Over the next couple of weeks, I will be releasing the Hits and Misses of each team in each conference so you can see who faces the easiest and hardest schedule in each conference. I recently did a series looking back on my strength of schedule for each conference and in the Power 4 each schedule was a MAJOR force in the leagues overall finish. The Group of Five leagues last year did not have the same impact with more teams going from worst to first and vice versa from first to worst.
Today we take a look at the ACC. As pointed out last year Duke and Virginia faced the 2nd and 3rd easiest schedules (by my calculation prior to the year) and it turned out to be accurate as they were the surprise representatives in the ACC title game with Duke a 7-5 team winning the ACC title!
One note is that if you look at the Opponent Conference Wins and Losses and notice that the wins are 597 and the losses are 587 and you might figure I did something wrong in the calculations. Since 5 teams are only playing 8 games, it throws off the numbers. Add up the records of the 5 teams only playing 8 games and it comes to 15-25 so the numbers do indeed even out, and the math is correct.
Based strictly on last year’s records Pitt draws the easiest schedule with their foes 28-44 last year in ACC play and SMU matched that number tying them for the easiest schedule based on that factor. The toughest schedule based on that criterion goes to Wake Forest with their ACC foes going 46-26 in conference play last year. Now, things change after a year. Last year Virginia was 7-1 and Duke was 6-2 but both teams suffered big losses in the offseason including their QB’s. Virginia Tech was 2-6 but James Franklin hit the portal and recruiting class hard and has a talented team and he is a proven winner so they will be much tougher. I would have had Duke in a higher class than the BLUE, but they lost QB Mensah at the last minute to the portal.
Florida St draws the leagues toughest schedule, so it appears Mike Norvell was dealt the same hand that Billy Napier was at Florida the last two years being on the hot seat and facing a brutal schedule. Florida St is the only team to face all four of the top teams in the league. I list those team in RED in Miami, SMU, Clemson and Louisville. They also draw 3 of the next level teams which are Virginia, Pitt and North Carolina St and only have one opponent from the bottom two categories (Blue and Green).
There are six teams in the league that only draw one of the RED teams and all 4 of the top teams fall into that category. Naturally they cannot play themselves but of the other 3 foes each one draws just one with Miami facing Clemson and SMU facing Louisville. Clemson is at home for Miami and Louisville hosts SMU so neither plays a big boy on the road. Factoring in all the data I have SMU and Miami Florida as facing the easiest schedules in the ACC and they both face both GREEN teams as well.
Last year when I talked to both Matt Campbell of Iowa St and Chris Kleiman of Kansas St both were concerned with preparing for a trip to Ireland. They noted what happened to Florida St and Georgia Tech the previous year and the toll their trip to Ireland took as FSU went from 12-0 to 2-10 and Georgia Tech in 2024 started got that win in Ireland and was ranked but went just 7-6. Iowa St was hit hard by injuries mid year and Kansas St had a rough start in 2026 following the trip. Virginia and NC St both were scheduled to have to deal with a trip to Brazil (an even longer journey) to start the year. That game was since switched to a home game for Virginia and both teams now benefit from playing week zero and having two bye weeks and not having to compensate for a long trip overseas and that could be a blessing for both. North Carolina has 8 ACC games but they do have a trip to Ireland to face TCU to contend with as well as their much tougher schedule this year.
This years magazine is 376 pages and the biggest and best ever. Here are the different ways you can order the magazine.
Option #1 – Pick one up at your local Barnes and Noble or Books-a-Million store. When you go into a Barnes and Noble you get two different cover choices in each store! The official on sale date is July 4th but it is hitting some stores sooner. It is also available at Books-a-Million which all have the national cover. These two distributors are our exclusive vendors of the magazine, and they are not available at Walmart’s, Walgreens, Grocery Stores, other bookstores or drug stores so save your gas. The only two brick and mortar store they are available are Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million.
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Option #3 – Buy the digital magazine. The best thing about the digital magazine is that it is updated all the way thru the month of September. If a coach gets fired (that has happened the last couple of years) we update it. If a player is injured and out for the year we CIRCLE him in the magazine. If a player is added late (very rare) we put him in. Any changes to the team from the start of June thru the month of September is updated in the digital version. When you go to the philsteele.com store you will not see a picture there, you need to click on Digital Editions and order it there. It will be activated immediately giving you instant access. Order the Digital Here!
Option #4 – Order the VIP Bundle – The price of the VIP bundle is $44.95. With the VIP bundle you get the National Cover of the magazine. All VIP’s received EXCLUSIVE ACCESS to the digital version of the magazine for one week, but that bonus is gone as the digital is now available for everyone. You receive two magazines PLUS the Digital Magazine. You also receive FOUR Free issues of my Inside the Pressbox Newsletter ($20 per issue – $80 value) which gives you my Forecast and my computers forecast on EVERY FBS game each week. You also receive access to Phil Steele Plus ($25 per month) for the months of June, July, August and September! The VIP Bundle also includes SHIPPING so it is basically just $10 more than ordering the magazine by itself! Order the Reg VIP Bundle Here!!
Option #5 – THE BEST BUY – Order the Super VIP Bundle – The price of the SUPER VIP bundle is $74.95. With the Super VIP Bundle you receive
TWO magazines INCLUDING SHIPPING ($69 value!), EXCLUSIVE ACCESS to the digital version for one week (that happened already), order shipped next business day. Use the 2nd magazine when your first one gets dogeared or sell/give it to a friend.
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Four Issues of my Inside the Pressbox newsletter ($80 value) which gives you my forecast and my COMPUTERs forecast on EVERY FBS games each week (including FBS vs FCS) the same bonuses that the VIP’s get. You also receive…
FCS Digital Magazine ($25) FREE – Two full pages on Every FCS team laid out the same way the pages are for the FBS magazine. There are 128 FCS teams so over 250 pages!
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