When choosing best non-conference game, a matchup can only be used once. So even though it includes teams from two Power 5 leagues, it will only be mentioned once. So don't be angry if it's listed in one place but not another.
Of course, once the season begins all of this will change. The schedule that looked intimidating will turn out to be a dud, while the one that was laughed at will suddenly look formidable.
Here is a breakdown of all of the Power 5 conference non-league schedules:
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE 
It's apparent that the league feels Notre Dame is a de facto member, even though it went back to its Independent status after the COVID season of 2020. Five ACC squads will play the Fighting Irish in 2023, including 2022 Irish victim Clemson. Tennessee, Texas A&M, Florida, South Carolina and Cincinnati dot ACC schedules, which on the whole are not terrible. UConn appears on three ACC slates, while Old Dominion will face a pair of league teams.
Kudos to Florida State, which has LSU and Florida as bookends on its schedule, and a home contest against Southern Miss that may not be the cakewalk everyone expects.
BEST NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Notre Dame at Clemson
SNEAKY GOOD NON-CONFERENCE GAME
James Madison at Virginia
UNDERACHIEVERS NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Texas A&M at Miami
BRAINIAC NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Northwestern at Duke
1 FLORIDA STATE: vs LSU/Southern Miss/North Alabama/Florida
2 NORTH CAROLINA: vs South Carolina/Appalachian State/Minnesota/Campbell
3 PITTSBURGH: Wofford/Cincinnati/at West Virginia/at Notre Dame
4 CLEMSON: Charleston Southern/Florida Atlantic/Notre Dame/South Carolina
5 VIRGINIA: v Tennessee/James Madison/at Maryland/William & Mary
6 GEORGIA TECH: South Carolina State/at Ole Miss/Bowling Green/Georgia
7 LOUISVILLE: Murray State/vs Indiana/Notre Dame/Kentucky
8 VIRGINIA TECH: Old Dominion/Purdue/at Rutgers/at Marshall
9 MIAMI: Miami Ohio/Texas A&M/Bethune-Cookman/at Temple
10 WAKE FOREST: Elon/Vanderbilt/at Old Dominion/at Notre Dame
11 NC STATE: at UConn/Notre Dame/VMI/Marshall
12 DUKE: Lafayette/Northwestern/at UConn/Notre Dame
13 SYRACUSE: Colgate/Western Michigan/at Purdue/Army
14 BOSTON COLLEGE: Northern Illinois/Holy Cross/at Army/UConn
Quite often the poster child of exemplary non-league scheduling, the Big Ten this year has really dumbed things down. Seven teams have scheduled FCS opponents, one has zero Power 5 foes and just one faces two teams from a Power 5 league. Bravo, Big Ten -- you've stopped pretending that you at least wanted to be challenged in the early portion of the season. Now it's simply a walkthrough.
BEST NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Ohio State at Notre Dame
SNEAKY GOOD NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Eastern Michigan at Minnesota
REALLY A BIG 12 NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Nebraska at Colorado
RIVALRY RENEWED NON-CONFERENCE GAME
West Virgina at Penn State (played every season from 1947-1992, but not since).
1 PURDUE: at Virginia Tech/Syracuse/Fresno State
2 MINNESOTA: Eastern Michigan/at North Carolina/Louisiana
3 IOWA: Utah State/at Iowa State/Western Michigan
4 WISCONSIN: Buffalo/at Washington State/Georgia Southern
5 OHIO STATE: Youngstown State/Western Kentucky/at Notre Dame
6 MICHIGAN STATE: Central Michigan/Richmond/Washington
7 NEBRASKA: at Colorado/Northern Illinois/Louisiana Tech
8 ILLINOIS: Toledo/at Kansas/Florida Atlantic
9 MICHIGAN: E Carolina/UNLV/Bowling Green
10 PENN STATE: West Virginia/Delaware/UMass
11 MARYLAND: Towson/Charlotte/Virginia
12 RUTGERS: Temple/Virginia Tech/Wagner
13 INDIANA: Indiana State/vs Louisville/Akron
14 NORTHWESTERN: UTEP/at Duke/Howard
Much like the Big Ten, the Big 12 isn't doing much to strain itself during the non-league portion of the schedule. Only two teams aren't facing an FCS foe, and many aren't even leaving their home state in September. There is the marquee matchup of Texas at Alabama, and a couple of other intriguing contests (Utah at Baylor, Colorado at TCU and West Virginia at Penn State and home to Pitt), but there aren't a whole lot of "wow, that's a doozy!" occasions on the 2023 slate.
Bonus points to new member Houston, which plays only in-state non-league games, and soon-to-be-departing staple Oklahoma, which makes the grueling two hour drive to Tulsa but otherwise has the comforts of home early in the season. Nice job, guys.
BEST NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Texas at Alabama
SNEAKY GOOD NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Troy at Kansas State
BIG 8 REVISITED NON CONFERENCE GAME
SMU at Oklahoma
DO WE GET POINTS FOR THIS FLIGHT? NON-CONFERENCE GAME
UCF at Boise State
1 TEXAS: Rice/at Alabama/Wyoming
2 WEST VIRGINIA: at Penn State/Duquesne/Pittsburgh
3 BAYLOR: Texas State/Utah/Long Island
4 TEXAS TECH: at Wyoming/Oregon/Tarleton State
5 OKLAHOMA: Arkansas State/SMU/at Tulsa
6 TCU: Colorado/Nicholls/SMU
7 IOWA STATE: Northern Iowa/Iowa/at Ohio
8 KANSAS STATE: SE Missouri/Troy/at Missouri
9 CINCINNATI: Eastern Kentucky/at Pittsburgh/Miami Ohio
10 UCF: Kent State/at Boise State/Villanova
11 KANSAS: Missouri State/Illinois/at Nevada
12 HOUSTON: UTSA/at Rice/Sam Houston
13 OKLAHOMA STATE: Central Arkansas/at Arizona State/South Alabama
14 BRIGHAM YOUNG: Sam Houston/Southern Utah/at Arkansas
If the Pac-12 is going away -- and that looks to be the case given the panic that has set in among admins trying frantically to get a television deal -- at least it will go down swinging.
Numerous league teams have taken it upon themselves to schedule premier out of conference matchups, so there will be plenty of chances for attention in 2023. Three teams have even decided to schedule only FBS teams, which is a victory itself. Utah and USC will be tested this season, and Coach Prime will also have time in the spotlight as his Buffs face CFP participant TCU right out of the box.
BEST NON-CONFERENCE GAME
USC at Notre Dame
SNEAKY GOOD NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Arizona at Mississippi State
WE AREN'T THE HOME TEAM? NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Cal at North Texas
AM I IN THE RIGHT LOCKER ROOM? NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Sacramento State at Stanford (Cards first-year coach Troy Taylor came from Sac State)
1 UTAH: Florida/at Baylor/Weber State
2 USC: San Jose State/Nevada/at Notre Dame
3 COLORADO: at TCU/Nebraska/Colorado State
4 WASHINGTON: Boise State/Tulsa/at Michigan State
5 UCLA: Coastal Carolina/at San Diego State/North Carolina Central
6 OREGON STATE: at San Jose State/UC Davis/San Diego State
7 ARIZONA STATE: Southern Utah/Oklahoma State/Fresno State
8 ARIZONA: Northern Arizona/at Mississippi State/UTEP
9 STANFORD: at Hawaii/Sacramento State/Notre Dame
10 OREGON: Portland State/at Texas Tech/Hawaii
11 WASHINGTON STATE: at Colorado State/Wisconsin/Northern Colorado
12 CALIFORNIA: at North Texas/Auburn/Idaho
While there definitely are some intriguing matchups in the SEC, most of it is the usual lower-rung cannon fodder that dots schedules each season. The obligatory FCS game -- almost always late in the season -- is still there, and there seems to be even more detail paid to putting Group of Five teams that finished near the bottom of their conference on the slate.
Special mention goes to Auburn, which has UMass, maybe THE worst team in FBS, Cal, which won four games last season and may not be much better this season, and New Mexico State, which is perennially bad but had a resurgence under Jerry Kill and won seven games in 2022. At least their FCS foe, Samford, was a top 10 team.
BEST NON-CONFERENCE GAME
LSU vs Florida State
SNEAKY GOOD NON-CONFERENCE GAME
HEATED RIVALRY NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Kansas State at Missouri
LET'S SCHEDULE A NOON KICKOFF NON-CONFERENCE GAME
Hawaii at Vanderbilt
1 FLORIDA: at Utah/McNeese/Charlotte/Florida State
2 SOUTH CAROLINA: vs North Carolina/Furman/Jacksonville State/Clemson
3 MISSOURI: South Dakota/Middle Tennessee/Kansas State/vs Memphis
4 LSU: vs Florida State/Grambling State/Army/Georgia State
5 ALABAMA: Middle Tennessee/Texas/at South Florida/Chattanooga
6 MISSISSIPPI STATE: SE Louisiana/Arizona/Western Michigan/Southern Miss
7 TENNESSEE: vs Virginia/Austin Peay/UTSA/UConn
8 OLE MISS: Mercer/at Tulane/Georgia Tech/Louisiana-Monroe
9 GEORGIA: UT-Martin/Ball State/UAB/Georgia Tech
10 VANDERBILT: Hawaii/Alabama A&M/at Wake Forest/at UNLV
11 KENTUCKY: Ball State/Eastern Kentucky/Akron/at Louisville
12 ARKANSAS: Western Carolina/Kent State/Brigham Young/FIU
13 TEXAS A&M: New Mexico/at Miami/Louisiana-Monroe/Abilene Christian
14 AUBURN: UMass/at Cal/Samford/New Mexico State
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