Greetings to all you college football fans out there. The last two posts showed up the six easiest conferences by SOS (preseason as determined based on opponents’ 2021 records). This time we’ll look at the next 3, still all FCS. I’m going to leave the country in a few days so I’m going to try to get through all of the FCS this week – we’ll see if it can happen.
…..
We start with the Ohio Valley Football Conference whose 7 members come in 20th out of 26 (maybe I should have used letters – so the “T” conference), with an average PS SOS of 2.549 which is just below the average FCS team’s PS SOS. They also bring in the last of the 3 new Division I (FBS and FCS) team in Lindenwood (who is playing the second to easiest schedule in D1). They replaced Austin Peay who will show up later on. Here is the conference comparison from Murray St to Lindenwood:
| Team | ’21 W-L | ’21 SOS Rank | ’22 PS SOS | PS SOS Rank | FCS AVG | D1 AVG |
| Murray St | 6-5 | 152 | 3.318 | 159 | 123.6% | 66.0% |
| Tennessee Martin | 10-3 | 171 | 3.173 | 167 | 118.2 | 63.1 |
| E Illinois | 1-10 | 232 | 2.681 | 192 | 99.8 | 53.3 |
| Tennessee St | 5-6 | 179 | 2.622 | 198 | 99.7 | 52.2 |
| SEMO | 4-7 | 176 | 2.593 | 200 | 96.6 | 51.6 |
| Tennessee Tech | 3-8 | 204 | 2.103 | 232 | 78.3 | 41.8 |
| Lindenwood | — | — | 1.353 | 260 | 50.4 | 26.9 |
…..
In 19th or the “S” position is the 13-team Colonial Athletic Association with an average SOS of 2.634. One of their best teams, James Madison, made the jump to the Group of 5 (FBS) this season after the annual deep run in the playoffs. Good luck to them, but let’s look at the new look Colonial. Two teams crack the FCS top 25 PS SOS with Albany (5th) and Rhode Island (23rd). Here are all 13:
| Team | ’21 W-L | ’21 SOS Rank | ’22 PS SOS | PS SOS Rank | FCS AVG | D1 AVG |
| Albany | 2-9 | 215 | 3.946 | 136 | 147.0% | 78.5% |
| Rhode Island | 7-4 | 235 | 3.390 | 154 | 126.3 | 67.5 |
| Maine | 6-5 | 141 | 2.951 | 179 | 109.9 | 58.7 |
| Richmond | 6-5 | 159 | 2.813 | 187 | 104.8 | 56.0 |
| Villanova | 10-3 | 140 | 2.783 | 188 | 103.7 | 55.4 |
| Towson | 4-7 | 133 | 2.678 | 193 | 99.8 | 53.3 |
| Delaware | 5-6 | 162 | 2.639 | 195 | 98.3 | 52.5 |
| New Hampshire | 3-8 | 142 | 2.609 | 199 | 97.2 | 51.9 |
| William & Mary | 6-5 | 146 | 2.545 | 203 | 94.8 | 50.6 |
| Hampton | 5-6 | 229 | 2.050 | 235 | 76.4 | 40.8 |
| Monmouth | 7-4 | 170 | 1.995 | 239 | 74.3 | 39.7 |
| Stony Brook | 5-6 | 156 | 1.946 | 240 | 72.5 | 38.7 |
| Elon | 6-5 | 136 | 1.893 | 244 | 70.5 | 37.7 |
…..
In the “R” or 18th spot in our countdown is the only FCS conference that has divisions (and a championship game), the Southwestern Athletic Conference, or SWAC, whose 12 members average a PS SOS of 2.653. In a theme that we will see in conferences all the way to the top, last year’s dominating team, Jackson St at 11-2, has the second easiest schedule in the conference (15th easiest in the country). But the SWAC is never one to disappoint as they have 3 teams with FCS top 25 schedules next year: Texas Southern (8th), Ark Pine Bluff (22nd), and Bethune Cookman (24th), 3 teams that combined for a 7-26 record last season. For this and all other divisioned conferences, I will list them in SOS order, but will indicate which division in the team name.
| Team | ’21 W-L | ’21 SOS Rank | ’22 PS SOS | PS SOS | FCS AVG | D1 AVG |
| Texas Southern (W) | 3-8 | 155 | 3.836 | 139 | 142.9% | 76.3 |
| Ark Pine Bluff (W) | 2-9 | 189 | 3.453 | 153 | 128.6 | 68.7 |
| Bethune Cookman (E) | 2-9 | 167 | 3.373 | 155 | 125.6 | 67.1 |
| Alabama A&M (E) | 7-3 | 242 | 3.235 | 163 | 120.5 | 64.4 |
| Southern (W) | 4-7 | 233 | 2.646 | 194 | 98.5 | 52.6 |
| Alabama St (E) | 5-6 | 188 | 2.623 | 197 | 97.7 | 52.2 |
| Florida A&M (E) | 9-3 | 222 | 2.512 | 204 | 93.6 | 50.0 |
| Mississippi Valley (E) | 4-7 | 200 | 2.486 | 205 | 92.6 | 49.5 |
| Grambling St (W) | 4-7 | 165 | 2.204 | 220 | 82.1 | 43.9 |
| Alcorn St (W) | 6-5 | 216 | 2.017 | 238 | 75.1 | 40.1 |
| Jackson St (E) | 11-2 | 209 | 1.834 | 246 | 68.3 | 36.5 |
| Prairie View (W) | 7-5 | 173 | 1.620 | 255 | 60.3 | 32.2 |
…..
That’s it for today’s edition. So far we’ve explored 9 of the 26 conferences and 78 of the 261 teams. Next time we will look at the return of the WAC (used to be an active football conference but dropped out), SoCon, and the ever changing Big South in our next to last FCS grouping. Thank you for reading and sharing with others. See you in the next day or so, G
