Tough row to hoe

Phil Steele of PhilSteele.com and Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has his own formula for ranking the 2011 college football schedules.

According to Steele, Iowa State will need to be made of steel to withstand what it’s up against. What, playing Big East champion Connecticut on the road, Insight Bowl-champ Iowa at home, and nine Big 12 games against the likes of Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State is demanding?

The Cyclones’ 12 opponents had a combined record of 95-59 last year.

Iowa’s 12 foes were a combined 77-73 in 2010. The Hawkeyes play no one who appeared in a BCS bowl last season.

Steele doesn’t make his rankings on 2010 W-L marks, though. He takes home-and-road into consideration, as well as if an opponent is FBS instead of FCS. To see Steele’s complete schedule rankings, click here.

He ranks Big Ten schedules thusly:

17. Michigan, 21. Minnesota, 32. Ohio State, 36. Indiana, 41. Purdue, 47. Nebraska, 48. Illinois, 55. Penn State, 58. Michigan State, 59. Northwestern, 70. Iowa, 71. Wisconsin

Colorado is the team ranked above Iowa State for hardest schedule.

The Iowa State slate:

* Conference Games

Iowa’s schedule:

2011-2012 SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time
09/03/11	vs. Tennessee Tech	Iowa City, IA	11:00 AM
09/10/11	at Iowa State	Ames, IA	11:00 AM
09/17/11	vs. Pittsburgh	Iowa City, IA	11:00 AM
09/24/11	vs. Louisiana-Monroe	Iowa City, IA	TBA
10/08/11	at Penn State *	University Park, PA	TBA
10/15/11	vs. Northwestern *	Iowa City, IA	6:00 PM
10/22/11	vs. Indiana (HC) *	Iowa City, IA	11:00 AM
10/29/11	at Minnesota *	Minneapolis, MN	TBA
11/05/11	vs. Michigan *	Iowa City, IA	TBA
11/12/11	vs. Michigan State (FW, FA, S) *	Iowa City, IA	TBA
11/19/11	at Purdue *	West Lafayette, IN	TBA
11/25/11	at Nebraska *	Lincoln, NE	11:00 AM