Welcome back, sports fans, as we continue to move forward in our preseason strength of schedule (PS-SOS) ranking. So far, we’ve talked about the Pioneer League (25th at 3.341), the SWAC (24th at 3.396), the MEAC (23rd at 3.563), and the Southland Conference (23rd at 3.626). What the numbers after the word “at” mean is the average PS-SOS of the member teams.
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As a reminder, we use the 2025 GCR metric, Score (which is a combination of a performance metric and a strength of schedule metric) and overlay those data to each team’s 2026 schedule. There are adjustments for away and neutral site games. While not perfect especially because there is an underlying assumption that each team will repeat last year’s success (or lack thereof). However, as of right now all 266 teams from Indiana (last year’s undefeated champion) to Chicago St (joining the FCS never having played football before) all have undefined performance and strength of schedule metrics (no games played so the denominator is zero). Even if we converted undefined to 0.000 for “no score”, we would still have a 266-team tie for first or last or pick a number. While the PS-SOS is not based on wins, per se, the metric can be viewed as an estimate of the number of wins, on average, a team’s opponents (will) have, assuming an FBS schedule on a neutral field for every game. The most-challenged teams float around 10.000 while the least-challenged teams hang around 3.000.
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The teams in Division I (D1), which include the FBS and FCS, have to earn their GCR Scores by competing in the season. As a reminder the FBS is comprised of both the Core 4 conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, and Notre Dame) and the Group of 6 conferences (American, Conference-USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, Sun Belt, and UCONN). FBS stands for Football Bowl Series, because these teams are potentially eligible for post-season bowl games including the 12-team playoff to determine their champion. The FCS, or Football Championship Series, are not eligible for bowls (except the Celebration Bowl which features the champions of the MEAC and the SWAC), but have an expanded 24-team playoff to determine their champion. The FCS conferences are Big Sky, Big South/Ohio Valley, Coastal, FCS Independents, Ivy, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Patriot, Pioneer, SoCon, Southland, SWAC, and UAC.
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But today, we are here to review the 21st most challenged conference for 2026 which is the 8-team football-only merger of two conferences: the Big South and the Ohio Valley. Separate in basketball and other sports, these two conferences came together for football when both were facing a drop in membership below the required 6 for automatic bid consideration in the playoff. For a few years prior, the committee had already allowed only one team from the two to be the auto-bid. So, it just made sense to pool their resources. In the table below, (4) indicates a Core 4 opponent, (G) indicates a Group of 6 challenge, (F) indicates a non-conference FCS foe, and (D) indicates a non-D1 game. There are no neutral site games scheduled. With no further ado, we are proud to present the 2026 Big South/Ohio Valley Conference:
| Team (Conf Rank) | Home Field | 2025 Record (Rank) | 2026 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away Games | Hardest | Easiest |
| Gardner Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs (1) | Boiling Springs, NC | 7-5 (202) | 4.00 (182) | NC Central (F), E Illinois, Lindenwood, TN St | Austin Peay (F), Wofford (F), Liberty (G), Marshall (G), Chrls So, UT Martin, SEMO, W Illinois | at Liberty (7.25) | TN St (2.22) |
| TN St Tigers (2) | Nashville, TN | 2-10 (244) | 3.86 (200) | Jackson St (F), UT Martin, Morgan St (F), Chrls So, SEMO, E Illinois | Georgia (4), Alabama A&M (F), Florida A&M (F), W Illinois, Lindenwood, Gardner Webb | at Georgia (13.40) | SEMO (2.30) |
| UT Martin Skyhawks (3) | Martin, TN | 6-6 (229) | 3.77 (211) | C Arkansas (F), Chicago St (F), Gardner Webb, E Illinois, Lindenwood | West Virginia (4), Memphis (G), Austin Peay (F), TN St, W Illinois, Chrls So, SEMO | at Memphis (9.36) | Chicago St (0.00) |
| Chrls So Buccaneers (4) | North Charleston, SC | 5-7 (231) | 3.74 (215) | Point (D), Gardner Webb, SC St (F), W Illinois, UT Martin, SEMO | Lindenwood, Ga Southern (G), Citadel (F), Clemson (4), TN St, E Illinois | at Clemson (10.12) | Point (0.08) |
| E Illinois Panthers (5) | Charleston, IL | 3-9 (239) | 3.66 (223) | Indiana St (F), Lindenwood, SEMO, W Illinois, Chrls So | Murray St (F), Minnesota (4), Illinois St (F), South Dakota St (F), Gardner Webb, UT Martin, TN St | at Minnesota (10.20) | at Murray St (1.58) |
| SEMO Redhawks (6) | Cape Girardeau, MO | 4-8 (221) | 3.57 (229) | C Arkansas (F), West Florida (F), W Illinois, Gardner Webb, UT Martin | Indiana St (F), Iowa St (4), S Illinois (F), Lindenwood, E Illinois, TN St, Chrls So | at Iowa St (11.13) | at W Illinois (2.34) |
| Lindenwood Lions (7) | St Charles, MO | 6-6 (201) | 3.45 (238) | Chrls So, SEMO, Chicago St (F), TN St, W Illinois | Stony Brook (F), Missouri St (G), E Michigan (G), E Illinois, Gardner Webb, UT Martin | at Missouri St (7.86) | Chicago St (0.00) |
| W Illinois Leathernecks (8) | Macomb, IL | 4-8 (248) | 3.31 (250) | NW Iowa (D), Illinois St (F), Morehead St (F), TN St, UT Martin, Gardner Webb | Wisconsin (4), North Alabama (F), SEMO, Chrls So, E Illinois, Lindenwood | at Wisconsin (8.65) | NW Iowa (0.09) |
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That’s it for today. Tune in tomorrow for the beginning of the PS-SOS Top 20. Thank you for reading and sharing with others. We cannot grow without your help, and our readers have really stepped up! See you next time, JoJo and G
