All articles tagged with #strength of schedule
With two weeks remaining, schedule strength can shape the playoff chase as much as performance. The piece flags three teams with favorable finishes—White Sox, Mariners, and Blue Jays—and three with tougher routes—Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies—noting that tiebreakers, division outcomes, and wild-card seeding could hinge on late-September results more than wins alone.
The Athletic breaks down every contender’s final 10 games, highlighting how schedule strength could shape the postseason. The Rays face a brutal finish with 10 games against three playoff teams, including key clashes with the Yankees, while the Yankees also confront a demanding late slate. Other contenders like the Dodgers, Brewers, Phillies and Cubs navigate pivotal series that could decide seeds, byes and home-field advantage in the final two weeks.
CFP officials briefed SEC coaches on their selection process and strength-of-record metrics used to pick the 12-team playoff, prompting pushback over how Texas Tech and BYU were ranked relative to SEC teams and how losses are penalized. SEC leaders argue schedule strength and quality wins should carry more weight, while acknowledging a role for human judgment. With the conference moving to nine league games, critics fear even more losses could be downplayed; commissioner Greg Sankey defended the league's depth and competitiveness.
NCAA Baseball Committee chair Michael Alford said Arkansas wasn’t chosen to host a regional after evaluating a full body of work that weighed strength of schedule, RAC rankings, and head-to-head results against other contenders (including Kansas, West Virginia, and Mississippi State). Despite Arkansas’ strong finish in the SEC and a solid late run, its metrics lagged some hosts (RAC and RPI considerations in particular), leading the committee to favor other sites. Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said he was surprised by the decision, which reflected the committee’s broader assessment rather than any single statistic.
Opposing writers project a tougher 2026 schedule for the Patriots, with predictions ranging from a strong 12-5 to a potential drop toward 6-10 or 7-10, arguing last year’s success was aided by a softer slate and that the team must prove it can sustain performance against a stiffer schedule after a Super Bowl run.
Sharp Football Analysis launches a 2026 NFL Strength of Schedule tool that lets users view a team’s week-by-week schedule difficulty across 10+ metrics, using Vegas win totals and offseason factors. The tool offers a Weekly Schedule view, a League Rankings chart, and a 2025 comparison to show early favorable starts vs. late-season gauntlets and how the 2026 slate compares to 2025.
Two methods analyze the 2026 schedule: 2025 opponent win percentage and Sharp Football’s projected 2026 opponent win percentages. Combined results crown the Saints as having the easiest slate, with the Browns and Bengals also favorable; Dolphins and Cardinals appear toughest, with Bears ranked hardest in the composite view. The analysis hints at fantasy implications for players like Tyler Shough, Travis Etienne Jr., Chris Olave, Jordan Tyson, and Ja’Marr Chase, while cautioning that schedules shift year to year and should not be the sole driver of fantasy decisions.
Washington’s 2026 schedule will be unveiled with a roughly middle-of-the-pack strength of schedule (.502) and Sharp Football projecting No. 25, suggesting a tougher path than raw SOS implies. The slate includes NFC East home-and-away, NFC West, and AFC South, plus away games at Minnesota and home games versus Atlanta and Cincinnati; only three games cross time zones (at Arizona, at San Francisco, and a Week 4 London game against the Colts). The schedule drop is at 8:00 PM EST on Thursday, May 14, 2026 (ESPN2/NFL Network) with streaming on FuboTV, ESPN+, and Paramount+. Bye week placement and travel pacing will factor into the season as the release approaches.
The 2026 NFL schedule is out and Chicago Bears face the league's toughest strength of schedule (.550), driven by last season's winning records across the NFC North and the addition of a first-place slate. The Eagles have the easiest first-place schedule, while the Browns and Saints benefit from the two easiest overall schedules. Rankings are based on opponents' 2025 records under the 17-game format, which reshuffles who each team faces each year.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ 2026 schedule will be released Thursday, May 14 at 4:30 p.m. PT on Raiders platforms, with a full league reveal at 5 p.m. on NFL Network, ESPN2 and more. The team is slated for eight home games and nine on the road; based on 2025 opponent win percentage, their 2026 slate has the seventh-toughest strength of schedule (.529). Two international game options are on the table: a trip to Paris to face the Saints or to Mexico City to play the 49ers. The NFL has a nine-game international slate in 2026 across Rio, Paris, Melbourne, Mexico City, Munich, Madrid and London, with the full international schedule set to be announced May 13.
Based on 2025 results, the Bears have the NFL’s toughest 2026 strength of schedule at .550 and the Browns the easiest at .429. The New York Giants sit 17th with a .498 opponent winning percentage; their 2026 slate includes the entire NFC West, AFC South, and the same‑place finishers from the AFC North, NFC South, and NFC North, plus the usual NFC East home-and-home games. The article also provides the full 32-team SOS rankings and notes broad playoff trends related to recent realignment and turnover.
New York’s 2026 schedule sits in the middle of the pack (about 24th in strength of schedule) according to Warren Sharp’s Vegas-based model, suggesting a manageable slate rather than a death march. With a 7.5-win projection, this is a “prove it” year where success will hinge on execution and late-game performance more than external hurdles.
Nicole Auerbach argues that Miami (OH) should earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament despite an undefeated regular season and a weaker schedule, pointing to Wins Above Bubble (1.7, 37th) and Strength of Record (28th) to show the RedHawks performed better than typical bubble teams. She criticizes the reluctance of high-major programs to play mid-majors and urges the Selection Committee to reward mid-major excellence by including Miami on Selection Sunday, rather than excluding a 31–1 team that dominated its schedule.
Greg Sankey, SEC commissioner, defended the league's approach to playoff selection, emphasizing the importance of 'not losing' and strength of schedule, but the article argues that losses to weaker teams and other factors like head-to-head results also significantly influence playoff decisions, challenging Sankey's selective memory and spin.
Alabama Crimson Tide will not participate in the College Football Playoff (CFP) for the third time since 2014, as the selection committee chose the SMU Mustangs over them for the final at-large berth. Despite Alabama's stronger schedule, former coach Nick Saban, now an ESPN analyst, expressed concerns about the incentive to schedule tough nonconference games if strength of schedule isn't prioritized. Saban acknowledged that the best teams made the playoffs and emphasized that teams control their own destiny through their performance.