Through week 10 of the 2009 college football season, the Washington Huskies have the toughest strength of schedule in Jeff Sagarin’s ratings. Last weeks strength of schedule rating is listed in parentheses:

Sagarin Strength of Schedule Ratings (through week 10):

1. Washington (1)
2. Washington State (6)
3. UCLA (2)
4. Virginia Tech (7)
5. Florida State (10)
6. Oregon (8)
7. USC (5)
8. San Jose State (4)
9. Oregon State (15)
10. Georgia (3)
11. Miami, FL (11)
12. Georgia Tech (12)
13. Virginia (NR)
14. Wake Forest (NR)
15. Stanford (20)
16. Arizona (9)
17. LSU (NR)
18. Minnesota (13)
19. California (16)
20. Arkansas (18)

- Mississippi State played Kentucky and Tennessee played Memphis, dropping them both from the Top 20.
- Virginia and Wake Forest entered the Top 20 after playing Miami, FL and Georgia Tech, respectively.
- LSU entered the Top 20 after playing Alabama.
- Florida State rose 5 spots after losing to Clemson.
- Arizona fell 7 spots after playing Washington State.
- Georgia fell 7 spots after playing FCS team Tennessee Tech.

Through week 9 of the 2009 college football season, the Washington Huskies have the toughest strength of schedule in Jeff Sagarin’s ratings. His rating is defined below:

The SCHEDULE ratings represent the average schedule difficulty faced by each team in the games that it’s played so far.  The schedule difficulty of a given game takes into account the rating of the opponent and the location of the game.

Sagarin Strength of Schedule Ratings (through week 9):

1. Washington
2. UCLA
3. Georgia
4. San Jose State
5. USC
6. Washington State
7. Virginia Tech
8. Oregon
9. Arizona
10. Florida State
11. Miami, FL
12. Georgia Tech
13. Minnesota
14. Kentucky
15. Oregon State
16. California
17. Tennessee
18. Arkansas
19. Mississippi State
20. Stanford

The 2009 college football season is almost upon us! With that in mind, let’s take a look at Phil Steele’s 2009 strength of schedule rankings.

Steele has been publishing a football newsletter since 1982 and started his College Football Preview in 1995. Today, he is one of the premier gurus of college football stats.

Listed below are Phil Steele’s 10 toughest schedules for 2009 (complete list):

1. South Carolina - The South Carolina Gamecocks have the toughest schedule in 2009 according to Steele. The Gamecocks play Clemson, Florida and Ole Miss at home, and travel to face Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and NC State. Their season opener against the Wolfpack is nationally televised on Thursday night.

2. Florida State - The Seminoles have non-conference games at home against Miami (FL) and USF and road games at BYU and national champion Florida. ACC games include Georgia Tech, NC State, at Boston College, at Clemson and at North Carolina.

3. Oklahoma - The Sooners start the season against BYU at Arlington. They also face Tulsa at home and Miami (FL) on the road. Big 12 games include Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas, at Kansas, at Nebraska and at Texas Tech.

4. Mississippi State - The Bulldogs will host non-conference opponents Georgia Tech and Houston and will travel to Middle Tennessee. SEC games include Alabama, Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, at Arkansas, at Auburn and at Kentucky.

5. Minnesota - The Golden Gophers start 2009 at Syracuse before hosting Air Force and California. Big Ten games include Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, at Ohio State and at Penn State.

6. Arkansas - The Razorbacks face the Texas A&M Aggies at Arlington and later host Eastern Michigan and Troy. SEC contests include Auburn, Georgia, at Alabama, at Florida, at LSU and at Ole Miss.

7. Georgia - The Bulldogs open the season at Oklahoma State, host Arizona State and travel to Georgia Tech. SEC games include Auburn, Florida, LSU, South Carolina, at Arkansas and at Tennessee.

8. Virginia Tech - The Hokies open the season against Alabama at the Georgia Dome, host Marshall and Nebraska, and travel to East Carolina. ACC matchups include Boston College, Miami (FL), North Carolina, at Georgia Tech and at Virginia.

9. Tennessee - The Volunteers host non-conference games against Memphis, Ohio, Western Kentucky and UCLA. SEC games include Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, at Alabama, at Florida and at Ole Miss.

10. Michigan State - The Spartans play at Notre Dame and host Central Michigan and Western Michigan. Big Ten games include Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, at Illinois, at Minnesota and at Wisconsin.

We have posted the 2009 Georgia Bulldogs Football Schedule. The Bulldogs, who have one of the nation’s toughest 2008 schedules, face another difficult slate in 2009. The Dawgs open the season with a big non-conference game at Oklahoma State on September 5.

The Dawgs will also play non-conference games against Arizona State, Georgia Tech and Tennessee Tech. SEC games for Georgia include South Carolina, at Arkansas, LSU, at Tennessee, at Vanderbilt, Florida (at Jacksonville), Auburn and Kentucky.

Phil Steele, a college football pundit, has the Washington Huskies at the top in his 2008 strength of schedule rankings. Not only do the Huskies face their regular PAC-10 slate (at Arizona, Cal, Oregon, USC and Washington State; home against Arizona State, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA), they have non-conference matchups against BYU, Notre Dame and Oklahoma.

Arkansas has the 2nd toughest schedule in his ratings with a non-conference game at Texas and home games against Western Illinois, Tulsa and ULM.  In the SEC, the Razorbacks host Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and LSU. The Hogs travel to Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina and Mississippi State.

Steele’s 3rd toughest schedule in 2008 is the Georgia Bulldogs. The Dawgs schedule, which we covered in an earlier story, includes non-conference games with Arizona State, Central Michigan, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech. Their toughest SEC matchups include at South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and at Auburn.

The 4th and 5th ranked schedules belong to Vanderbilt and Oregon State. Vandy’s non-conference schedule includes at Miami (OH), Rice, Duke and Wake Forest. The Beavers have a schedule which includes Utah State, at Purdue and Boise State.

The Georgia Bulldogs football schedule is regarded by many as the nation’s toughest in 2008. The Dawgs opened the season with a 45-21 victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles, a traditional power in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Next Saturday, the Bulldogs host the Central Michigan Chippewas at home, followed by an SEC match versus the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia. Georgia then travels to Arizona State to face the Sun Devils before hosting the Alabama Crimson Tide, Tennessee Volunteers and Vanderbilt Commodores in Athens.

The schedule turns brutal in late October beginning with a trip to Baton Rouge to face LSU and a neutral site game with the Florida Gators in Jacksonville. After facing those two Top 10 teams, UGA hits the road to take on the Kentucky Wildcats and Auburn Tigers.

The Bulldogs wrap up their regular season on November 29th against in-state ACC foe Georgia Tech. They hope to be playing in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta on December 6th. After that, it could be a New Year’s Day bowl game, or even the BCS National Championship Game for the number one ranked Bulldogs.