In College Football are Ten Power 4 Opponents Tougher than Nine? Not Every Time.

In addition to nine conference games, ACC, B12, and SEC schools are required to play a Power 4 (P4) opponent out-of-conference (OOC).

The Big Ten does not mandate an OOC game against a P4 opponent. 2023 champion Michigan, 2024 champion Ohio State, and 2025 champion Indiana did not play a P4 opponent OOC in the year they won their title.

With a college football (CFB) playoff committee focusing on the number of games a team lost and not the quality of the opponents, playing G6 or FCS teams OOC makes sense, at least until the playoff expands to a 24-team field.

(Does anyone outside of the B1G listen to Tony Petitti. At the conclusion of recent meetings where the G6 and P4 commissioners, and the Notre Dame athletic director, met to discuss expanding the playoff field, playoff mouthpiece Rich Clark noted the structural difficulties involved with expanding to 24.

Rich, this is the reason Tony Petitti's 24-team playoff proposal includes two seasons with a 16-team field before moving to 24. 🤬)

I want the playoff to go to 24 teams with B1G teams playing 10 P4 opponents OOC as soon as possible.

Many SEC coaches and ADs are not happy with the SEC going to nine conference games and playing a P4 opponent OOC, noting they approved going to nine conference games while expecting the playoff to expand to 16 teams. What a pity. 😁

In 2026, five Big Ten teams do not play a P4 opponent OOC: Indiana, Nebraska, Penn State, USC, and Washington.

For purposes of this post, I am using The Sporting News (TSN) Post-Spring Top 25 rankings.

The number of ranked opponents a team will play in 2026 depends, of course, on the referenced preseason rankings.

I am using TSN's Bill Bender's rankings because they are not as SEC-centric as many preseason polls, including Bill Connelly's SP+, which has 11 SEC teams in the top 25. Connelly acknowledges that his rankings will vary significantly as the season progresses.

The TSN ranking is what Bill Bender's TSN believes the final playoff committee rankings will be on December 6, 2026.

In its top 25, TSN ranks nine B1G teams, seven SEC teams, four ACC and B12 teams, and Notre Dame.

Using TSN's SEC preseason strength-of-schedule rankings, from most difficult to easiest, below are the number of ranked teams, including OOC where applicable, that an SEC team will play in 2026.

1. Missouri - Five ranked - at Kansas

2. Oklahoma - Five ranked - at 14. Michigan

3. Arkansas - Five ranked - at 16. Utah

4. Florida - Four ranked - vs. FSU

5. Ole Miss - Five ranked - vs. 18. Louisville in Nashville, Tennessee

6. Mississippi State - Five ranked - at Minnesota

7. Texas - Five ranked - vs. No 2 Ohio State

8. Auburn - Four ranked - vs. Baylor

9. Texas A+M - Four ranked - vs. ASU

10. South Carolina - Four ranked - at Clemson

11. Kentucky - Five ranked - vs. 18. Louisville

12. LSU - Four ranked - vs. Clemson

13. Tennessee - Four ranked - at Georgia Tech

14. Georgia - Three ranked - at Georgia Tech

15. Vanderbilt - Three ranked - vs. NC State

16. Alabama - Three ranked - vs. Florida State

Big Ten - Top 25 opponents -

Teams with no P4 opponent OOC: Indiana - Four ranked; Nebraska - Five ranked; USC - Five ranked; Washington - Five ranked; Penn State - Three ranked

Teams with a P4 opponent OOC -

Seven ranked - Ohio State at No. 4, Texas

Six ranked - Michigan vs. No. 9 Oklahoma, Northwestern vs. CU, Purdue versus Wake Forest, and No. 5 Notre Dame

Five ranked - Maryland vs. 25 Virginia Tech, Michigan State at No. 5 Notre Dame, Minnesota vs. Mississippi State, Oregon at Oklahoma State

Four ranked - Iowa vs. Iowa State, Rutgers at Boston College, Wisconsin vs. No. 5 Notre Dame in Green Bay, Wisconsin

Three ranked - Illinois vs. Duke

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Note, only Ohio State is scheduled to play seven preseason-ranked opponents. Michigan, Nebraska, Northwestern, and Purdue play six ranked opponents.

Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas play five preseason-ranked teams, the most for SEC teams.

Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Penn State, and Vanderbilt play only three preseason-ranked opponents.

Using the 2026 TSN rankings, the 16-team SEC plays 68 preseason-ranked teams. The Big Ten plays 69 preseason-ranked teams.

A tenth game vs. a P4 opponent does not ipso facto make a team's schedule more difficult. With the SEC moving to nine conference games, I was surprised to see that Alabama, Georgia, and Vanderbilt play but three preseason-ranked teams.

Using TSN rankings, SEC teams will play more ranked opponents than Big Ten teams, but not by much.