Happy Monday, the last day of July, just 26 days until the season’s kickoff. It’s time to talk about the FBS’s non-division division: The Independents. Last season there were 7, all of whom were considered Group of 5 except for Notre Dame. Over the summer, BYU promoted to the Big 12 while Liberty and New Mexico St joined Conference USA when that conference was on life support. That leaves just 3 Group of 5 level Indies with Army (who would be a good candidate in the future for either the MAC or the American), UCONN (who has been talked about as a possible 14th team in the Big 12 with Colorado announcing the move from the Pac 12), and UMASS who is year in and year out one of the worst teams in the FBS (they would be a good fit to demote to the Patriot League). Notre Dame is part of the ACC in every sport except football although they do play 6 ACC teams each year. The Irish also open the season in the very appropriate Ireland against Navy week 0.
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Normally, I talk about the average Preseason Strength of Schedule (PS SOS) of the conference, but the Indies have two since both sub-leagues are represented. So, in this case, the ranking (7th most difficult “conference” by PS SOS) is based on the larger (Group of 5) group that has an average of 6.794 compared to the G5 average of 6.5305. Notre Dame has a PS SOS of 8.8371 compared to the Power 5 average of 8.1979. There are just 2 games between these combatants in the regular season both involving UMASS. These will be indicated by an (I) in the table below. Neutral site games which are normally indicated by (N) will be in their own column. FCS opponents are indicated by (F). For Notre Dame, Group of 5 opponents will be indicated by (G) and for the G5 teams, Power 5 opponents will be indicated by (P). Here are the 4 remaining.
| Team/ Conf Rank | PS SOS/ Rank | ’22 Record/ SOS Rank | ’23 Opp’s W-L | Home | Away | Neutral |
| Notre Dame (1) | 8.837/16 | 9-4/33 | 90-63 (.588) | (47-29) (F) Tennessee St, (G) C Michigan, Ohio St, Southern Cal, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest | (39-26) NC St, Duke, Louisville, Clemson, Stanford | (4-8) (G) Navy |
| UMASS (2) | 7.302/72 | 1-11/92 | 80-73 (.523) | (28-36) Miami OH, New Mexico, Arkansas St, Toledo, (F) Merrimack | (46-30) New Mexico St, (P) Auburn, E Michigan, (P) Penn St, Liberty, (I) Army | (6-7) (I) UCONN |
| Army (3) | 7.110/83 | 6-6/87 | 88-65 (.575) | (42-33) (F) Delaware St, (P) Boston College, Troy, (F) Holy Cross, Coastal Carolina, (I) UMASS | (32-21) ULM, UTSA, (P) Syracuse, (P) LSU | (14-11) Air Force, Navy |
| UCONN (4) | 5.969/115 | 6-7/74 | 65-82 (.442) | (33-41) (P) NC St, FIU, (P) Duke, Utah St, (F) Steph F Austin, (F) Sacred Heart | (31-30) Georgia St, Rice, (P) Boston College, (P) Tennessee, James Madison | (1-11) UMASS |
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That’s it for this abbreviated post thanks to the dwindling number of Independents. I really do think all of them will find conferences before this wave of realignment is over. Speaking of, I’ve seen rumors from multiple sources that the Big Ten could announce Clemson, Florida St, Oregon, and Washington as new members any day now. Still rumors but very interesting if it happens. How will the SEC counter? How about the Big 12? What happens to the quickly failing Pac 12 (merger with The Mountain West?). More to come as more comes to light. I find it interesting that none of the schools nor the Big Ten have denied the rumors.
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With that, thanks for reading and sharing with others. See you in a few days for the remaining Group of 5 conference before we move to the Power 5, G
