Guessing schedule strength before a season can be a fool's errand, the writer wrote just before running that errand.
For instance, at this time a year ago, a person could have looked at a team in the Big Ten West Division that had Michigan State as one of its crossover opponents and considered that some kind of chore.
They played ball and the Spartans finished 1-8 in Big Ten play. Remember when Wisconsin's schedule was supposed to bury the Badgers in 2016? They still finished 7-2 and won the division. (That's something to remember before it's decided Nebraska's 2018 season should be canceled since it includes road games at Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Northwestern)
But .