Happy Friday College Football Fans, we’ve been reviewing the GCR’s Preseason SOS by conference for the upcoming season. We’ve looked at 12 FCS conferences so far and now we are finishing this league up with the most 3 competitive conferences. Let’s jump right in.
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Big Sky Conference had 5 of its 12 returning members (S Utah moved to the WAC) with 8 or more wins (and in the playoffs) last year. The 12 average a strong 3.208 SOS average (compared to a 2.685 for the FCS) good for the 14th (or “N”) strongest SOS in Division I (FBS and FCS). They have 4 teams facing top 25 FCS schedules including E Washington (3), Cal Poly (7), Idaho St (13), and Weber St (15). Here are all 12:
| Team | ’21 W-L | ’21 SOS Rank | ’22 PS SOS | PS SOS Rank | FCS AVG | D1 AVG |
| E Washington (3) | 10-3 | 201 | 4.192 | 134 | 156.1% | 83.4% |
| Cal Poly (7) | 2-9 | 168 | 3.844 | 138 | 143.2 | 76.5 |
| Idaho St (13) | 1-10 | 177 | 3.708 | 144 | 138.1 | 73.8 |
| Weber St (15) | 6-5 | 137 | 3.580 | 146 | 133.3 | 71.2 |
| N Arizona | 5-6 | 217 | 3.221 | 165 | 120.0 | 64.1 |
| Idaho | 4-7 | 178 | 3.192 | 166 | 118.9 | 63.5 |
| UC Davis | 8-4 | 181 | 3.067 | 173 | 114.2 | 61.0 |
| Portland St | 5-6 | 175 | 3.010 | 175 | 112.1 | 59.9 |
| Montana St | 12-3 | 161 | 2.935 | 181 | 109.3 | 58.4 |
| N Colorado | 3-8 | 210 | 2.896 | 183 | 107.9 | 57.6 |
| Sacramento St | 9-3 | 195 | 2.433 | 208 | 90.6 | 48.4 |
| Montana | 10-3 | 148 | 2.415 | 211 | 89.9 | 48.1 |
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In 2nd place in the FCS and Lucky 13th (“M”) overall is the 11 team Missouri Valley Football Conference whose SOS average is 3.361 and would be higher if seemingly annual FCS Playoff winner, North Dakota St was even remotely challenged like the rest of the conference. They are more than 0.75 below the next team and have the 26th easiest schedule in D1 football. Look for them to run the table (or really close) and be ready for a playoff run this year too. 7 of the teams (well more than half!) are in the top 25 PS SOS: W Illinois (6), Youngstown St (10), South Dakota St (11), South Dakota (12), Illinois St (14), Indiana St (17), Missouri St (18). Here is the full conference:
| Team | ’21 W-L | ’21 SOS Rank | ’22 PS SOS | PS SOS Rank | FCS AVG | D1 AVG |
| W Illinois (6) | 2-9 | 206 | 3.942 | 137 | 146.8% | 78.5% |
| Youngstown St (10) | 3-7 | 139 | 3.764 | 141 | 140.2 | 74.9 |
| South Dakota St (11) | 11-4 | 172 | 3.719 | 142 | 138.5 | 74.0 |
| South Dakota (12) | 7-5 | 186 | 3.716 | 143 | 138.4 | 73.9 |
| Illinois St (14) | 4-7 | 184 | 3.597 | 145 | 134.0 | 71.6 |
| Indiana St (17) | 5-6 | 187 | 3.537 | 148 | 131.7 | 70.4 |
| Missouri St (18) | 8-4 | 134 | 3.507 | 149 | 130.6 | 69.8 |
| N Iowa | 6-6 | 144 | 3.289 | 161 | 122.5 | 65.5 |
| North Dakota | 5-6 | 150 | 3.094 | 170 | 115.2 | 61.6 |
| S Illinois | 8-5 | 158 | 2.779 | 189 | 103.5 | 55.3 |
| North Dakota St | 14-1 | 143 | 2.026 | 237 | 75.5 | 40.3 |
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And, finally, we end our FCS review with the brand new ASUN Football Conference (they’ve been playing basketball and other sports since the 70s under different names). The 6 teams take the 12th (or “L”) spot averaging 3.430 PS SOS. All six are within the top 59 (out of 131) FCS teams SOS-wise with C Arkansas holding the 21st spot and Austin Peay having the most difficult FCS schedule coming in to 2022. They are the only conference in which every team’s SOS exceeds the FCS average. Here is the inaugural ASUN lineup.
| Team | ’21 W-L | ’21 SOS Rank | ’22 PS SOS | PS SOS Rank | FCS AVG | D1 AVG |
| Austin Peay (1) | 6-5 | 147 | 4.706 | 132 | 175.3% | 93.6% |
| C Arkansas (21) | 5-6 | 224 | 3.461 | 152 | 128.9 | 68.9 |
| Kennesaw St | 11-2 | 220 | 3.337 | 158 | 124.3 | 66.4 |
| Jacksonville St | 5-6 | 149 | 3.301 | 160 | 123.0 | 65.7 |
| E Kentucky | 7-4 | 180 | 3.000 | 177 | 111.7 | 59.7 |
| N Alabama | 3-8 | 231 | 2.775 | 190 | 103.4 | 55.2 |
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That’s it until the middle of July. The FCS is complete: 15 conferences and 131 teams. Next time we will start our review of the FBS and the 11th most difficult conference in college football. If you like what you read here, please share with others, but if you don’t, please comment so I can make the needed improvements. Thank you for reading, G
