Big Ten’s Toughest and Easiest Schedules Ranked

On Tuesday, the Oregon Ducks released their official schedule for the 2026 football season. Though there's several points to focus on in this schedule, like the single bye week and no rivalry game with the Oregon State Beavers, the strength of opponents always draws the most chatter.

Looking across the Big Ten Conference, Oregon's schedule appears to be one of the more challenging upon first glance, especially in the latter half with a trip to their conference rival, Ohio State on Nov. 7 and a game at home against Michigan shortly after.

So, let's dive into assessing strength of Big Ten schedules based on college football analysts' early rankings.

Jan 9, 2026; Atlanta, GA, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning walks off the field after the 2025 Peach Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Evaluating Strength of Schedule Based On Analyst Rankings

For this evaluation, combining multiple analysts opinions can bring a greater insight for determining where Oregon lies on strength of schedule in the conference. For this evaluation, the "way too early" 2026 preseason rankings from ESPN's Mark Schlabach, NCAA.com's Stan Becton, Matt De Lima of Sports Illustrated's College Football HQ, Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports, and Max Chadwick of Pro Football Focus were sampled for their top 15 teams.

Each team, depending on their ranking for each journalist, was given an amount of points (No. 1 selection gets 15 points, No. 2 gets 14 points, etc.) to create an aggregated list. The final list of 14 teams (several tied for spots due to point amounts) will be used to determine the strength of schedule for each Big Ten team.

Here's that final aggregated list:

1. Ohio State Buckeyes & Texas Longhorns (tie)
2. Oregon Ducks
3. Georgia Bulldogs
4. Indiana Hoosiers
5. Notre Dame Irish
6. Texas Tech Red Raiders
7. Texas A&M Aggies
8. BYU Cougars & LSU Tigers (tie)
9. Miami Hurricanes
10. Oklahoma Sooners
11. USC Trojans & Michigan Wolverines (tie)
12. Ole Miss Rebels
13. Louisville Cardinals & Mississippi (tie)
14. Houston Cougars & Alabama Crimson Tide (tie)

Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) loses the ball to Oregon Ducks defensive back Jadon Canady (22) on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, during the Peach Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The ball was recovered by the Indiana Hoosiers. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Ranking Schedules Based on "Way Too Early" Ranked Teams

Groundwork out of the way, let's rank the Big Ten team schedules based on the amount of ranked teams on the aggregated list that appear as opponents. For teams that tie, evaluating which opponents they face, if the games are home or away, and the strengths of the current status of the team being evaluated are considered. The order of teams goes from hardest schedule to easiest.

1. Ohio State
(5 teams from aggregate list, three of those games are on the road against Texas, Indiana, and USC.)
2. Michigan
(4 teams from aggregate list, two of those games are on the road against Oregon and Ohio State in Nov., and are two of their three last games.)
3. Northwestern
(3 teams from aggregate list, all of those games are on the road against Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State.)
4. Oregon
(3 teams from the aggregate list, two of those games are on the road against USC and Ohio State.)
5. Michigan State
(3 teams from the aggregate list, two of those games are on the road against Notre Dame and Michigan.)
6. Washington
(3 teams from the aggregate list, two of those games are on the road against Oregon and USC.)
7. UCLA
(3 teams from the aggregate list, two of those games are on the road against Oregon and Michigan.)
8. Nebraska
(3 teams from the aggregate list, one of those games are on the road against Oregon.)
9. Indiana
(3 teams from the aggregate list, one of those games on the road against Michigan.)
10. Rutgers
(3 teams from the aggregate list, all of those games are at home.)
11. USC
(3 teams from the aggregate list, all of those games are at home.)
12. Maryland
(2 teams from the list, both games are on the road against Ohio State and USC).
13. Illinois
(2 teams from the list.)
14. Minnesota
(2 teams from the list.)
15. Iowa
(2 teams from the list.)
16. Purdue
(1 team from the list.)
17. Penn State
(1 team from the list.)
18. Wisconsin
(1 team from the list.)

Jan 9, 2026; Atlanta, GA, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore (5) throws a pass during the fourth quarter the 2025 Peach Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Takeaway

By looking over the work of analysts across the college football landscape, it's clear Oregon's schedule is among the toughest in the conference. Our list has it at No. 4 toughest. Particularly, playing at "The Horseshoe" against the Buckeyes for the first time since 2021 will be quite the test for coach Dan Lanning and company.

However, the Buckeyes have the hardest-ranked schedule - playing through quite the gauntlet, including a second game on the road against Texas, then later games against Indiana, and USC before facing the Ducks; meaning there's a chance for the giant that is Ohio State to be a bit banged up entering their first game against Oregon since the 2024-2025 season.

Though the experts show Oregon's schedule will be tough, there's still positives to be found in the challenge.