Strength of schedule is one of the main factors that will be hotly debated this season, both inside and outside the College Football Playoff selection committee proceedings. First and foremost, however, contenders simply need to win games, and a stronger overall schedule might not help on that front.
We calculated the 2014 projected schedule strength of every FBS team based on our post-spring FEI rankings and compared it to the regular-season schedule strength each team faced in 2013. In terms of potential wins lost, the following five programs will be hurt the most by a tougher path this fall: