Sorry for the delay, oh great and patient college football fans, it was a LONG week and I just didn’t have the time to get a post out. So, this weekend will be a twofer, as we look at the 23rd and 22nd most challenged conferences based on an estimate of this year’s strength of schedule (using last year’s results) today followed by the same analysis for the 21st and 20th tomorrow. If next week is better (and it should be), they’ll be a mid-week post as well. Let’s jump right in.
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In 23rd place (out of 25), we have the esteemed Ivy League whose 8 members play 10 games in 10 weeks and are not eligible (by choice) for the FCS playoffs. The average PS SOS for the league is 2.2626 compared to the FCS average of 2.7290. None of them play any Power 5 teams or non-D1 schools, but their out of conference schedules tend to hit the Patriot League (coming soon) and the Pioneer (documented last week as #24) pretty heavily. None of them have any neutral site games scheduled. Harvard is facing the most difficult challenge at 189th out of 261. Here’s the comparison:
| Team/Conf Rank | PS SOS/Rank | 2022 Record/SOS Rank | 2023 Opp’s W/L | Conf Home | Conf Away/ Neutral | Non-Conf Home | Non-Conf Away/ Neutral |
| Harvard (1) | 2.805/189 | 6-4/184 | 68-37 (.648) | (19-21) Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn | (22-8) Princeton, Columbia, Yale | (15-7) St Thomas, Howard | (12-1) Holy Cross |
| Dartmouth (2) | 2.393/216 | 3-7/223 | 58-48 (.547) | (27-13) Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia | (17-13) Penn, Harvard, Brown | (2-9) Lehigh | (12-13) New Hampshire, Colgate |
| Brown (3) | 2.360/218 | 3-7/233 | 57-46 (.553) | (19-11) Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth | (25-15) Harvard, Cornell, Penn, Columbia | (9-13) C Connecticut, Rhode Island | (4-7) Bryant |
| Yale (4) | 2.211/231 | 8-2/192 | 60-45 (.571) | (25-15) Cornell, Penn, Columbia, Harvard | (14-16) Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton | (21-14) Holy Cross, Morgan St, Sacred Heart | — |
| Columbia (5) | 2.145/238 | 6-4/244 | 51-52 (.495) | (17-13) Penn, Harvard, Brown | (24-16) Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, Cornell | (6-16) Georgetown, Marist | (4-7) Lafayette |
| Princeton (6) | 2.112/242 | 8-2/261 | 52-50 (.510) | (20-10) Columbia, Harvard, Yale | (19-21) Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn | (8-14) Bryant, Lafayette | (5-5) San Diego |
| Cornell (7) | 2.096/243 | 5-5/245 | 50-53 (.485) | (17-13) Brown, Princeton, Columbia | (25-15) Yale, Harvard, Penn, Dartmouth | (6-16) Colgate, Bucknell | (2-9) Lehigh |
| Penn (8) | 1.980/250 | 8-2/240 | 47-56 (.456) | (19-21) Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Princeton | (20-10) Columbia, Yale, Harvard | (2-9) Georgetown | (6-16) Colgate, Bucknell |
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One of my favorite conferences to follow is the SWAC who come in at 22nd. It seems that every year, at least one team in the conference has trouble finding opponents, so they just add more SWAC teams. Southern, for example, plays 10 SWAC opponents and only 1 non-conference team. Not to mention the highest number of neutral games per capita of any conference. Coming in at an average of 2.4859 and led by Texas Southern and Bethune at over 3.000, we are starting to see some semblance of a challenge here and there. As a reminder, (N) indicates a neutral site game, (P) indicates a Power 5 opponent, (G) a Group of 5 foe, and (D) indicates a non-Division 1 team. Here is the 12-team SWAC for your reading pleasure:
| Team/Conf Rank | PS SOS/Rank | 2022 Record/SOS Rank | 2023 Opp’s W-L | Conf Home | Conf Away/ Neutral | Non-Conf Home | Non-Conf Away/ Neutral |
| Texas Southern (1) | 3.418/151 | 5-6/144 | 63-64 (.496) | (23-21) Prairie View, Florida A&M, Alcorn St, Ark Pine Bluff | (24-23) Grambling St, Bethune, Southern, Jackson St | (2-7) (D) Lincoln | (14-13) (G) Toledo, (G) Rice |
| Bethune (2) | 3.307/159 | 2-9/235 | 65-61 (.516) | (18-27) Texas Southern, Southern, Mississippi Valley, Alabama A&M | (30-16) Jackson St, Alabama St, Grambling St, (N) Florida A&M | (5-5) (D) Savannah St | (12-13) (G) Memphis, (P) Miami FL |
| Alcorn St (3) | 2.866/186 | 5-6/146 | 61-65 (.484) | (18-27) Prairie View, Grambling St Mississippi Valley, Southern | (26-20) Alabama St, Texas Southern, Jackson St, Ark Pine Bluff | (4-7) McNeese St | (13-11) (G) Southern Miss, Steph F Austin |
| Grambling St (4) | 2.855/187 | 2-8/237 | 55-69 (.444) | (11-22) Texas Southern, Alabama A&M, Bethune | (27-29) (N) Prairie View, Alcorn St, (N) Southern, (N) Alabama St, Ark Pine Bluff | (3-7) (D) Florida Memorial | (14-11) (N) Hampton, (P) LSU |
| Prairie View (5) | 2.683/198 | 6-5/249 | 56-68 (.452) | (11-22) Mississippi Valley, Ark Pine Bluff, Alabama St | (29-27) Texas Southern, Alcorn St Southern, (N) Grambling St, Florida A&M | (9-13) Abilene Christian, Houston Christian | (7-6) (G) SMU |
| Ark Pine Bluff (6) | 2.390/217 | 3-8/200 | 54-70 (.435) | (27-20) Southern, Jackson St, Alcorn St, Grambling St | (17-27) Alabama A&M, Mississippi Valley, Prairie View, Texas Southern | (1-9) (D) Miles | (9-14) (G) Tulsa (5-7), (N) Tennessee St |
| Mississippi Valley (7) | 2.316/221 | 2-9/181 | 71-55 (.563) | (21-15) Ark Pine Bluff, Jackson St, Alabama St | (26-29) Florida A&M, Prairie View, Alabama A&M, Alcorn St, Bethune | (3-7) (D) Central St | (21-4) (D) Delta St, NC Central |
| Alabama A&M (8) | 2.299/223 | 4-7/140 | 62-62 (.500) | (14-19) Ark Pine Bluff, Florida A&M, Mississippi Valley | (30-28) Southern, (N) Jackson St, Grambling St, (N) Alabama St, Bethune | (13-8) (D) Lane College, (D) Tuskegee | (5-7) (P) Vanderbilt |
| Jackson St (9) | 2.084/244 | 12-1/203 | 50-73 (.407) | (18-26) Bethune, Alabama St, Texas Southern, Alcorn St | (25-31) Southern, (N) Alabama A&M, Mississippi Valley, Ark Pine Bluff, (N) Florida A&M | — | (7-16) (N) South Carolina St, (G) Texas St |
| Southern (10) | 1.926/251 | 7-5/175 | 57-66 (.463) | (36-21) Jackson St, Alabama A&M, Florida A&M, Texas Southern, Prairie View | (18-36) Alabama St, Ark Pine Bluff, Bethune, Alcorn St, (N) Grambling St | (2-7) (D) Lincoln | — |
| Alabama St (11) | 1.910/252 | 6-5/149 | 59-64 (.480) | (14-20) Southern, Alcorn St, Bethune | (36-32) Florida A&M, Jackson St, Prairie View, (N) Alabama A&M, (N) Grambling St, Mississippi Valley | (9-12) (D) Miles, (D) Tuskegee | — |
| Florida A&M (12) | 1.778/258 | 9-2/164 | 59-67 (.468) | (14-19) Alabama St, Mississippi Valley, Prairie View | (30-28) (N) Jackson St, Southern, Texas Southern, Alabama A&M, (N) Bethune | (14-9) (D) West Florida, (D) Lincoln | (1-11) (G) South Florida |
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That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and sharing with others. Tune in tomorrow for the next 2 conferences on the list. Until then, G
