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College football consists of over 120 teams in Division I, and some have more manageable schedules than others. Home-field advantage plays a significant role, as certain teams have the advantage of playing their toughest opponents at their home stadium.
The strength of a team's schedule is greatly affected by their nonconference games. Some teams choose to play tough games against Power Five opponents at neutral sites, while others play against FCS teams. These nonconference games are usually scheduled far in advance. If a team is playing against a lower-end Division I or FCS team, they likely made that decision years beforehand.
Oregon State avoids USC in conference play
The Oregon State Beavers had a fantastic 2022, going 10-3 and stomping Florida 30-3 in the Las Vegas Bowl. They have since added former top recruit and Clemson starting quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei to the mix as they eye a Pac-12 championship.
The Beavers play San Jose State, UC Davis and San Diego State in nonconference play before heading to Pullman, Washington, to take on Washington State.
USC, Washington, Oregon and Utah all placed higher than OSU in the conference standings last season while they finished tied with UCLA. Oregon State will avoid USC entirely while getting UCLA, Utah and Washington at home in Corvallis. However, they will need to go to Oregon for their final regular season game.
There are tougher college football schedules.
Michigan gets it easy in the top-heavy Big Ten
The Michigan Wolverines were one of three Big Ten teams to finish the season ranked last year. What's more, Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State all finished in the top 10.
The Wolverines will open the year against a feisty East Carolina squad at home before back-to-back cupcakes with UNLV and Bowling Green.
Their first real test comes on the road against Minnesota in early October. The Golden Gophers went 9-4 last season and tend to give the better teams in the conference fits.
The Wolverines also avoid Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin this season while, most importantly, getting archrival Ohio State at home. Then, of course, they still need to go on the road to Penn State and Maryland, but that is a fair trade-off to playing juggernaut Ohio State at the Big House.
Playing the Buckeyes at home paired with three home nonconference games makes for a light college football schedule.
Louisville lucks out with easy college football schedule
The Louisville Cardinals will open the season with a neutral-field tilt against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Tech struggled last season, finishing 5-7 and scoring a poor 17.2 points per game.
They then play low-end Murray State before another neutral-field game, this time against the Indiana Hoosiers. Like Georgia Tech, Indiana struggled against Power Five competition, going 4-8 and scoring under 24 points per game.
It's not Louisville's fault that its nonconference competition stinks, but the Cardinals won't complain. The Cardinals have a manageable schedule.
LSU dodges the top dogs in the SEC East
The LSU Tigers will play two teams from the SEC East this season. They take on Missouri in early October and Florida in November. The two squads combined to go 12-14 last year. The Tigers will avoid top-ranked Georgia, high-powered Tennessee and a feisty South Carolina squad.
From a nonconference standpoint, they play Florida State to start the season but then play FCS school Grambling State at home the following week. They also face Army and Georgia State near the middle and end of the season.
The Tigers have one of the easiest college football schedules in the SEC.
Memphis Tigers play a cupcake nonconference schedule
The Memphis Tigers have no business not starting the season 3-0. They open the year with Bethune-Cookman before taking on Arkansas State and the Navy Midshipmen.
Then they will battle Missouri, last year's second-to-last-place team in the SEC East. Finally, their most brutal battle, a clash with Tulane, comes at home fresh off an open week.
Memphis may have the easiest college football schedule in the country.
