Jon Joseph

Vegas Insider 2026 CFB Win Totals - Vegas takes everything into account with the focus on a team's schedule, home and away games, when games will be played, and the strength of the roster. At 10.5 wins, OBD, Ohio State, and Penn State tie for the Big Ten lead. At 9.5 wins, Georgia, LSU, and Texas top the SEC. ACC - Clemson and Miami (not Duke) are on top at 9.5. B12 - K State, ASU, and Texas Tech lead the conference at 8.5. (My betting group has placed a bet on Texas Tech going Over 8.5.) Be prudent. Never Bet the Rent! https://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/odds/win-totals/

Make No Misstate - The Big Ten welcomes Matt Campbell to Penn State, not with a bowl of gumbo soup but with a bowl of cherries. https://collegefootballnews.com/college-football/penn-state-football-2026-schedule-breakdown This is a friendly welcome, better than the one Cig received at Indiana.

FWIW, CFN's take on OBD's schedule - https://collegefootballnews.com/college-football/oregon-football-2026-schedule-breakdown

Same SEC Stuff, Different Day - When AP Poll Pavlov's Dog Pollsters again have more than half of the SEC in their preseason top 25, what do you expect to happen? SEC sycophants will use the poll to promote the idea that SEC teams have to play a gauntlet like no other. 🤪 The B1G could win ten titles in a row and dominate the SEC in the bowl games, and it won't matter. And people wonder why Tony Petitti wants a PO with automatic qualifiers? SMH. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/big-tens-top-teams-tougher-2026-schedules-gauntlet/

A CBS Sports ranking of the 2026 Big Ten football schedules. Wisconsin at No. 1 (the easiest) flips from last season's most difficult schedule. Mega-conference schedules can and do vary significantly from season to season. Penn State has the 2nd-easiest schedule. I don't know if PSU's roster is still Blue Chip. I do know that PSU coach Matt Campbell has a nice, B1G welcome. In this ranking, No. 18 Ohio State has the most difficult slate of games. OBD is ranked 16th, the third most difficult schedule. The top 25 games are those against the CBS too-early ranking of the top 25. All preseason schedule rankings are a guesstimate. But any 'expert' who thinks OBD has it easy in 2026 is way off the mark. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2026-big-ten-football-schedule-rankings-easiest-toughest/

CBS Sports ranks the schedules from No. 1 Wisconsin (easiest) to No. 18 Ohio State (most difficult). OBD at No. 16 has the 3rd toughest schedule. The Wisconsin flip from the most difficult last season to the easiest is an example of how mega-conference schedules can vary one season to the next. Games against top 25 opponents are games against the CBSS preseason top 25. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2026-big-ten-football-schedule-rankings-easiest-toughest/

For pity's sake, PLEASE focus on the results and not on the source of the information. DO NOT SHOOT THE MESSENGER. 😇 Using the 2025-26 final SP+, some dawg from the Other School Up North has done a thorough job of calculating B1G schedule strength and prospective win totals. The use of quadrants to determine the quality of the opposition follows the quadrant method used by the CBB committee. Of course, we have no idea how the SP+ final rankings will transfer from 2025-26 to 2026-27. In 2026, Oklahoma State could go from two to eight or more wins. Quadrant 1 - 2026 games against 2025-26 SP+ Top 25, validates your take, iouhounds, on Penn State's weak 2026 schedule. 7 Games - Ohio State 6 Games - Michigan, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, USC 5 Games - Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oregon, UW 4 Games - Iowa, Maryland, Rutgers, UCLA, Wisconsin 3 Games - Illinois, Penn State Penn State - Marshall (with this kind of schedule, a Marshall should be called in 🤬) Temple, Buffalo (Bulls, not Bills.) Illinois does play a P4 team OOC, Duke. The Miami Hurricanes just blew away the Duke QB and the Blue Devils best WR. Illinois has a bye week the week before Oregon plays the Fighting Illini in Champaign-Urbana. Iowa State East, er, Penn State, does not play Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, and Iowa. PSU hosts USC in a likely White Out game. The Nittany Lions' toughest games are on the road vs. Michigan and UW. UW Dawg PoundA Closer Look At The Big Ten’s 2026 ScheduleThe Big Ten released the football schedule for 2026. Who has an easy schedule, and who has a difficult schedule?

Most difficult schedules in 2026? Across all conferences, SI ranks Ohio State and Texas tied at No.1, OBD 2nd, and Indiana 4th. It also has two teams' schedules ranked in the top 10: Notre Dame and Texas Tech. Other 'experts' cite these two teams as having Charmin soft schedules in 2026. Pick your ranking poison. We'll see where things lie(s), kind of sorta, when the PO Committee releases its final ranking on December 6, 2026. 🤪 Oregon Ducks On SIBig Ten’s Toughest and Easiest Schedules RankedOn Tuesday, the Oregon Ducks released their official schedule for the 2026 football season. Though there's several points to focus on in this schedule, like the

Great post! Yep, in today's CFB world, scheduling, the depth of the roster, and luck on the injury front matter more than ever. In the NFL, whether a particular team's record is good or not, in every game you'll be playing against the best of the best. There are no FCS or crummy conference teams on the schedule. Yet, even in the NFL, the schedule's degree of difficulty matters. The Patriots are in the Super Bowl in part because of this season's soft schedule. The luck of the draw scheduling wise in college mega-conferences makes a difference in the B1G, and a big difference in every P4 conference. If Florida had its 2026 schedule in 2024 and 2025, instead of the JMU Dukes, Billy Napier might still be coaching the Gators this season. College football schedule strength goes from the absurd, Wisconsin's schedule in 2025, to the sublime of Wisconsin's schedule in 2026. IMO, the variation in the quality of a team's opposition year to year is Reason No. 1 why Tony Petitti's 16-team automatic qualifier PO format makes so much sense. With the limited number of games played and the difference in schedule strength, trying to subjectively determine the best teams is a fool's errand. If CFB adopted Petitti's format, we would have better out-of-conference games, perhaps a B1G/SEC challenge, to put more meat on every schedule and more money in CFB pockets. Based on last season's finish, Indiana would play Georgia, Ohio State would play Alabama, OBD would play Ole Miss, and SC would play A&M. Cha-Ching!🤑 Greg Sankey is not a hero; he's an obstructionist.

Mr. Marsh, thank you for making Friday more mellow 😁. "... fair is foul, and foul is fair ..." Macbeth September 27, 2025 - Beaver Stadium - State College, PA - Was Whittington's knee down? October 11, 2025 - Autzen Stadium - Eugene, Oregon - With under 13 minutes left to be played, Frosh Phenom Brandon Finney, Jr. returns an interception thrown by Fernando Mendoza 35 yards to tie the game 20-20. Autzen Stadium erupts!!! Fernando shakes it off, and Indiana scores 10 points after the Pick-6, shuts out the Ducks, and wins its first road game against a top 5 opponent since 1967. November 8, 2025 - Kinnick Stadium - Iowa City, IA. - A putrid punt snap gives OBD an early 2-point lead. In a deluge, Ducks win 18-16. The football gods giveth, and they also crush the hopes of football fanatics from coast to coast. "Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls." Stewart Mandel nailed it. Speaking of Macbeth, in 'Dan Lanning, Watching the Grass Grow, Season V', does the hero have to reach great heights only to die a gruesome death in the final act?😏 Danno, in 2026, please rewrite the final scene, please. 🙃 Thanks again, Don, for reminding us of the thin line between 'the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.'

Sorts Illustrated? CBS Sports begs to differ. OBD does not have an easy schedule. Ohio State's Week 2 game at Texas moves the Buckeyes to No. 1 in B1G 2026 SOS. Northwestern plays 11 games in a row and is 2nd. OBD is third. I'd swap at Oklahoma State for at Texas and play Ohio State's B1G schedule with five, not eight B1G games in a row. But ... https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2026-big-ten-football-schedule-rankings-easiest-toughest/

Wall Street Journal? What do capitalist pigs know about Sport? Anyway, forget about piggies and huskies; anyone with their ducks in a row knows OBD is 12-team PO field 2 for 2, and PO games 2 and 2. UW is 0 and 0. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing. However, after a Sun Bowl loss, UW did defeat Boise in the LA Bowl, which is nice. 😉

PSU to win it all could be a good call. But that's what we heard last season with Little Game James at the helm. Will Campbell and Iowa State East be able to stir up a champion bowl of soup? 😁 I'm going to Becht against it.

The inestimable Don Cherry. Who coached the Olde Towne Team, the Boston Bruins, and in 1976 won the Jack Adams COY award. A hockey commentator icon who, like the Flyers' Dave Shultz, never pulled any punches. Thanks for the icy blast from the past.

I get it, my friend. And I also understand and respect all who think this scheme, er, schedule, is fine. But for putting together a back-of-the-envelope SOS analysis, FWIW, not much, I'm DUN scheduling DONE. (I can hear the sighs of relief all the way from here in the Eastern time zone. 😁) It is what it is, so, is it 9/5 yet?