AU #1 Strength of Schedule

[toddc 13,194]

ESPN FPI: Auburn ranks No. 1 in 2022 strength of schedule

108 minutes ago

If nothing else, Auburn can always rely on being top 5 in one category: its gauntlet of a schedule in the SEC.

And according to ESPN's newly unveiled FPI metric for the 2022 season, no one in college football has a tougher road ahead than Bryan Harsin's Tigers. Auburn is tops in the country in strength of schedule, with four of the top five hailing from the SEC: No. 2 Mississippi State, No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 5 Tennessee.

Last spring, Auburn opened with the No. 2 strength of schedule, behind only Arkansas. The Tigers closed at No. 3 before the regular season began.

For the second straight season, the FPI projects Harsin's team to go 7-5 (predicted conference records have not yet been added). Auburn fell one win short of that last year, going 6-6 in the regular season.

The FPI, which is "a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season" and "represents how many points above or below average a team is," has Auburn as the No. 10 team in the country in its initial rankings for this offseason — easily the highest billing for the Tigers by any metric entering 2022. It's difficult to find Auburn in way-too-early top 25s, and ESPN SP+ had Auburn at No. 25 in its first offseason rankings in February.

"I can't see Auburn sitting at No. 10 with a straight face," ESPN's Adam Rittenburg saidof the new rankings. The Tigers have talent, but they usually do. Perhaps they will play inspired football for embattled coach Bryan Harsin, who survived the inquiry when few believed he would. But if things go poorly for the Tigers, especially early on, they could begin to spiral, given the negativity that looms around Harsin and the program. To see Auburn ahead of Texas A&M, Utah, Miami, Baylor and others just doesn't add up to me."

Including two teams in the top 5, more than half Auburn's regular-season schedule consists of teams in the FPI's current top 25: No. 1 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia, No. 11 LSU, No. 12 Penn State, No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 17 Ole Miss and No. 24 Mississippi State. No. 29 Arkansas is the only other team ranked in the top 50; the lowest-rated FBS team on Auburn's schedule is No. 109 San Jose State.

Auburn opens the season with five straight home games, the longest stretch for the team at Jordan-Hare Stadium since 2016. 

As Harsin and his staff will be breaking in a new starting quarterback this fall — in an offense that finished in the bottom third of the SEC in most categories — the Tigers will likely lean on their defense once again, which projects as the No. 14 unit in the country on that side of the ball, per SP+.

ESPN FPI TOP 25 STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (APRIL 2022)

No. 1 Auburn

No. 2 Mississippi State

No. 3 Georgia Tech

No. 4 Vanderbilt

No. 5 Tennessee

No. 6 Alabama

No. 7 Texas A&M

No. 8 South Carolina

No. 9 LSU

No. 10 Indiana

No. 11 Rutgers

No. 12 Notre Dame

No. 13 Arkansas

No. 14 Texas

No. 15 Florida

No. 16 Iowa

No. 17 Ole Miss

No. 18 Maryland

No. 19 West Virginia

No. 20 Wisconsin

No. 21 Syracuse

No. 22 Michigan State

No. 23 Penn State

1COMMENTS

No. 24 Lousiville

No. 25 Missouri

[toddc 13,194]

Not a good sign for a winning season.

[SRBautigerfan 1,040]

UGA seems to be missing from this list.  I'm sure it's just a typo.

[JerryAU 1,650]

11 minutes ago, SRBautigerfan said:

UGA seems to be missing from this list.  I'm sure it's just a typo.

Half the top 25 is made up of SEC teams.  Where's Clemson?  Ohio State?  FSU?  Miami?

[abw0004 10,104]

42 minutes ago, SRBautigerfan said:

UGA seems to be missing from this list.  I'm sure it's just a typo.

How is Georgia Tech #3 and UGA is not even on the list?  So odd.

[PoetTiger 1,896]

Odds Auburn can be 4-1 or 5-0 heading to UGA on October 8….?? In order to have any chance for a successful season Auburn has to take advantage of the first 5 at home….

[W.E.D 11,070]

30 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

How is Georgia Tech #3 and UGA is not even on the list?  So odd.

Because GaTech plays UGA and UGA plays GaTech

[W.E.D 11,070]

In before.... wE NeEd tO MoVe tO ThE EaSt

[abw0004 10,104]

6 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

Because GaTech plays UGA and UGA plays GaTech

I meant more so that Georgia Tech being in the ACC shouldn't be that high and UGA should at least be in the top 25 bein in the SEC, even if it is the East.  It just appears UGA is actively trying to have easy schedules.

[80Tiger 899]

2 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

I meant more so that Georgia Tech being in the ACC shouldn't be that high and UGA should at least be in the top 25 bein in the SEC, even if it is the East.  It just appears UGA is actively trying to have easy schedules.

They have 4 out of conference games like everyone else. GA Tech is one of those every year. The SEC schedule is done by the conference. That leaves 3 teams to schedule. They have Oregon, Samford and Kent State. Looks like everyone else, 1 power 5 opponent and 2 cupcakes. What brings their strength of schedule down are the SEC west teams, AU and Miss State.

[W.E.D 11,070]

12 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

I meant more so that Georgia Tech being in the ACC shouldn't be that high and UGA should at least be in the top 25 bein in the SEC, even if it is the East.  It just appears UGA is actively trying to have easy schedules.

They Open with Oregon, but they don't have a "good" team on the rest of their schedule.  The entire east is trash, we're trash, they also play trash Ga Tech, and they play trash Miss State from the west.

They at least put Oregon on the schedule.  They can't help the rest of the east being down and us sucking

[aucom96 1,614]

[abw0004 10,104]

1 minute ago, W.E.D said:

They can't help the rest of the east being down and us sucking

I mean they could...  Give us some of those recruits that they have...

[AUinMS9528 1,086]

50 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

In before.... wE NeEd tO MoVe tO ThE EaSt

Now it’s the South Pod with bama, UT, and Vandy.  🤣