Phil Steele has Alabama ranked with the toughest schedule in college football

The SEC is historically one of the tougher — if not the toughest — conference in college football, so any teams player outside of the conference only makes things more difficult.

For Alabama, a mixture of playing Wisconsin to open the season, plus playing a few competitive SEC East squads gives the Crimson Tide the most difficult schedule this season.

Aside from the normal SEC West foes, Alabama plays at Georgia October 3 and hosts Tennessee October 24.

If the Tide hopes to be back in the College Football Playoffs, they'll need another strong year against some of the top teams in the country.