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Michigan Football's Schedule Again One Of Big Ten's Toughest

Michigan Wolverines football once again has a daunting schedule ahead. The Wolverines, a part of the Big Ten, will play nine conference games, and also travel to play Washington to kick off the much-anticipated 2020 campaign.

CBS Sports came out with its strength of schedule (SOS) rankings for the Big Ten, and had U-M check in at No. 3 on the list. The Maize and Blue were No. 1 in the same rankings entering last season.

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Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh and his club are in for a daunting 2020 slate.
Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh and his club are in for a daunting 2020 slate. (AP Images)
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Some explanation of how the rankings were conducted: "History often gives us the best glimpse into the future, so I use rankings from the previous seasons to get an idea of how good any given team can expect to be in the next season," CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli explained. "Teams are then given a weight that coincides with their past performance, and these weights are applied when going through each team's schedule.

"I then add or subtract additional weights based on where and when the game is being played. Road games are more difficult than home games, for example, and playing a Thursday night game after playing the previous Saturday adds a degree of difficulty. Playing eight straight weeks without a bye does, too.

"After inputting all of this information, a number is produced that shows a team's projected strength of schedule. One thing to keep in mind before you go through these rankings is that the best teams in a conference are at somewhat of a disadvantage compared to their conference mates as they do not get to play themselves. That naturally hinders its SOS against the other programs in the conference that do face it. Conversely, the worst team doesn't play itself, and that impacts the floor of its SOS projection."

U-M's overall score came out to 25.68 percent and its conference score was 11.29 percent. Only Michigan State (34.05% overall; 21.27% conference) and Maryland (31.89% overall; 18.71% conference) were ahead in either score.

Further explanation on how the scores were calculated: "The overall score is the team's SOS compared to the average SOS of all 130 FBS teams. For example, 21.34% is better than average. A negative score indicates below average. Colorado (39.19%) will enter 2020 with the toughest projected schedule among Power Five teams, while Syracuse (-6.40%) will have the easiest. The conference score is the same principle, but it is strictly in relation to the average score of the schedules within that team's conference."

The publication's national SOS rankings have yet to be released, but it's safe to guess U-M will rank near the top, considering Colorado's score of 39.19 percent is the highest in the land.

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The most difficult stretch of U-M's schedule will come at the beginning of the conference slate, when the Wolverines host Penn State and Wisconsin, before traveling to Minnesota two weeks later with a matchup against Michigan State sandwiched in between. The regular season finale, of course, won't be easy either, as the Ohio State Buckeyes loom for a clash in Columbus.

Big Ten SOS Rankings (Score)

1. Michigan State (34.05% overall; 21.27% conference)

2. Maryland (31.89% overall; 18.71% conference)

3. Michigan (25.68% overall; 11.29% conference)

4. Purdue (25.01% overall; 10.49% conference)

5. Iowa (23.33% overall; 8.48% conference)

6. Nebraska (17.38% overall; 1.38% conference)

7. Wisconsin (15.92% overall; -0.36% conference)

8. Minnesota (12.57% overall; -4.37% conference)

9. Penn State (10.96% overall; -6.29% conference)

10. Ohio State (10.27% overall; -7.11% conference)

11. Rutgers (9.63% overall; -7.87% conference)

12. Indiana (8.35% overall; -9.40% conference)

13. Northwestern (3.92% overall; -14.69% conference)

14. Illinois (-1.82% overall; -21.54% conference)

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