Welcome back, sports fans, as we talk about the 7th most challenged conference that isn’t an actual conference – in fact, there are no games between the teams in this “conference.” Earlier in a post we talked about the two FCS Independent teams that left conference play because they moved to a non-football conference and the NEC didn’t want to keep them in a football-only capacity. There have been 52 different Division I teams that have been independent at some point with the 1970s seeing the pinnacle of non-partisan participation. Now that, in the FBS, conference championships are so critical to playoff seeding, more teams are given up their freedom and joining conferences. That means along with Merrimack and Sacred Heart, Notre Dame and UCONN make it a full 4 schools left unaffiliated in big-time college football. Notre Dame has always been independent except for the COVID year when it played an ACC schedule out of necessity. UCONN began playing football in 2000 and joined the Big East in 2004 until that conference split in two after the 2012 season. Shifting to the American as a football-only school the next season, UCONN rejoined the Indie ranks in 2020. The Huskies were 9-5 last season which is a rarity overall, but they did appear in their second bowl game in three seasons.
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Notre Dame overcame a week 2 loss to N Illinois to reaching the championship game last year losing only to Ohio St. Historically, since the playoffs, they’ve had to perfect in order to get a playoff spot or New Year’s Six game because they don’t have that pesky championship game when all the other big boys are playing – getting all the attention. Fair? Not fair? I don’t know. Not only do the Irish not need conference money (their alumni are very generous), but they also don’t want to give up the traditional rivalries with Southern Cal, Stanford, Temple, and Navy – not always great games between powerhouses, but games that exist because of a long series – “we’ve always done it that way.” Personally, I think it’s time to make the change, but I think they erred when they chose the ACC. Not that I hate the ACC, but when the Big East split and Miami FL and Virginia Tech joined, then Florida St joined with the thought being they would raise the overall level of play up to the SEC and Big Ten. The reality is that there are a couple of teams that are national players – teams that other teams circle on the schedule – but the conference as a whole is now considered in the tier with the Big 12, not the two most powerful. Back to Notre Dame: they geographically fit with the Big Ten although it would be fun to see them play Georgia, Alabama, LSU, and Texas in October. Oh well.
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All that said, in the table below (F) indicates a game against an FCS team, (G) indicates a game versus a Group of 5 opponent, (4) indicates a game against a Core 4 squad. There are no neutral site games scheduled. With no further ado, JoJo and I are proud to present the final two FBS independents for 2025.
| Team | Home | 2024 Record (Rank) | 2025 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away/Neutral Games |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1) | Notre Dame, IN | 14-2 (2) | 8.58 (34) | Texas A&M (4), Purdue (4), Boise St (G), NC St (4), Southern Cal (4), Navy (G), Syracuse (4) | Miami FL (4), Arkansas (4), Boston College (4), Pittsburgh (4), Stanford (4) |
| UCONN Huskies (2) | East Hartford, CT | 9-4 (78) | 6.55 (124) | C Connecticut (F), Ball St (G), FIU (G), UAB (G), Duke (4), Air Force (G) | Syracuse (4), Delaware (G), Buffalo (G), Boston College (4), Rice (G), FAU (G) |
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That’s it for today. Thank you for reading and sharing with others. JoJo and G
