STILLWATER – Who says Oklahoma State doesn’t play tough opponents in football? According to a release from SportsBettingDime.com, Cowboy football has one of the toughest schedules in the country for the upcoming 2021 season.
Out of 130 FBS teams, the Cowboys check in at No. 5 overall, ranking third in the Big 12.
| Team |
Conf. Rank |
Nat’l Rank |
| Kansas |
1 |
2 |
| Texas |
2 |
4 |
| Oklahoma State |
3 |
5 |
| Baylor |
4 |
6 |
| Kansas State |
5 |
8 |
| TCU |
6 |
14 |
| Texas Tech |
7 |
19 |
| Iowa State |
8 |
20 |
| West Virginia |
9 |
22 |
| Oklahoma` |
10 |
38 |
In fact, going through all the conferences, the Big 12 has one of the toughest slates of games as eight of the 10 teams have a SOS within the top 20. Five of the 10 toughest schedules reside in the Big 12, while the SEC has three within the top 10 and seven of the top 20.
See Oklahoma State’s full 2021 schedule here.
According to the release, “The @SBD Strength of Schedule formula is based upon opponents’ efficiency ratings from last season minus the production lost from the 2020 team; recruiting rankings; major transfers added and lost. The formula is then adjusted for each game based upon home and road games. As a point of reference, the toughest possible schedule would score 397.09, making Arkansas’ S.O.S (126.35) 31.82% of the hardest possible schedule. The easiest hypothetical schedule would score -471.94 making UTEP’s S.O.S (171.68) 36.38% of the easiest schedule.”
| Team |
Non-con No. 1 |
Non-con No. 2 |
Non-con No. 3 |
| Kansas |
Sept 3 - South Dakota (Home) |
Sept 10 - Coastal Carolina (Road) |
Sept 25 - Duke (Road) |
| Texas |
Sept 4 - Louisiana (Home) |
Sept 11 - Arkansas (Road) |
Sept 18 - Rice (Home) |
| Oklahoma State |
Sept 4 - Missouri State (Home) |
Sept 11 - Tulsa (Home) |
Sept 18 - Boise State (Road) |
| Baylor |
Sept 4 - Texas State (Road) |
Sept 11 - Texas Southern (Home) |
Oct. 16 - BYU (Home) |
| Kansas State |
Sept 4 - Stanford (Neutral) |
Sept 11 - Southern Illinois - (Home) |
Sept 18 - Nevada (Home) |
| TCU |
Sept 4 - Duquesne (Home) |
Sept 11 - Cal (Home) |
Sept 25 - SMU (Home) |
| Texas Tech |
Sept 4 - Houston (Road) |
Sept 11 - Stephen F. Austin (Home) |
Sept 18 - FIU (Home) |
| Iowa State |
Sept 4 - Northern Iowa (Home) |
Sept 11 - Iowa (Home) |
Sept 18 - UNLV (Road) |
| West Virginia |
Sept 4 - Maryland (Road) |
Sept 11 - LIU (Home) |
Sept 18 - Virginia Tech (Home) |
| Oklahoma |
Sept 4 - Tulane (Road) |
Sept 11 - Western Carolina (Home) |
Sept 18 - Nebraska (Home) |
Going through the list, five of the preseason favorites to win the national championship are all outside the top 25 of toughest schedules, with Georgia at No. 29, Ohio State at No. 33, OU at No. 38, Clemson at No. 45 and Alabama at No. 50.
