A rundown of college football’s toughest schedules in 2025 could just list every team in the SEC, and to a slightly lesser extent the Big Ten.

That’s life in these two heavyweight conferences, where adding teams such as Texas and Oklahoma in the SEC and Southern California, Oregon and more to the Big Ten has cranked up the level of regular-season difficulty.

USA TODAY Sports has a preseason glance at the Bowl Subdivision’s most difficult slates includes plenty of teams from the SEC and Big Ten, including Wisconsin, Florida, Arkansas and Ohio State.

But there are multiple teams in the ACC staring down a rocky road from September to December. One, Stanford, will face off with Notre Dame and other difficult games under interim coach Frank Reich.

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Beginning with Wisconsin, these Power Four teams are set to tussle with the unfriendliest schedules of the 2025 season – on paper, at least:

Wisconsin

Three toughest games: at No. 8 Alabama, at No. 14 Michigan, vs. No. 2 Ohio State.

After getting started with Miami (Ohio) and Middle Tennessee, the Badgers cap non-conference play with a trip to Tuscaloosa before taking on an absolutely brutal run in the Big Ten. In addition to the Wolverines and Buckeyes, Wisconsin takes on Maryland, Iowa, Washington and No. 12 Illinois at home, and No. 7 Oregon, No. 19 Indiana and Minnesota on the road. Luke Fickell’s program has to show progress in his third season; this schedule won’t help the Badgers turn the corner in the standings.

No. 17 Florida

Three toughest games: at No. 9 LSU, vs. No. 1 Texas, vs. No. 4 Georgia (in Jacksonville, Florida).

Florida was able to grab eight wins last season against a similarly hard SEC slate, salvaging Billy Napier’s rapidly diminishing job security and creating pretty massive expectations for 2025. The Gators will have to navigate through rocky waters once again, with a schedule also featuring No. 21 Texas A&M, No. 15 Mississippi and No. 18 Tennessee in addition to No. 10 Miami and Florida State in non-conference action.

Mississippi State

Three toughest games: vs. Tennessee, vs. Georgia, vs. Texas.

The Bulldogs’ schedule almost guarantees another year spent at the bottom of the SEC. Six of Mississippi State’s eight conference opponents are in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll. There are also games against No. 11 Arizona State and Northern Illinois in September.

Arkansas

Three toughest games: vs. No. 5 Notre Dame, at LSU, at Texas.

At least Arkansas draws Mississippi State, ensuring at least one SEC win. There are another two non-conference wins in Alabama A&M and Arkansas State. Everything else is brutal. Here’s the run after meeting the Red Wolves: Mississippi (road), Memphis (road), Notre Dame, Tennessee (road), A&M, Auburn, Mississippi State, LSU (road), Texas (road), Missouri.

Syracuse

Three toughest games: vs. Tennessee (in Atlanta), at No. 5 Clemson, at Notre Dame.

Syracuse will have a hard time matching last year’s very impressive 10-win finish under rookie coach Fran Brown while taking on two high-profile playoff contenders in the Volunteers and Irish in non-conference play. It’s not much easier in the ACC, where the Orange take on Clemson, No. 16 SMU and Miami.

No. 9 LSU

Three toughest games: at Clemson, vs. Florida, at Alabama.

A potential make-or-break year for coach Brian Kelly opens with a referendum game at Clemson. (Losing season openers has kind of been the program’s thing under Kelly.) With Clemson, the Gators and Mississippi coming in the first five weeks, we’ll have a very clear picture of what the Tigers are about by the end of September. The season finale at Oklahoma could end up as an at-large playoff elimination game should the Sooners rebound after a rocky SEC debut.

Stanford

Three toughest games: at SMU, at Miami, vs. Notre Dame.

Offseason attrition, a late-in-the-game coaching change and this schedule combine to place Stanford at or near the bottom of the Power Four power rankings heading into the regular season. In addition to the Mustangs, Hurricanes and Irish, the Cardinal have road trips to Hawaii, No. 23 Brigham Young, Virginia and North Carolina.

UCLA

Three toughest games: vs. Penn State, at Indiana, at Ohio State.

Nico Iamaleava’s arrival from Tennessee has made UCLA a trendy pick to add a win or two to last year’s record and reach the postseason. Can the Bruins find those wins somewhere on this schedule? They get started with Utah and a trip to UNLV, one of the best teams in the Group of Five, and then close the season with Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio State, Washington and rival Southern California.

No. 2 Ohio State

Three toughest games: vs. Texas, vs. Penn State, at Michigan.

The Buckeyes started by hosting Texas in one of the biggest games of the regular season in the FBS. Ohio State close with rival Michigan, winners of four in a row in the rivalry. Between, there’s another hugely impactful matchup with Penn State and a road trip to Illinois. If for nothing else, the schedule is noteworthy for pitting OSU against two of the top three teams in the preseason Coaches Poll.

No. 13 South Carolina

Three toughest games: at LSU, vs. Alabama, vs. Clemson.

Almost any SEC team could fit in this spot. But the Gamecocks should be highlighted for bookending the regular season against ACC opponents in Virginia and Clemson while taking on the most difficult seven-game stretch of any team in the FBS. After a friendlier start, Carolina ends the year with LSU, Oklahoma, Alabama, Ole Miss (road), A&M (road), Coastal Carolina and the Tigers.

• The Browns open the 2025 NFL season against 2024 playoff teams.
• The Browns’ roster currently includes rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
• The Browns have two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, which is expected to have a strong quarterback class.

The Cleveland Browns made the safe choice by naming Joe Flacco their starting quarterback. But Flacco topping the depth chart only puts a band aid on Cleveland’s quarterback carousel.

Flacco was always the leading candidate to start. He’s taken the lion share of first-team reps for the Browns this offseason. Furthermore, he has familiarity with head coach Kevin Stefanski’s system. Dating back to 2023 when Flacco started five straight games for the Browns, went 4-1 during the stretch and helped the team earn a playoff berth.

‘He’s the same guy every single day. I think that’s one of the things you admire about Joe is how he approaches his business. He’s done a really nice job in camp,” Stefanski said on Aug. 13, via the team’s official website. “He’s also done a really nice job just providing leadership to the quarterback room, to the offense and to the football team.’

The Browns have a daunting schedule to begin the regular season. They host the Cincinnati Bengals to open the year and then have five consecutive games against 2024 playoff teams.

The first six games are bound to be difficult for Cleveland no matter who starts at QB, especially for Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.  

Flacco’s experience and leadership should help the Browns through a tough six-game slate even if it doesn’t amount to many — or zero — wins.

But the Browns are doing themselves a disservice if Flacco starts a majority of the season. The Browns already know what they have in the 40-year-old journeyman quarterback. Flacco is among the infamous group of 40 quarterbacks who’ve started for the Browns since 1999.

It’ll behoove the Browns to give Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders multiple opportunities to start this year – specifically Gabriel and Sanders whom Cleveland selected in the third and fifth rounds of the 2025 draft, respectively.

Sanders tossed two touchdowns during an impressive preseason debut. Gabriel, despite a few mishaps, led the Browns on three scoring drives.  

It’s understandable to ease the two rookies into regular season action. The learning curb between college and pro quarterback is steep. However, it’s imperative for the Browns to find out if either quarterback possesses the skills to be their franchise quarterback before the 2026 NFL Draft.  

The Browns currently have two first-round picks during the 2026 draft and nine selections overall. Next year’s QB draft class is considered strong with the likes of Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier, Nico Iamaleava, Cade Klubnik and LaNorris Sellers.

Flacco starting doesn’t get the Browns any closer to solving their decades long quarterback dilemma. It’s a short fix at best. The Browns must find out if their long-term solution at quarterback is currently on the roster prior to a deep QB 2026 draft class.  

Flacco is the starter for now. But beware Cleveland, he shouldn’t be QB1 for long.

Let me take you to the intersection of dumb and dumber, and the undoing of a once proud conference of legends and leaders.

There, standing proudly in the middle of it all, is Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and his reported 28-team College Football Playoff idea.

And by idea, I mean the Big Ten’s postseason desire specifically leaked to gauge the winds of change. 

This is where we are with the oldest conference in college football, the one-time collection of Midwest schools and foundational stability of the sport that not long ago held itself above the fray of the ever-changing whims of public opinion and stayed the course.

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But legends and leaders, everyone, has become dumb and dumber. 

The metamorphosis began on a dreary, confusing day in the summer of 2020 when the world was coping with something called COVID-19. It was then, on a conference call with the other power conferences commissioners, where the seeds of this strange undoing blossomed. 

The commissioners were attempting to figure out a non-conference schedule for the pandemic season, when then-Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren interrupted the conversation and declared, “We’re the Big Ten, we lead, we don’t follow” — and hung up. 

From that moment forward, the moves made by the Big Ten – a group of schools former legendary commissioner Jim Delany once called the “conscience of college sports” – fundamentally and profoundly altered amateur sports.

It wasn’t long after the failed conference call that Warren canceled the fall season for the Big Ten, and pitched the idea of spring football and playing two seasons in nine months. Maybe the dumbest idea ever.

Stick a pin in that, people. We’ll get back to the dumbest of dumb. 

In that same pandemic season, after the Big Ten was forced into playing in the fall because everyone else found a way to play through the obstacles, it “returned to play” with the rule that all teams had to play six games to be eligible for the Big Ten championship game (and by proxy, the CFP). 

Until, that is, it became clear that undefeated Ohio State would only play five games. Then the rules were readjusted midstream, and lowly Indiana got jobbed when the path was cleared for the blue blood Buckeyes. 

But it wasn’t until Texas and Oklahoma decided in 2021 to leave the Big 12 for the SEC that dumb officially hit the fan in the Big Ten. That singular move began a cavalcade of dumb that tsunami’ed over more than a century of smart, measured decision-making.

Warren convinced the Pac-12 (which never did anything without big brother’s stamp of approval) and the ACC that the SEC was the death of college sports, and the three power conferences needed to band together in an “Alliance” of like minds and goals for the future. And to stop the SEC at all cost.

Less than a year later, Warren stabbed his “partners” in the back by inviting Southern California and UCLA to join the Big Ten, thereby completely destabilizing the Pac-12 and, after the dominoes of change began to fall, every other conference in college football. 

The ink was barely dry on that dumb when the Big Ten realized two important things: travel was going to be extremely difficult (still is), and USC and UCLA needed partners on the West Coast. So Oregon and Washington were invited, which eventually led to Stanford and California moving to the ACC — a move rivaling all for dumbest of dumb.

Two years later, with Petitti new on the job and the SEC in the middle of yet another championship run, the Big Ten decided to essentially look the other way on Michigan’s illegal advanced scouting scheme.

You want dumb? Check out this dumb: Michigan, already being investigated by the NCAA for illegal contact with players during the pandemic season, had a second NCAA investigation opened in the middle of the 2023 season — this time for the advanced scouting scheme. 

But instead of suspending Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for the season because he and the program were repeat offenders, Petitti decided a three-game suspension would suffice for a coach and a team that had the talent to win it all.

I know this is going to shock you, but Michigan won the whole damn thing. 

Fast forward to last month, and the Big Ten is coming off back-to-back national championship seasons. The conference hasn’t been this strong in decades, and SEC coaches are begging to play non-conference games against Big Ten schools. 

So what does Petitti do? Because of scheduling conflicts in Indianapolis, he moves Big Ten media days to Las Vegas.

Without the swooning Ohio State media hoard and wall-to-wall coverage from the Big Ten Network, it was a barren wasteland of opportunity. What should have been a time for the Big Ten to walk tall, stick out its chest and stand above everyone else in college football, devolved into tumbleweeds in the desert.

There was more energy on the fake beach, a football field away at Mandalay Bay resort.

This leads us all the way back to the dumbest of dumb: the Big Ten’s proposed super duper, extra large CFP. Not to be confused with another dumb idea: the 4-2-1-3 CFP model that the Big Ten, and only the Big Ten, wants for the new CFP contract in 2026.

You remember that one: the Big Ten and SEC get four automatic spots in the 16-team field, and get the opportunity to earn one or more of the three at-large selections. 

In a 28-team model, the Big Ten and SEC would each get seven automatic bids, and the ACC and Big 12 five. Because nothing says battling for the postseason quite like eight-win Louisville and Baylor reaching the dance.

Or more to the point: five-loss Michigan with an automatic pass to the CFP.

“Formats that increase the discretion and role of the CFP Selection Committee,” Petitti said last month at Big Ten media days, “Will have a difficult time getting support from the Big Ten.”

We’re the Big Ten. We lead, we don’t follow. 

All the way to the intersection of dumb and dumber. 

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

The former No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, Jones will be the Indianapolis Colts’ starting quarterback to open the 2025 NFL season. Jones was competing with Anthony Richardson, the Colts’ top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, for the starting job in training camp.

It’s been an uneven road to this opportunity for Jones. New York benched him mid-season last year amid a five-game losing streak before releasing him Nov. 22. New York closed the season out by starting Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito. That duo went a combined 1-6 to close the season; the lone win came in a 45-33 shootout over the Colts in Week 17.

The Minnesota Vikings came calling for Jones’ services and signed him off waivers for the rest of the season at $375,000. He spent time on the practice squad and was behind starter Sam Darnold and backup Nick Mullens by the start of the playoffs. When free agency opened, the Colts signed Jones to a one-year, $14 million deal.

Now that he’s the starter, Minnesota could be the team that benefits from it instead of New York. Here’s why.

How Daniel Jones starting helps Vikings

Because Jones was most recently on the Vikings’ roster ahead of free agency, they are entitled to a compensatory draft pick in the 2026 NFL Draft regardless of how many snaps he takes as the Colts’ starter.

Jones being named the starter means he will likely take more snaps than if he started the season as the backup. The more snaps he plays, the earlier the compensatory pick will be.

It’s hard to predict with perfect accuracy which round the compensatory pick will fall in but OverTheCap has a formula and projections for each team based on contract value, free agents added versus free agents lost and playing time. OverTheCap predicts the Vikings will get a Round 4 compensatory pick for Jones signing in Indianapolis. Jones earning the starting job all but secures that.

That’ll be the second compensatory pick the Vikings will receive for losing a free agent quarterback this offseason. They’re projected to receive a Round 3 pick for Darnold signing with Seattle.

The owners of the Connecticut Sun, who had tentatively reached an agreement to sell the WNBA franchise, are now assessing their options to salvage the deal, according to an ESPN report, after the WNBA balked at a planned move of the franchise to Boston.

The Mohegan tribe, which bought the former Orlando Miracle and moved it to Connecticut in 2003, struck a deal earlier this month in which Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca agreed to buy the club for a WNBA-record $325 million.

Pagliuca hoped to move the Sun’s home games from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, to Boston’s TD Garden, where the Celtics also play.

However, the league quickly stepped in and issued a statement emphasizing that ‘relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams,’ and pointing out that other cities bid for WNBA expansion franchises at the beginning that would take priority over putting a team in Boston.

Sources tell ESPN the tribe intends to present multiple options to the league to facilitate the sale.

Those options reportedly include a full sale to Pagliuca’s group, a sale to a group fronted by former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, selling only a minority stake in the franchise or allowing the WNBA to purchase the club for that same $325 million price tag.

Sources also tell ESPN that the WNBA has offered to buy the Sun for $250 million so it could then steer the franchise toward an ownership group in one of its preferred expansion cities.

In the last three rounds of bidding for WNBA expansion franchises — which resulted in new teams in Cleveland (in 2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030) joining the league — Boston never submitted a proposal.

The Indianapolis Colts have made their choice at quarterback.

Daniel Jones has been named the starter ahead of incumbent first-stringer Anthony Richardson Sr., coach Shane Steichen announced Tuesday.

‘He’s our starting quarterback for the season,’ Steichen said of Jones. ‘I don’t want to have a quick leash on that. I feel confident in his abilities.’

The Colts signed Jones to a one-year, $14 million contract this offseason amid continued turbulence with Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft who was benched last season for Joe Flacco amid a series of struggles and a request to exit a game due to fatigue. Richardson later returned to the lineup but has started just 15 games in two years and his 47.7% completion percentage in 2024 ranked last among all regular starters in the NFL.

Throughout the offseason, Steichen harped on consistency as the key factor for the eventual winner of the competition. He returned to that theme Tuesday in explaining his decision-making process.

‘You guys heard me talk about the consistency, and that’s really what I was looking for,’ Steichen said. ‘Really the operation at the line of scrimmage, the checks, the protection, the ball placement, the completion percentage – I think all that played a factor in it. Daniel did a great job doing it, and (Richardson) made strides in that area, but I do feel like he needs to continue to develop in those areas.’

Jones, meanwhile, returns to the starting ranks after he was benched and subsequently released by the Giants last November during his sixth season with the team.

Despite Jones’ struggles the last two seasons, during which he threw 13 interceptions in 16 games, Steichen said the Colts had ample reason to believe the quarterback could helm an efficient offense.

‘Well, I think that he’s proven that he’s played good football in that 2022 season,’ Steichen said. ‘He had a hell of a year that year. I think that the highest completion rate in Giants franchise history that season. I know he’s had his ups and downs, but everyone’s journey is different, and I feel confident in his abilities.’

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – If Inter Miami plans to keep its Leagues Cup title hopes alive, they may have to do so without Lionel Messi this week.

Messi, the Argentine World Cup champion, was not seen during the open portion of practice open to media on Tuesday, Aug. 19 – one day before the club’s Leagues Cup quarterfinal against Liga MX side Tigres UANL.

Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano did not divulge whether Messi would be sidelined or play in the match set for 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 20. However, the coach said Messi trained separately from the club.

Messi has been dealing with a nagging right hamstring injury, which he appeared to reaggravate in an Aug. 16 MLS match against the L.A. Galaxy.

“We’ll see how he feels during the day [Wednesday], but he’s not ruled out of playing. I can’t tell you today whether he’ll play or not, because it depends a lot on how he feels,” Mascherano said.

Messi returned after a two-week layoff between games with three training sessions with teammates before facing the Galaxy. However, it’s clear his return was premature.

Messi played the second half of the match, but was quickly seen bending over and stretching his right leg at multiple points despite scoring a goal and delivering an assist to Luis Suarez in the 3-1 win.

In the final seconds of the match, Messi waited by the closest part of the pitch near the locker room area and walked immediately inside the stadium when the match concluded.

Messi initially suffered the injury during a Leagues Cup match on Aug. 2.

It caused him to miss two matches: Inter Miami advanced to the Leagues Cup knockout stage with a 3-1 win against Pumas on Aug. 6, then lost 4-1 to Orlando City in a regular-season match on Aug. 10. 

Messi – on Monday, Aug. 18 – was named to Argentina’s preliminary roster for two World Cup qualifying matches in early September.

Messi could potentially play his final match in his home country when Argentina hosts Venezuela on Sept. 4 in Buenos Aires.

Argentina has already qualified for the World Cup, while Messi has yet to declare he will play in the tournament. Messi will be 39 during the World Cup next summer.

Is Messi playing tomorrow?

It’s unclear whether Messi will play with Inter Miami vs. Tigres in the Leagues Cup quarterfinal on Aug. 20.

When is the Inter Miami vs. Tigres UANL match in Leagues Cup?

The match is Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. ET (9 p.m. in Argentina).

How to watch Inter Miami vs. Tigres UANL Leagues Cup match on TV?

The match will be available on FS1 in English, and UniMás in Spanish.

How to watch Inter Miami vs. Tigres UANL match on live stream?

The match will be available to live stream on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, and the Apple TV+ channel.

Messi upcoming schedule with Inter Miami, Argentina

• Aug. 20: Inter Miami vs. Tigres UANL (Leagues Cup quarterfinals) 
• Aug. 23: D.C. United vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. ET (MLS regular season)
• Aug. 26 or 27: Leagues Cup semifinals (if applicable)
• Aug. 30: Inter Miami vs. Chicago Fire, 7:30 p.m. ET (MLS regular season)
• Aug. 31: Leagues Cup final and third-place match (if applicable)
• Sept. 4: Argentina vs. Venezuela (World Cup qualifying)
• Sept. 9: Ecuador vs. Argentina (World Cup qualifying)
• Sept. 13: Charlotte FC vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. (MLS regular season)