Examining Florida State's Strength of Schedule

It seems the college football community is wrapped up in the whole strength of schedule debate. Florida State got blasted early in the season by scheduling two "cupcakes" at the beginning of the season when several of their starters were out for NCAA violations.

Padding the record, as Florida State has done, is painted as a horrible sin against college football and should never, ever under any circumstances be done. But let's take a closer look at Florida State's football schedule for the year and see how teams have panned out so far.

The combined record of the opponents Florida State has played is 23-32. Exclude the first two games with cupcakes, and we get 20-18. Even though their opponents' combined records show a losing record, three of the six teams Florida State has played so far in the season have winning records.

The University of Florida, by comparison, has played only two teams with winning records so far in the season.

Looking at rankings for teams, seven teams that Florida State has played or will play have been ranked in the top 25 poll at one point during the season (Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Boston College, Maryland, and Florida). Most of these teams have fallen out of the rankings, but the programs were valued enough at one point in time to be ranked in the top 25.

Conversely, the University of Florida has played or will play five teams that have cracked the top 25 (it CAN move to six—I mean, Citadel does have a chance at being a top 25 team with their 3-5 record).

Sure, the rankings of teams have been bloated, as they always are. Clemson, for instance, did not deserve to start the season ranked at nine, but that is a different argument for another day.

In the end, Florida State's schedule has proven to be no cakewalk as usual, even with some cupcakes at the beginning.