Ranking the SEC's 2025 football schedules by difficulty

Obviously it's impossible to know just how difficult each schedule will be with so much projection involved, but the effort is worthwhile as a baseline understanding of what each team is up against.

The ranking below is from most to least difficult.

Mississippi State

Home: Arizona State, Alcorn State, Northern Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Ole Miss

Away: Southern Miss, Texas A&M, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri

The home slate for MSU is brutal. Arizona State was a playoff team and they get four potential playoff contenders from the SEC. There are tough road games as well. This appears to be one of the toughest slates in the league for the worst team in the league from last year.

Arkansas

Home: Alabama A&M, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Auburn, Mississippi State, Missouri

Away: Arkansas State, Ole Miss, Memphis, LSU, Texas

Arkansas always has a brutal schedule and this year is no exception. Road games at Ole Miss, LSU, and Texas are all very difficult. The home slate will be a challenge. For the Hogs to have a season the fans are happy with they need to capitalize on a stretch of three straight home SEC games - A&M, Auburn, and Mississippi State - leading into November. Notre Dame at home is a big opportunity for the Hogs and the SEC.

Oklahoma

Home: Illinois State, Michigan, Auburn, Kent State, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU

Away: Temple, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama

Neutral: Texas

It's a very difficult schedule with the Sooners, who have three high difficulty road games. It will be interesting to see how good Michigan is this year after a dip in 2024.

Florida

Home: Long Island, South Florida, Texas, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Florida State

Away: LSU, Miami, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Ole Miss

Neutral: Georgia

There are plenty of marquee matchups for the Gators once again after UF exceeded expectations against last year's daunting slate. None of the road games are unwinnable but it's still a challenging slate. Florida needs to split at home against Texas and Tennessee to have a special season.

South Carolina

Home: South Carolina State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Alabama, Coastal Carolina, Clemson

Away: Missouri, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M

Neutral: Virginia Tech

The schedule gets more challenging as the season goes on. South Carolina gets LSU, Oklahoma, Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Clemson after the midway point of last season. The road schedule is difficult because every game will be a challenge, possibly a toss-up or tougher.

Georgia

Home: Marshall, Austin Peay, Alabama, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas, Charlotte

Away: Tennessee, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech

Neutral: Florida

UGA only has three true road games and they should be the favorite in each of those. The Bulldogs have some really hard home games, but if they play well Between the Hedges they should still be a strong contender for the College Football Playoff.

Alabama

Home: UL-Monroe, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma, Eastern Illinois

Road: Florida State, Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, Auburn

Alabama's schedule doesn't appear to be overly daunting but there are a couple of tough road environments out of conference early in the season. The big road test is at Georgia, but the end-of-season game at Auburn can always be tricky, too.

Auburn

Home: Ball State, South Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Kentucky, Mercer, Alabama

Away: Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Vanderbilt

The biggest potential for Auburn in its schedule comes from the fact that so many of the hardest games are at home. Auburn wasn't as good as it normally is at home this past season so that will need to reverse. But the Tigers have a chance to win a big one or two at home, and the road slate is as manageable as they come in this conference.

LSU

Home: Louisiana Tech, Florida, Southeast Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Western Kentucky

Away: Clemson, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Oklahoma

LSU's home schedule is very manageable. It's well within the realm of possible that the Tigers go 7-0 in Death Valley if they have a good offseason. The difficulty is on the road. LSU has one of the tougher road slates in the league especially with Clemson and the way Vandy played at home sometimes last year.

Kentucky

Home: Toledo, Ole Miss, Eastern Michigan, Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Tennessee Tech

Away: South Carolina, Georgia, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Louisville

Kentucky needs to be much better at home than it has been in recent years. But it's not like the road slate is easy, either. Right now it's an open question as to whether Kentucky would be favored in one of those road games.

Vanderbilt

Home: Charleston Southern, Georgia State, Utah State, LSU, Missouri, Auburn, Kentucky

Away: Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee

Not many teams in the league have a road slate like Vanderbilt's. That's brutal. Big stadiums, big atmospheres, tough opponents. If the Commodores are to make a second-straight bowl game with Diego Pavia they will need to be very good in Nashville.

Texas A&M

Home: UTSA, Utah State, Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida, South Carolina, Samford

Away: Notre Dame, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas

Texas A&M could be a favorite in every home game but the road slate is very challenging with no let-up.

Texas

Home: San Jose State, UTEP, Sam Houston State, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas A&M

Away: Ohio State, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State

Neutral: Oklahoma

It's an interesting schedule for the Longhorns. The season opener at Ohio State is big. If the Horns win in Columbus they have an excellent shot at not only the playoff but a strong seed.

Ole Miss

Home: Georgia State, Arkansas, Tulane, LSU, Washington State, South Carolina, The Citadel

Away: Kentucky, Georgia, Oklahoma, Mississippi State

Ole Miss could be the favorite in every home game in 2025. They should be favored in three of their four road games. Overall this schedule sets up very well for the Rebels.

Missouri

Home: Central Arkansas, Kansas, UL-Lafayette, South Carolina, UMass, Alabama, Texas A&M, Mississippi State

Away: Auburn, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Arkansas

This is a manageable schedule for the second year in a row for the Tigers. They have a real chance in every road game. They miss Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, and Ole Miss. Their first six games are all at home.

Tennessee

Home: ETSU, Georgia, UAB, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico State, Vanderbilt

Away: Mississippi State, Kentucky, Florida, Alabama

Neutral: Syracuse

For the second straight year Tennessee has a very manageable schedule in the 16-team SEC. The Vols should be favorites at home in every game but one and the road slate is very manageable as well. Like Ole Miss, this sets Tennessee up for a potential playoff run. This could be the easiest schedule in the SEC.