Stanford set to have one of the toughest schedules in 2023

A team's strength of schedule can very well determine how much success they find during the season. For reference, Stanford's schedule ranked as No. 29 in the strength of schedule department this past season, and they finished the year with a 3-9 record.

Now that they have a new coach in Troy Taylor and a lot of new faces set to be starting, an easier schedule would certainly help ease them into this new era of Stanford football, but that is not the hand they've been dealt. According to college football insider Phil Steele, who used the metric of win percentage from the year prior to determine strength of schedule for 2023, Stanford is set to have the No. 15 toughest schedule in the country.

Cal, who has the No. 12 toughest schedule in the country, is the lone Pac-12 program with a more difficult slate than Stanford based on this metric. The Cardinal are just one of five programs that will be playing against six ranked opponents, with four of those five programs being Pac-12 teams as well.

Stanford's opponents for the 2023 season had a 59.7% win percentage this past season, and they are slated to play against eight teams that had a winning record and made a bowl game. If math isn't your specialty, that means just four of Stanford's opponents next season did not have a winning record or make a bowl game during this past season.

The Cardinal will need the handful of key returners to take major leaps and carry the load, while also needing players who weren't in prominent roles to dramatically improve ahead of next season in order to not struggle as much as they did this past year.