If Alabama is to return to the College Football Playoff for the third consecutive season, the team will need to navigate a brutal away schedule.

Measuring the difficulty of a team’s schedule is mostly subjective. Among the objective ways to make a determination, things such as previous contests, last season’s results and this season’s expectations were all taken into consideration.

One could also factor in the how daunting some of the opposing stadiums are. Based on seating capacity alone, LSU and Tennessee’s stadiums are two of the three biggest in the SEC. Each of them seats more than 102,000 fans and are among the more difficult atmospheres for opposing teams.

In addition to opening the season at a neutral site against a solid USC squad, Alabama faces road tests against LSU, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Arkansas. Such a schedule constitutes what is likely to be three or possibly more top 25 teams.

Ole Miss faces a similarly challenging road schedule with LSU, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. Once a perennial punching bag, Vanderbilt is getting some attention from pundits who think the Commodores just might be a surprise contender in the SEC East.

Such predictions may seem a little far-fetched, but former Stanford defensive coordinator and current Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason at least made some strides in his second year on the defensive side of the ball. Combine that with the fact that the Commodores return a top SEC running back in Ralph Webb, and the team may at least exceed modest expectations.

Alabama’s cross-state rival Auburn faces a tough road schedule, too. The Tigers play Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and rivals Georgia and Alabama on the road. Given the heated nature of the Iron Bowl and the sheer size of Bryant-Denny stadium, Auburn’s final SEC game may also be its most challenging. Georgia figures to be one of the better teams in the SEC East, widely viewed as just a shade below early SEC East favorite Tennessee.

Mississippi State has a brutal road schedule, although the Bulldogs draw Kentucky from the East, not an easy task but one of the less formidable ones in the SEC. Aside from Kentucky, Mississippi State faces rival Ole Miss, LSU, and Alabama among SEC foes. Additionally, the team will play BYU in Provo. BYU lost 20-16 last season to Missouri, but the team also finished the season with a 9-4 record overall.

Other SEC teams face difficult games away from home, but only Ole Miss and Mississippi State have comparable schedules in terms of difficulty. Ole Miss and Alabama both face LSU and Arkansas, while Ole Miss has the difficult task of traveling to Kyle Field. Among SEC East opponents, Ole Miss faces Vanderbilt, while Alabama is tasked with early SEC East favorite Tennessee.

One could easily argue Ole Miss has the tougher schedule for two reasons:

  1. The team faces LSU immediately following a road game against Arkansas, while Alabama has a bye week to prepare for LSU.
  2. Ole Miss opens the season versus Florida State in Orlando. It isn’t formally a road game, but it may as well amount to one in geographical terms.

Ultimately, Mississippi State probably earns the dubious honor of most difficult SEC road schedule. The Bulldogs face both LSU and Alabama on the road with LSU being the team’s first SEC road game without the benefit of a bye week. The Bulldogs close out the season with a home game against Texas A&M, followed by a road game at Bryant-Denny, followed by a home game against Arkansas, capped by a road game at Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl.

Yes, the Bulldogs face Kentucky from the SEC East, but let’s face it: Any SEC game is unlikely to be an easy win anymore. Also, Mississippi State faces a non-conference opponent on the road, one that went to a bowl game last season and figures to be better this season.

Breaking down Alabama’s road schedule starts with Week 3, a road trip to Oxford. Alabama has just two regular-season losses during the last two seasons, and both came at the hands of Ole Miss. In Week 6, the Crimson Tide travel to Fayetteville. The Hogs have played the Tide close over the last two seasons, including a narrow 14-13 loss in Razorback Stadium two seasons ago.

The following week sees Alabama take a trip to Knoxville. The Vols gave the Tide a true test last season, falling 19-14.

Probably the most difficult road game of the season is Week 10 in Baton Rouge. Alabama has escaped by 7 points or fewer in each of the four games played in Death Valley under Nick Saban, including two overtime victories.

Alabama has managed to make the CFP each of the last two seasons with one blemish, so the Tide can possibly afford to drop one of these five tough games away from Tuscaloosa en route to representing the SEC once again.