Iowa State has the 2nd-hardest football schedule in college football, says Phil Steele. Iowa? 70th.

Phil Steele of PhilSteele.com and Phil Steele's College Football Preview has his own formula for ranking the 2011 college football schedules.

According to Steele, Iowa State will need to be made of steel to withstand what it's up against. What, playing Big East champion Connecticut on the road, Insight Bowl-champ Iowa at home, and nine Big 12 games against the likes of Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State is demanding?

The Cyclones' 12 opponents had a combined record of 95-59 last year.

Iowa's 12 foes were a combined 77-73 in 2010. The Hawkeyes play no one who appeared in a BCS bowl last season.

Steele doesn't make his rankings on 2010 W-L marks, though. He takes home-and-road into consideration, as well as if an opponent is FBS instead of FCS. To see Steele's complete schedule rankings, click here.

He ranks Big Ten schedules thusly:

17. Michigan, 21. Minnesota, 32. Ohio State, 36. Indiana, 41. Purdue, 47. Nebraska, 48. Illinois, 55. Penn State, 58. Michigan State, 59. Northwestern, 70. Iowa, 71. Wisconsin

Colorado is the team ranked above Iowa State for hardest schedule.

The Iowa State slate:

Date

Opponent

Location

Time (CST)

Results

Media

  Sat, Sep 03

 Northern Iowa

Ames, Iowa

  6:00 p.m.

  Sat, Sep 10

 Iowa

Ames, Iowa

  11:00 a.m.

FSN

  Fri, Sep 16

 Connecticut

at East Hartford, Conn.

  7:00 p.m.

ESPN/ESPN2

  Sat, Oct 01

 Texas (Family Weekend) *

Ames, Iowa

  TBA

  Sat, Oct 08

 Baylor *

at Waco, Texas

  TBA

  Sat, Oct 15

 Missouri *

at Columbia, Mo.

  TBA

  Sat, Oct 22

 Texas A&M (Homecoming) *

Ames, Iowa

  TBA

  Sat, Oct 29

 Texas Tech *

at Lubbock, Texas

  TBA

  Sat, Nov 05

 Kansas *

Ames, Iowa

  TBA

  Fri, Nov 18

 Oklahoma State *

Ames, Iowa

  8:00 p.m.

ESPN2

  Sat, Nov 26

 Oklahoma *

at Norman, Okla.

  7:00 p.m.

FX

  Sat, Dec 03

 Kansas State *

at Manhattan, Kan.

  11:30 a.m.

FSN

* Conference Games

Iowa's schedule:

2011-2012 SCHEDULE

Date

Opponent / Event

Location

Time

09/03/11

vs. Tennessee Tech

Iowa City, IA

11:00 AM

09/10/11

at Iowa State

Ames, IA

11:00 AM

09/17/11

vs. Pittsburgh

Iowa City, IA

11:00 AM

09/24/11

vs. Louisiana-Monroe

Iowa City, IA

TBA

10/08/11

at Penn State *

University Park, PA

TBA

10/15/11

vs. Northwestern *

Iowa City, IA

6:00 PM

10/22/11

vs. Indiana (HC) *

Iowa City, IA

11:00 AM

10/29/11

at Minnesota *

Minneapolis, MN

TBA

11/05/11

vs. Michigan *

Iowa City, IA

TBA

11/12/11

vs. Michigan State (FW, FA, S) *

Iowa City, IA

TBA

11/19/11

at Purdue *

West Lafayette, IN

TBA

11/25/11

at Nebraska *

Lincoln, NE

11:00 AM