Scheduling matters more than ever before in the College Football Playoff era. As we've seen in the short history of the CFP, it's one of the biggest factors in deciding who gets a shot to play for a national title and who does not. It's not just whether you win your conference but who you play along the way. It's also proven that it's not just about who you have beaten, but who you lost to during the season.

Both Ohio State and Alabama made their way into the final four the last two years without winning their conference thanks in large part to the schedule they played. In the case of the Pac-12, recent history suggests that it's not just who you play, but the when matters, too. Last year, we saw the Pac-12's best teams playing Friday night road games less than a week after playing Saturday road games, and time and again, they lost those games. USC was one such victim, and the Trojans also suffered by playing 12 straight weeks without a bye. This is an example of what makes some schedules more difficult than others, and it's a factor I consider while trying to figure out what makes some schedules more difficult than others.

Methodology: It's hard to know with any certainty seeing as how the season doesn't start for another few months, and while no process is perfect, this one provides a good overview. I took a look at how every team performed over the last five years in my ranking system. While there are always exceptions, teams tend to find their level over a longer time span, hence the five-year period. I then considered other factors like whether a game is on the road, or if a team is coming off a bye week, allowing them extra time to get healthy and prepare. I put all this information together and came out with a ranking system I believe to be fairly accurate.

Let's take a look at how the Pac-12 strength of schedule shakes out, from toughest to easiest.