Cal Football: Bears' 2020 Schedule Ranks as 4th-Toughest in Pac-12

Cal has the fourth-most difficult 2020 football schedule in the Pac-12, according to a metrics system applied by CBSSports.com.

You can read about the methodology used by the site by clicking here, but basically the formula considers past performanes to determine how good each opponent is expected to be, then modifies the rating based on where and when the games are played.

Using this formula Colorado not only has the the most challenging shcedule in the Pac-12 but has the toughest schedule of any of the 64 teams in the Power Five conferences. Michigan State ranks No. 2 in that category, with USC No. 3. Cal's schedule ranks as the 12th-most difficult of the 64 Power Five conference teams.

Here is how the Pac-12 teams ranks in terms of strength of schedule according to the CBSports.com formula. The team name is followed by its strength of schedule rating (the higher the rating number, the tougher the schedule).

1. Colorado, 39.19

2. USC, 32.37

3. Oregon, 25.30

4. Cal, 23.91.

5. Oregon State, 23.67

6. Washington, 19.58

7. UCLA, 15.33

8. Washington State, 14.30

9. Stanford, 11.59

10. Arizona, 9.35

11. Utah, 1.06

12. Arizona State, -2.07

Here is what CBSSports.com said about Cal's schedule:

Cal's nonconference isn't that daunting. TCU is a quality opponent, but it's had a couple of down years lately dragging its projection down. Then there are games against UNLV and Cal Poly. What gives the Bears a boost, aside from their usual division games, is that they get USC, Utah and Arizona State from the South. Utah has been the best team in the division lately, Arizona State has been solid and USC is USC. Add it all together and you get a sturdy schedule. Overall: 23.91% | Pac-12: 7.44%

We agree with this assessment for the most part, but we also noted in our Cal story about momentum, expectations and schedule that the Bears play Oregon, Washington and Utah at home, which makes the task a little easier.

That negative number for Arizona State is surprising until you notice that the Sun Devils face Northern Arizona and UNLV in nonconference games and do not play Washington and Stanford.

Nationally, we can now see why people complain about Clemson's easy regular-season schedule. The Tigers have a negative schedule rating of -0.52, which is better than only five of the 64 Power Five conference teams.

Here are the strength of schedule ratings for the other four Power Five conferences.

ACC

Big Ten

Big 12

SEC

Only one Southeastern Conference team (Arkansas) has a tougher schedule than Cal in 2020, according to the CBSSports.com formula. Alabama, with a 15.56 rating, is noticeably lower than Cal's 23.91 strength-of-schedule rating.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.