"Clemson ain't played nobody, Paul!" This time of year in college football, strength of schedule and schools' non-conference schedules, in particular, is a hot debate item as they can determine who does or doesn't get in the College Football Playoff. The same goes for college basketball when March Madness rolls around. 

While not as important team-wise in wrestling, non-conference duals and tournaments provide wrestlers with the opportunity to earn quality wins for their NCAA Championships resumes. However, they do make for fun matchups that we as wrestling fans don't get the chance to see very often. Before the season begins Friday afternoon on FloWrestling, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the teams wrestling the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. 

Since every conference doesn't wrestle the same amount of conference duals, not all schedules are built the same. For example, the Big Ten wrestles nine conference duals where smaller conferences such as the ACC or the Pac-12 only wrestle five. Because of this, and the difficulty of their conference (eight teams in the top 25 including the top four), Big Ten schools typically have fewer and not as strong non-conference duals. ACC and Pac-12 duals must fill more dates than the bigger conferences and, as you can see by the list below, they have filled those dates with very tough competition. Finally, while the Ivy League does have a dual meet champion every year, I considered all Ivy schools as EIWA members since that is the conference they must wrestle in to qualify for the NCAA Championships. 

1.  Arizona State

Neutral: Purdue, #21 Virginia

Home: #1 Penn State, #24 Campbell, #11 Iowa State, Harvard 

Away: #3 Ohio State, #7 Missouri, #9 Lehigh, #20 North Carolina

Tournaments: Journeymen Collegiate Classic, CKLV

Bravo, Sun Devils. Arizona State will wrestle 10 non-conference D1 duals this season and nine of them will be against ranked teams, four of which are ranked in the top 10 to begin the season including #1 and defending NCAA champion Penn State. To make things tougher, all four true road duals are away from Tempe and three of them will be against top 10 opponents. Add in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic the day after squaring off against Purdue and Virginia, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite, and you are looking at the toughest non-conference schedule in the country. 

2. Missouri

Neutral: #23 Illinois, #17 Cornell, #8 Lehigh, #13 NC State

Home: #11 Iowa State, #4 Arizona State 

Away: #18 Virginia Tech, #12 Northern Iowa, #6 Oklahoma State

Tournaments: Southeast Open, Lindenwood Open, Cougar Clash

Year in and year out, Brian Smith always makes sure the Tigers have one of the toughest dual schedules in the country, and this year is no different. The Tigers have nine D1 duals this season and all nine will be against a ranked foe. 

You could certainly make the case that Missouri has the toughest non-conference schedule, but I gave the nod to Arizona State because they face more top 10 opponents, #1 Penn State, and go to the toughest in-season tournament, CKLV. 

3. Princeton

Home: #2 Iowa, Rider, Rutgers

Away: #6 Oklahoma State, #20 North Carolina, #13 North Carolina State

Tournaments: Princeton Open, Midlands, F&M Open

While strength of schedule is largely determined by the quality of opponents, it also takes into account travel and when these duals take place and that is why Princeton is so high on the list.

On Friday, December 6, the Tigers travel to Historic Gallagher-Iba Arena for a showdown with #3 Oklahoma State. You would think after traveling back home Princeton would have the rest of the weekend off. Wrong. On Sunday, December 8, Princeton hosts #2 Iowa.

Just a little over a month later, the Tigers head south for a Friday night dual with #20 North Carolina. Less than 18 hours later Princeton will hit the mat again when they take on #13 NC State. 

The only two non-conference opponents that Princeton will dual this season that are not ranked are in-state rivals Rutgers and Rider. 

4. Oklahoma State

Home: #8 Minnesota, #15 Princeton, #14 Pittsburgh, #7 Missouri

Away: Drexel, #9 Lehigh, #2 Iowa

Tournaments: Southern Scuffle

Oklahoma State is no stranger to tough schedules with longstanding rivalries against Minnesota, Missouri, and Iowa each year. This year the Cowboys get the Gophers and Tigers in Stillwater but must go to the always-hostile Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

5. Cornell

Neutral: #7 Missouri, #25 Wyoming

Home: #13 North Carolina State, #18 Virginia Tech, #20 North Carolina

Away: #3 Ohio State, Rutgers, Lock Haven

Tournaments: Cornell Open, CKLV

Despite Olympic redshirting four starters from a season ago, Cornell will once again challenge themselves with one of the toughest schedules in the country. Six of the Big Red's eight non-conference duals come against ranked foes and the two that aren't ranked, Rutgers and Lock Haven, come on the road in what will be hostile environments. 

6. Lehigh

Neutral: #25 Wyoming, #13 NC State

Home: #6 Oklahoma State, #14 Pittsburgh, #1 Penn State, #4 Arizona State

Away: None

Tournaments: Princeton Open, Journeymen Collegiate Classic

A year ago Lehigh had arguably the toughest schedule in the country and this year is no different. The biggest difference this year is that all of the Mountain Hawk's non-conference duals come at home or a neutral site which is why they are not higher on the list despite all six of their non-conference dual opponents being ranked in the top 25 preseason. 

7. Northern Iowa

Home: #10 Nebraska

Away: #16 Northwestern, #4 Wisconsin

Tournaments: Harold Nichols Open, CKLV, UNI Open, Midlands

While UNI doesn't as many ranked non-conference duals as some teams on this list, all three of them come against top 16 teams and two of them come on the road. The Panthers also are the only team on this list to go Cliff Keen Las Vegas and one of the holiday tournaments as they will be at the Midlands Championships. 

8. Virginia Tech

Home: #7 Missouri, #16 Northwestern, Chattanooga, West Virginia

Away: #3 Ohio State, Central Michigan, Binghamton, #17 Cornell, #21 Old Dominion

Tournaments: Southeast Open, Navy Classic, CKLV

Five of Virginia Tech's nine non-conference opponents are ranked with two in the top seven. The Hokies also go to three very solid in-season tournaments including the toughest one in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite. 

9. Ohio State

Home: Stanford, #18 Virginia Tech, #17 Cornell, #4 Arizona State

Away: #14 Pittsburgh

Tournaments: Michigan State Open, CKLV

The rare Big Ten team on the list, Ohio State used their five non-conference dates to schedule four top 18 opponents. The good news for Buckeye faithful is that four of those duals will take place in the brand-new Covelli Center. The Buckeyes also begin the season at the Michigan State Open which is always one of the toughest opens and travel to the loaded Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite in early December. 

10. Pittsburgh

Home: Campbell, #3 Ohio State, Edinboro, Davidson

Away: #9 Lehigh, West Virginia, Drexel, Maryland, #6 Oklahoma State

Tournaments: Michigan State Open, Southern Scuffle 

I could have gone a lot of directions with this number ten spot, but I elected to go with Pitt who has three ranked duals all against top 9 teams with two of them coming on the road. The Panthers top their dual schedule off with two tough tournaments at the Michigan State Open and Southern Scuffle.