There has been a lot made of the difficulties of the SEC schedule, especially now that the conference is going to nine games.
But when you break down the numbers, according to ESPN's FPI...the Florida Gators still have a really hard schedule and one that they will have to manage in Jon Sumrall's first year as a head coach.
This season, the SEC will start a 9-game conference schedule 🗓️
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) July 28, 2026
A likely result of the additional conference game is that every SEC team has a strength of schedule in the Top-20, according to ESPN Analytics. pic.twitter.com/F5o3b9qomt
Florida has the 7th-toughest schedule in the country according to the metric, which is also the 7th toughest in the SEC and that's still tougher than any schedule in the Big Ten.
Arkansas has the toughest schedule in the country, followed by Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Ohio State comes in at No. 8, making it the toughest schedule of a non-SEC team. Fourteen of the 15 toughest schedules are in the SEC, with Vanderbilt (18th) and Georgia (20th) the only conference programs outside the top 15.
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Jon Sumrall isn't going to whine about Florida's schedule, nor should he
There's no such thing as an easy schedule in the SEC. Even Georgia's 20th-ranked schedule has three playoff teams (Oklahoma, Alabama and Ole Miss) plus Auburn, Florida, Missouri and Georgia Tech. Plenty of opportunities to stub your toe.
Florida obviously has that crazy three-game stretch of Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma — two playoff teams—and the Longhorns, who could be ranked No. 1 when the Gators head to Austin to play them on October 17.
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"Yeah, it's a big game because you're playing Texas, and they're really good," Sumrall said last week at SEC Media Days. "Every SEC game is a big game. Every game is a big game. I don't change; don't matter who we play. Doesn't change the prep. It stays the same."
How does the Florida schedule compare to last year?
Last year, the Gators played seven ranked teams in a nine-game stretch and six of them were inside the top-10 when the game was played. Florida went 1-6 in those contests with the lone win coming against Texas.
This schedule isn't that treacherous. Outside the aforementioned three-game stretch, the only other team on the schedule that should be ranked is Ole Miss, who comes to the Swamp on September 26. Other teams like Missouri and South Carolina are less certain, while Vanderbilt and Kentucky are not likely to be top-25 teams this season.
As we said, there's nothing easy at this conference. Who knows if Missouri and/or South Carolina get hot early and become a real contender. Maybe Oklahoma proves not to be as tough as anticipated. There are a lot of variables, but it's a safe bet that Florida will be in for a wild ride in the SEC. And, win or lose, Sumrall doesn't expect anyone to feel sorry for the Gators, and he doesn't want to hear it anyway.
"Team rule in our team is no whining, no complaining, no excuses," he said. "I have the same rule at my house."
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