The last of the preseason watch lists for college football’s awards came out on Friday morning, and with that, came a quick way to evaluate strength of schedule.
Seventeen different awards released lists, naming the college football players at every position expected to be the best in the nation this year.
Here’s a look at how many watch-list players each ACC team will face in the non-conference schedule:
Virginia |
33 |
BC |
33 |
Clemson |
32 |
FSU |
29 |
Syracuse |
28 |
UNC |
27 |
Va Tech |
26 |
MIami |
26 |
Ga Tech |
22 |
Louisville |
21 |
Wake Forest |
19 |
Duke |
11 |
Pitt |
11 |
NC State |
7 |
The Pac 12 makes life difficult for Virginia and Boston College. UVa faces UCLA, which was responsible for most of the Cavaliers’ 33 watch-listed players. USC, a Boston College opponent, put the Eagles in a tie with Virginia for toughest non-conference schedule.
On the flip side, NC State’s non-conference roster of Georgia Southern, Old Dominion, South Florida and Presbyterian means that the Wolfpack are the only ACC team in single digits on watch-listed opponents.
Non-conference is only one piece of the strength-of-schedule picture, however. Here’s a look at how the teams rank in watch-listed players faced in ACC conference games
Virginia |
90 |
Wake Forest |
89 |
MIami |
86 |
Syracuse |
83 |
Ga Tech |
76 |
BC |
73 |
UNC |
71 |
Louisville |
68 |
NC State |
66 |
Pitt |
61 |
Va Tech |
55 |
Clemson |
53 |
FSU |
52 |
Duke |
45 |
It’s shaping up to be a long year in Charlottesville. In addition to facing the toughest non-conference schedule, the Cavaliers also face the most watch-listed ACC opponents.
It also appears that we may be headed for a rematch in the ACC Championship Game as last year’s division winners–Duke and Florida State–have the easiest conference schedules, with Duke facing exactly half as many watch-listed players as Coastal rival Virginia.
Combining both lists gives us a ranking of total strength of schedule
Virginia |
123 |
MIami |
112 |
Syracuse |
111 |
Wake Forest |
108 |
BC |
106 |
UNC |
98 |
Ga Tech |
98 |
Louisville |
89 |
Clemson |
85 |
Va Tech |
81 |
FSU |
81 |
NC State |
73 |
Pitt |
72 |
Duke |
56 |
The spread is huge and the results aren’t really close. Virginia has the toughest schedule in the conference, and Duke the easiest. Look for Pitt and NC State to benefit from soft schedules and post higher-than-expected win totals, while Miami and Syracuse could perform below expectations.
By way of comparison, Notre Dame, who will face four ACC opponents this year, has a schedule that includes 141 watch-listed players.