Tough schedules and the SEC West go hand-in-hand. Every team in the nation’s toughest division runs the gauntlet. No team is immune.

Because every team must face each other, that fact alone guarantees that SEC West members will be among those who must endure the strongest schedules in the nation. Here’s a look at each team in the SEC West and its toughest three-game stretch.

Alabama (Oct. 8-22)

  • at Arkansas
  • at Tennessee
  • vs. Texas A&M

Notes: Battling SEC teams is tough enough. Taking it on the road is a monumental task. That’s what Alabama faces when it travels to Arkansas and Tennessee in consecutive weeks. It’s the Tide’s only back-to-back road games in the upcoming schedule. Arkansas is always tough at home, and many believe Tennessee is the team to beat in the East. A big game with SEC West foe Texas A&M follows. Alabama can’t afford to let its guard down after those two big road matchups.

Arkansas (Oct. 8-22)

  • vs. Alabama
  • vs. Ole Miss
  • at Auburn

Notes: Having to face defending national champion Alabama and rising SEC West power Ole Miss in consecutive weeks would be enough to burst the bubble of most teams. Luckily, the Razorbacks have both of them at home. Still, that’s hardly a consolation for this brutal back-to-back. Then, the Razorbacks must go on the road and play an Auburn team that looks to rebound from a disappointing 2015.

Auburn (Oct. 8-29)

  • at Mississippi State
  • vs. Arkansas
  • at Ole Miss

Notes: Any stretch that involves playing all SEC West teams is probably going to be the toughest for any team. The Tigers must start this stretch on a winning note, but traveling to Starkville and coming away victorious is easier said than done. Auburn then draws a bye before hosting an Arkansas team that has proven over the last couple of years to be better as the season wears on. Then, a visit to Ole Miss completes a daunting task that faces Auburn in October.

LSU (Oct. 22-Nov. 12)

  • vs. Ole Miss
  • vs. Alabama
  • at Arkansas

Notes: LSU’s most challenging run through the 2016 schedule is coincidentally with the very same group of teams that did in the Tigers last season. LSU was 7-0, headed for the College Football Playoff and boasting the Heisman Trophy frontrunner, when they ran into this collective brick wall. The Tigers have Ole Miss and Alabama at home with a bye week in between before marching off to meet an Arkansas team waiting to ambush.

Mississippi (Oct. 15-29)

  • at Arkansas
  • at LSU
  • vs. Auburn

Notes: Once again, any three-game portion of the schedule that includes SEC West teams will probably be the most demanding. That’s the case here when Ole Miss has to travel on consecutive weeks to Arkansas and LSU. If they can survive that, Auburn pays a visit for a late-October game that could hold division-deciding ramifications.

Mississippi State (Nov. 12-26)

  • at Alabama
  • vs. Arkansas
  • at Ole Miss

Notes: The Bulldogs had better be prepared for the close of the season. This is among the most demanding of finishes that any team could draw in the regular season. The Bulldogs must go to Alabama before hosting an Arkansas team that plays like champions at the end of the season. Then, the Egg Bowl at Ole Miss brings the curtain down on a brutal end-of-season slate.

Texas A&M (Oct. 1-22)

  • at South Carolina
  • vs. Tennessee
  • at Alabama

Notes: The Aggies must navigate through this collection of games if they hope to improve on consecutive 8-5 seasons. Starting with a road game at South Carolina is doable. The Gamecocks are in a transitional period, and the Aggies must take advantage before they must host rising SEC East power Tennessee and then travel to Alabama.

It’s almost unfair what SEC West teams must endure over the course of the regular season.