Welcome back oh great and wonderful college football fans. The G-man is about to go on a nice long vacation, but my beautiful and very intelligent daughter will be taking over for the next few blogs. I’m really proud of her not only in her schoolwork, ever-growing maturity level, and just being a nice person, but also for her interest in the last few months in the GCR. I’m hopeful that one of these days, she can use her math skills to tighten up some of the more frustrating bits of the formulae. This year will be some progress, but it will be great to have a second set of eyes.
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This week we are taking a look at what is in my perception, the lowest of the lowly conferences. I know, they show as having the 21st out of 25 most difficult schedules, but I’m talking about what happens during the season. It’s not uncommon for the Northeast Conference or NEC to have the lowest winning percentage outside of their conference in any given year. That said, the Duquesne Dukes out of Pittsburgh led the conference with an 8-3 record, losing in the opening round of the playoffs. It’s interesting following the NEC as the GCR does, almost in a car-crash-but-no-one-got-hurt kind of way. I slow down enough to see if any of the teams won that week and refocus on something else. Apologies to anyone who is a fan of any NEC team.
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In the table below (F) indicates a game against an FCS non-conference foe, (D) indicates a game against a non-Division-I opponent, (G) indicates a game against a Group of 5 team, and (4) indicates a game against a Core 4 school. Without further ado, we are proud to present the 2025 Northeastern Conference Preseason Strength of Schedule (SOS).
| Team | Home | 2024 Record (Rank) | 2025 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away Games |
| Long Island Sharks (1) | Brookville, NY | 4-8 (231) | 5.05 (148) | Sacred Heart (F), Robert Morris, Duquesne, Wagner | Florida (4), E Michigan (G), Rhode Island (F), Mercyhurst, Stonehill, C Connecticut, St Francis |
| St Francis Red Flash (2) | Loretto, PA | 4-7 (244) | 4.69 (162) | Delaware St (F), Robert Morris, Wagner, Mercyhurst, Long Island | ULM (G), Buffalo (G), C Connecticut, Bucknell (F), Duquesne, Stonehill |
| Mercyhurst Lakers (3) | Erie, PA | 4-7 (243) | 4.15 (188) | Long Island, Duquesne, Stonehill, Sacred Heart (F), Robert Morris | Youngstown St (F), Sacramento St (F), Montana St (F), South Dakota St (F), Wagner, St Francis, C Connecticut |
| Duquesne Dukes (4) | Pittsburgh, PA | 8-3 (152) | 3.73 (214) | Lincoln PA (D), Lehigh (F), Stonehill, St Francis, C Connecticut | Pittsburgh (4), Akron (G), Mercyhurst, Wagner, Long Island, Robert Morris |
| Stonehill Skyhawks (5) | Easton, MA | 1-10 (241) | 3.60 (221) | Lafayette (F), Penn (F), Long Island, Robert Morris, St Francis | Sacred Heart (F), Maine (F), Duquesne, Yale (F), Mercyhurst, C Connecticut, Wagner |
| C Connecticut Blue Devils (6) | New Britain, NY | 7-6 (187) | 3.56 (224) | American Intl (D), St Francis, Dartmouth (F), Sacred Heart, Long Island, Stonehill, Mercyhurst | UCONN (G), Merrimack (F), Robert Morris, Wagner, Duquesne |
| Wagner Seahawks (7) | Staten Island, NY | 4-8 (260) | 3.43 (232) | Marist (F), Norfolk St (F), Mercyhurst, C Connecticut, Duquesne, Stonehill | Kansas (4), Georgetown (F), C Michigan (G), St Francis, Robert Morris, Long Island |
| Robert Morris Colonials (8) | Moon Township, PA | 7-5 (186) | 3.22 (243) | West Liberty (D), Dayton (F), C Connecticut, Wagner, Duquesne | West Virginia (4), Youngstown St (F), Merrimack (F), Long Island, St Francis, Stonehill, Mercyhurst |
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That’s it for today. Thank you for reading, and especially for sharing with others. You will be in capable hands with JoJo, and I can’t wait to be a reader myself, G
