Every year the most knowledgeable college football minds in the media and in sports handicapping predict how the season will play out including which teams are most likely to reach the national championship game. Sometimes they are right, but sometimes they are completely off with a number of key factors tripping up their predictions along the way. One of the most important factors is the college football schedule as some teams simply have tougher slates than others. Here is a look at the top four contenders with the toughest path to the national championship game. Florida State (ACC) The Seminoles managed to make it to a “New Year’s Six” bowl in a rebuilding season in 2015. With 17 returning starters including 11 on offense, expectations are much higher for Florida State heading in to the 2016 season. There is no doubt that Jimbo Fisher has some impressive talent at his disposal but FSU’s schedule is loaded with tough opponents that could trip them up along the way. The Seminoles will open the year with a tough challenge from Ole Miss in Orlando and while a loss in that game wouldn’t destroy their national title hopes it certainly wouldn’t help. Florida State should be able to handle Louisville and USF but they open October with a home game against North Carolina before visiting Miami and those are two tough opponents that have the potential to knock them off course. A couple of weeks later will be the ACC showdown everybody has pegged as one of the games of the year with the Seminoles set to host the defending ACC champion Clemson. Florida State will likely have to survive each of those two opponents to be in the national title picture in to November but they still have a couple of tough opponents to close out the year with a road game at Syracuse followed by a home date with Florida in their regular season finale. The Seminoles have the talent to contend but their schedule is loaded with potential landmines that could blow their national titles hopes away. …
Continue Reading: 4 Teams With The Toughest Path To The National Championship
