How crazy tough success is for SEC football teams is both well known and widely ignored. Among SEC teams, Alabama Football regularly has one of the nation's most difficult schedules. The 2026 season is no exception.
Outside of the SEC, college football fans make wild claims about the toughness of ACC and Big 12 schedules. The latest documenter of scheduling difficulty is Brad Crawford of CBS Sports. Crawford chose to rank the top 15 "three-game gauntlets" among Power Four teams. Few fans of Big 12 and ACC teams will agree with Crawford's effort.
Standing out most in Crawford's rankings is that seven of the top ten "three-game gauntlets" are from SEC football teams. The other three in his top 10 are Big Ten teams.
Crawford has Northwestern and Iowa at No. 1 and No. 2; with the Michigan Wolverines at No. 6. He has the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 7. Also in the top ten are LSU (No. 3), Mississippi State (No. 4), Auburn (No. 50, Texas A&M (No. 8), Texas (No. 9), and South Carolina (No. 10).
The remaining five ranked are Indiana (No. 11), USC (No. 12), Arizona (No. 13), Florida State (No. 14), and North Carolina (no. 15).
A month ago, Crawford ranked the overall schedules of top playoff contenders. The results were similar, with seven SEC teams in the top 10 toughest schedules. Texas was No. 1, Oklahoma No. 2, Ole Miss No. 5, Texas A&M No. 6, LSU No. 7, Georgia No. 9, and the Alabama Crimson Tide No. 10. Three Big Ten teams made the top 10: Ohio State at No. 3, Michigan, No. 4, and Southern Cal No. 8.
Alabama football fans might notice that Indiana was outside Crawford's earlier top 10 rankings. The Hoosiers were ranked No. 12. Given that IU opens with North Texas, Howard, and Western Kentucky, that ranking might be called generous.
Alabama Three-Game Gauntlet
Crawford picked Alabama's three-game gauntlet as Georgia, at Tennessee, and Texas A&M. Alabama football fans know well that the game against the Aggies will be the Crimson Tide's eighth without a week off. The following bye week and a trip to Baton Rouge arguably give the Crimson Tide the most difficult four-game gauntlet in Power Four football.
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