ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

We spent part of this week previewing the second half of the season while offering some predictions. Well, those prognostications have to take the schedule into account.

So who's got the hardest roads the rest of the way, and who has the easiest paths? Here's my attempt at ranking the degree-of-difficulty in the remaining Big East schedule, from most stringent to softest:

1. South Florida: The Bulls have to play at Pitt and against West Virginia in the next eight days, and they get No. 10 Miami on Nov. 28. Plus, they'll have to go on the road to Rutgers and UConn in potentially unfamiliar cold weather.

2. Louisville: Bad news for the 2-4 Cardinals. They still have to go on the road to Cincinnati, West Virginia and South Florida and will be double-digit underdogs at all three spots. The only slam-dunk victory left is Arkansas State on Halloween, and the Red Wolves nearly won at Iowa.


3. Pittsburgh: The Panthers are 3-0 in the Big East, but the toughest games remain. They get South Florida this week, then finish up the year at West Virginia and home to Cincinnati. Plus, they play Notre Dame. On the positive side, four of the final five are at home.

4. West Virginia: The Mountaineers must deal with an emotionally-charged game against UConn this week, then go play at South Florida on a Friday night, a situation in which they've lost before. They also must travel to Cincinnati and get Pitt at home Nov. 27.

5. UConn: The Huskies have three very difficult road trips in the next four games: at West Virginia this week, at Cincinnati on Nov. 7 and at Notre Dame on Nov. 21. They do finish up with two at home and get South Florida on Dec. 5 at Rentschler Field.

6. Syracuse: The Orange have gotten West Virginia and South Florida out of the way but still have to go to Pitt and play Cincinnati. This week's game against Akron should be a layup.

7. Rutgers: The severe schedule advantage doesn't look so hot the rest of the way, with four of the final six on the road. Still, those include not-too-taxing trips to Army, Louisville and Syracuse. The toughest tests, West Virginia and South Florida, will be in Piscataway.

8. Cincinnati: Scary thought for the rest of the league: the Bearcats have a relatively easy go of things from here on out. Four of their final six are at home, and one of the road games is at Syracuse. West Virginia on Nov. 13 and at Pitt on Dec. 5 look like the only serious challenges.