schedule difficulty, with SEC matchups against Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee, alongside non-conference games including Virginia Tech. Arkansas is contending with a grueling schedule that includes tough non-conference games against Memphis and Notre Dame and a challenging SEC road slate against top-ranked teams like Ole Miss and LSU; coach Sam Pittman sees this as an opportunity despite skepticism about the program. Mississippi State, ranked last in SEC preseason power rankings, faces a brutal schedule compounded by key player injuries, with coach Jeff Lebby under pressure to improve the team's performance. Overall, these challenging schedules highlight the increasing competitiveness and depth across college football, with programs embracing tough matchups as pathways to prominence and playoff contention.