How Alabama football’s strength of schedule stacks up vs. top teams in college football

Alabama football currently holds the No. 6 spot in the AP poll, but when looking at ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) strength of schedule rankings Alabama’s ranking is significantly higher than the rankings the five teams ahead of the Crimson Tide in the AP poll received.

As of Oct. 17, ESPN’s FPI ranks Alabama football’s strength of schedule No. 2 in all of college football, and the only team ahead of the Tide is the Florida Gators.

Before 2025 season began, Alabama’s strength of schedule was 10th in the nation, and the Crimson Tide are now slated eight spots higher in this metric. Their remaining strength of schedule is 22nd as the Crimson Tide have two ranked opponents and three unranked opponents remaining.

When looking at the strength of schedules of Ohio State, Miami, Indiana, Texas A&M and Ole Miss, the team that has a ranking closest to Alabama is Miami, a team that has already survived the hardest part of their 2025 schedule.

Here are the overall strength of schedule rankings and remaining strength of schedule rankings for the five teams ranked ahead of Alabama:

No. 1 Ohio State

Strength of schedule: 21st

Remaining strength of schedule: 44th

No. 2 Miami

Strength of schedule: 14th

Remaining strength of schedule: 66th

No. 3 Indiana

Strength of schedule: 17th

Remaining strength of schedule: 51st

No. 4 Texas A&M

Strength of schedule: 20th

Remaining strength of schedule: 12th

No. 5 Ole Miss

Strength of schedule: 63rd

Remaining strength of schedule: 23rd

It is worth pointing out that Alabama beats every one of these teams in the strength of schedule metric, and the only team that has a tougher remaining schedule is Texas A&M, a team that will face No. 1o LSU, No. 16 Missouri and No. 21 Texas before the season is over.

When looking at the entire SEC, Ole Miss has the easiest schedule in the conference, so if the Rebels slip up one or twice at some point in the season, then there will not much of a resume to present to the playoff committee.

Ohio State, Miami and Indiana have handled business in the early part of the season, defeating multiple ranked teams. Each program will have a favorable path to the postseason unless one school struggles and loses multiple games in a row like Penn State.

Sure, Alabama, a team with a 6-1 record against the second-toughest schedule in all of college football, should receive more love, and yes, the Florida State loss could still be in the minds of AP voters, but the most important thing Alabama can do to secure the top spot in the College Football Playoff is keep winning and conquer the SEC by going to Atlanta and winning the SEC Championship.

It’s interesting to look at these metrics from ESPN’s FPI right now as the regular season is halfway done, but the Crimson Tide control their destiny. If the Crimson Tide win out and capture conference gold, then they are going to have a great shot at getting a bye.