In upcoming blogs, I will be breaking down which teams drew the toughest and easiest schedules for 2026 for each of the conferences. I thought it would be a good idea to look back at 2025 and see if schedules do indeed influence the conference races.
Here is what I posted for the Toughest and Easiest ACC schedule for 2025 in my July 1 blog from 2025.
Well, the schedule did indeed impact the ACC race in 2025! Now I do not go strictly by the records from the previous year. After all my power ratings are done I put the ACC into 3 classes heading into the year. If you draw a team from the top class, they are in RED and a team you do not want to play. The Blue are the middle teams of the ACC, and they are contenders, and the Green are teams at the bottom that you want to draw.
Let’s look at the teams with the five hardest schedules. According to my calculations prior to the year Syracuse and Boston College drew the two toughest schedules in the ACC in 2025 and they finished with the worst records at 1-7!! Clemson and SMU were in the ACC title game in 2024, but both drew top five toughest schedules, and neither were able to get back to the big game. Louisville was considered one of the top contenders and went just 4-4.
Now let us look at the teams that I felt drew the most favorable schedules in 2025. First, Bill Belichick’s first year in college was a disaster as they had a very favorable schedule but finished just 2-6. Which teams made the ACC title game this year? It was Duke and Virginia, and no one had that forecast at the start of the year. Well, those two teams drew the 2nd and 3rd easiest schedule of the ACC!! Georgia Tech drew the 4th easiest and was tied with Duke for a shot at the title game! Wake Forest had zero expectations in the year but with the sixth easiest schedule they went 4-4.
Final Analysis. In the ACC in 2025 the Schedule was a MAJOR FACTOR!
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