Looking ahead to the 2024 college football season here are the ten most difficult schedules among Group of 5 teams.

Choosing the top Ten toughest out of conference schedules among Group of 5 college football teams is always pretty difficult.  There are about 15 or 25 teams worthy of this list. The metrics for this list were: teams had to have at least two non-conference games against A4/P4 team with one game being held at home.  Here are the top ten toughest non-conference schedules:

Honorable Mention: Kent State

08/31 – at Pitt
09/07 – Saint Francis
09/14 – at Tennessee
09/21 – at Penn State

Kent State is not ranked because they don’t host a A4/P4 team at home. However, they do have a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule. The matchup with Penn State is a rescheduled game from the canceled 2020 non-conference season due to the pandemic and Kent State is receiving 1.5 Million for the match. They will also receive $1.1 million from Pitt and $1.35 million from Tennessee for a grand total of 3.85 million for all three road games.

10. UNLV

08/31 – at Houston
09/07 – Utah Tech
09/14 – at Kansas
10/05 – Syracuse

UNLV will kick off its season on the road against Houston. The Rebels also have non-conference home matchup against Utah Tech and then travel to Kansas and finish by hosting Syracuse at home. The Sept 14 game will be a rematch from last year’s Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The Jayhawks defeated UNLV 49-36 on Dec. 26, 2023.

9. MTSU

MTSU’s non-conference slate includes one FCS contest against Tennessee Tech, one Group of Five matchup at Memphis, and two Power Four clashes vs. Duke and at Ole Miss. The Rebels will dish out $1.6 million to the Blue Raiders, who visit Oxford on Sept. 7.

8. Old Dominion 

08/31 – at South Carolina
09/07 – East Carolina
09/14 – Virginia Tech
09/28 – at Bowling Green

Old Dominion’s non-conference slate includes two Group of Five matchups vs. East Carolina and at Bowling Green, and two Power Four clashes at South Carolina and vs. Virginia Tech. South Carolina will pay ODU a $1.5 million guarantee to play in Columbia’s Williams-Brice Stadium. It will be the largest payout ODU has ever received.

7. Nevada

08/24 – SMU
08/31 – at Troy
09/07 – Georgia Southern
09/14 – at Minnesota

Nevada’s non-conference slate includes a week zero home game versus ACC’s newest member SMU. The Wolfpack also have two Group of Five matchups at Troy and vs. Georgia Southern, and a Power Four clash at Minnesota which they will receive $1.2 million to make the trip.

6. Wyoming

08/31 – at Arizona State
09/07 – Idaho
09/14 – BYU
09/21 – at North Texas

Wyoming’s non-conference slate includes a game against Washington State as part of the Mountain West’s scheduling agreement with the teams left in the Pac-12. Wyoming also has one FCS contest against Idaho, one Group of Five matchup at North Texas, and two Power Four clashes at Arizona State and vs. at home versus BYU.

5. Utah State

08/31 – Robert Morris
09/07 – at USC
09/14 – Utah
09/21 – at Temple

Utah State opens the season hosting Robert Morris, an FCS program in Pennsylvania. The game at USC will be the third meeting between the two programs since 2013, with the Aggies 0-6 all-time against USC. The Aggies and Utes meet for the 113th time. It’s the first encounter between the two sides since 2015, with Utah owning a 79-30 advantage in the series after winning the last one, 24-14. The Temple Owls are an inaugural combatant.

4. Colorado State

08/31 – at TEXAS
09/07 – Northern Colorado
09/14 – Colorado
09/21 – UTEP

Colorado State’s non-conference slate includes a game against Oregon State as part of the Mountain West’s scheduling agreement with the teams left in the Pac-12. CSU also has one FCS contest against Northern Colorado, one Group of Five matchup vs. UTEP, and two Power Four clashes at Texas and vs. Colorado. The The $1.8 million guarantee from Texas will match the second-largest payment the Rams have received for a single game.

3. South Florida

08/31 – Bethune-Cookman
09/07 – at Alabama
09/14 – at Southern Miss
09/21 – Miami

The Bulls’ non-conference slate includes one FCS contest against Bethune-Cookman, one Group of Five matchup at Southern Miss, and two Power Five clashes at Alabama and vs. Miami.

2. Tulane

08/29 – SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
09/07 – Kansas State Wildcats
09/14 – at Oklahoma
09/21 – Louisiana

Tulane’s non-conference schedule starts with hosting FCS opponent Southeastern Louisiana. After that, they will have one of the most challenging stretches of the season with back-to-back games against P4 opponents (Kansas State and Oklahoma) who finished last season ranked in the AP Top 25. Tulane wraps up their out of conference slate by hosting Group of Five Louisiana.

1. Miami (Ohio)

08/31 – at Northwestern
09/14 – Cincinnati
09/21 – at Notre Dame
09/28 – Umass

Miami’s non-conference slate includes three games versus Power 4 opponents and one Group of five game. The Redhawks were MACtion champions in 2023 and didn’t allow more than 28 points to a non-Miami team. 2024 will have road trips to Northwestern and Notre Dame as well as games at home against Cincinnati and UMass.