Hello oh patient and wonderful college football fans! It’s been a long few weeks for dear old G whose day job has been a series of 14-hour days, but we are in good shape now and about to be to steady state allowing me to focus on the important things in life, aka the wonderful world of D1 football. Today, we continue our research into the preseason strength of schedules (SOS) for each team sorted by conference from easiest to hardest. So far, we’ve looked at the bottom 8 and we are nearly complete with the FCS.
…..
We start with the 17th place Missouri Valley Football Conference whose 12 members, which include 2 FCS powerhouses, have an average PS SOS of 2.7971 (compared to the FCS average of 2.729. The powerhouses are North Dakota St and South Dakota St, and if you ever get a chance to watch them play, it is worth the time. They would be ideal candidates to move up to Conference USA (or they could rule the MAC), imho, and be able to compete immediately. So far no word on the powers that be listening to my suggestion, but there’s always hope. As a reminder, (N) indicates a neutral site game, (P) indicates a Power 5 opponent, (G) indicates a Group of 5 opponent, and (D) indicates a non-D1 opponent. Here are the 12 from most challenging schedule to “here we go again:”
| Team/ Conf Rank | PS SOS/ Rank | 2022 Record/ SOS Rank | 2023 Opp’s W/L | Conf Home | Conf Away | Non-Conf Home | Non-Conf Away/ Neutral |
| Murray St (1) | 3.848/137 | 2-9/155 | 64-66 (.492) | (21-24) Indiana St, S Illinois, N Dakota, Youngstown St | (26-22) South Dakota, Missouri St, North Dakota St, Illinois St | (1-10) Presbyterian | (16-10) (P) Louisville, (G) Middle Tennessee |
| Missouri St (2) | 3.203/163 | 5-6/177 | 69-62 (.527) | (26-22) North Dakota St, Murray St, Illinois St, N Iowa | (26-22) S Illinois, W Illinois Youngstown St, South Dakota St | (4-7) Utah Tech | (13-11) (P) Kansas, Tennessee Martin |
| Youngstown St (3) | 3.135/169 | 7-4/202 | 59-69 (.461) | (30-18) S Illinois, Illinois St, Missouri St, South Dakota St | (13-31) N Iowa, South Dakota, Indiana St, Murray St | (5-18) Valparaiso, Robert Morris | (11-2) (P) Ohio St |
| North Dakota (4) | 3.064/173 | 7-5/222 | 61-71 (.462) | (20-28) W Illinois, North Dakota St, Indiana St, Illinois St | (25-23) South Dakota St, N Iowa, Murray St, South Dakota | (6-16) Drake, N Arizona | (10-4) (G) Boise St |
| South Dakota (5) | 2.903/181 | 3-8/143 | 66-66 (.500) | (30-19) Murray St, Youngstown St, South Dakota St, North Dakota | (19-29) North Dakota St, Indiana St, S Illinois, W Illinois | (11-11) St Thomas, Lamar | (6-7) (P) Missouri |
| N Iowa (6) | 2.886/183 | 6-5/178 | 68-65 (.511) | (26-23) Youngstown St, North Dakota, W Illinois, North Dakota St | (27-21) Indiana St, South Dakota St, Illinois St, Missouri St | (10-3) Weber St | (5-18) (P) Iowa St, Idaho St |
| W Illinois (7) | 2.761/193 | 0-11/ 150 | 70-62 (.530) | (19-25) Illinois St, Missouri St, S Illinois, South Dakota | (27-22) North Dakota, North Dakota St, N Iowa, Indiana St | (14-9) (G) New Mexico St, Lindenwood | (5-6) S Utah |
| S Illinois (8) | 2.628/204 | 5-6/220 | 64-67 (.489) | (24-24) Missouri St, South Dakota St, South Dakota, Indiana St | (21-27) Youngtown St, Murray St, W Illinois, North Dakota St | (7-4) Austin Peay | (12-12) (G) N Illinois, SEMO |
| Indiana St (9) | 2.565/208 | 2-9/187 | 43-77 (.358) | (16-28) N Iowa, South Dakota, Youngstown St, W Illinois | (20-25) Murray St, Illinois St, North Dakota, S Illinois | (2-9) E Illinois | (9-15) (P) Indiana, (G) Ball St |
| South Dakota St (10) | 2.406/213 | 14-1/ 158 | 72-57 (.558) | (30-19) North Dakota, N Iowa, North Dakota St, Missouri St | (21-23) Illinois St, S Illinois, South Dakota, Youngtown St | (18-7) (D) W Oregon, Montana St | (3-8) (N) Drake |
| Illinois St (11) | 2.115/241 | 6-5/170 | 63-65 (.492) | (24-24) South Dakota St, Indiana St, N Iowa, Murray St | (19-26) W Illinois, Youngstown St, Missouri St, North Dakota | (15-6) Dayton, Lindenwood | (2-9) E Illinois |
| North Dakota St (12) | 2.051/246 | 12-3/ 153 | 52-74 (.413) | (10-34) South Dakota, W Illinois, Murray St, S Illinois | (32-17) Missouri St, North Dakota, South Dakota St, N Iowa | (7-15) Maine, C Arkansas | (3-8) (D) E Washington |
…..
And our 2nd conference today, the largest in D-1 football, the 15-school Colonial Athletic Association which averages a respectable 2.9741 PS SOS with 8 of their members exceeding 3.000. There are no non-D1 games in the schedule and here they are led by newcomer Campbell Camels.
| Team/ Conf Rank | PS SOS/ Rank | 2022 Record/ SOS Rank | 2023 Opp’s W/L | Conf Home | Conf Away | Non-Conf Home | Non-Conf Away/ Neutral |
| Campbell (1) | 3.852/136 | 5-6/156 | 77-55 (.583) | (29-20) William & Mary, Elon, Maine, Delaware | (25-21) Monmouth, Hampton, Richmond, North Carolina A&T | — | (23-14) Citadel, NC Central, (P) North Carolina |
| Elon (2) | 3.776/140 | 8-4/162 | 80-52 (.606) | (27-19) North Carolina A&T, William & Mary, Monmouth, Hampton | (28-20) Campbell, Villanova, Delaware, Richmond | (10-2) NC Central | (15-11) (P) Wake Forest, Gardner Webb |
| Delaware (3) | 3.550/144 | 8-5/160 | 71-57 (.555) | (30-17) New Hampshire, North Carolina A&T, Elon, Villanova | (17-28) Stony Brook, Hampton, Towson, Campbell | (13-10) St Francis, Duquesne | (11-2) (P) Penn St |
| Towson (4) | 3.506/146 | 6-5/212 | 70-59 (.543) | (23-23) Monmouth, Albany, Delaware, Rhode Island | (33-15) New Hampshire, William & Mary, North Carolina A&T, Villanova | (2-9) Norfolk St | (12-12) (P) Maryland, Morgan St |
| Villanova (5) | 3.312/157 | 6-5/193 | 64-65 (.496) | (23-22) Rhode Island, Elon, Stony Brook, Towson | (27-21) Albany, North Carolina A&T, New Hampshire, Delaware | (3-8) Colgate | (11-14) Lehigh, (P) UCF |
| Albany (6) | 3.269/160 | 3-8/210 | 73-68 (.518) | (29-17) Villanova, Rhode Island, William & Mary, Monmouth | (19-27) Towson, New Hampshire, Maine, Stony Brook | (9-3) Fordham | (16-21) (G) Marshall, (G) Hawaii, Morgan St |
| North Carolina A&T (7) | 3.196/165 | 7-4/172 | 72-57 (.558) | (26-20) Villanova, Richmond, Towson, Campbell | (27-20) Elon, Delaware, Hampton, Rhode Island | (10-2) NC Central | (9-15) (G) UAB, Norfolk St |
| Maine (8) | 3.134/170 | 2-9/228 | 70-62 (.530) | (16-28) Rhode Island, Stony Brook, Albany, Hampton | (34-16) William & Mary, Richmond, Campbell, New Hampshire | (4-7) Long Island | (16-11) (G) FIU, North Dakota St |
| Richmond (9) | 2.737/194 | 9-4/191 | 60-65 (.480) | (19-26) Hampton, Maine, Campbell, Elon | (27-19) Stony Brook, Rhode Island, North Carolina A&T, William & Mary | (9-13) Morgan St, Delaware St | (5-7) (P) Michigan St |
| Monmouth (10) | 2.680/199 | 5-6/236 | 59-68 (.465) | (20-26) Campbell, Hampton, Stony Brook, New Hampshire | (28-19) Towson, Elon, William & Mary, Albany | (2-9) Lehigh | (9-14) (G) FAU, Lafayette |
| Stony Brook (11) | 2.568/207 | 2-9/207 | 67-62 (.519) | (31-19) Delaware, Richmond, New Hampshire, Albany | (20-24) Rhode Island, Maine, Villanova, Monmouth | (9-3) Fordham | (7-16) (G) Arkansas St, Morgan St |
| Hampton (12) | 2.396/215 | 4-7/225 | 65-63 (.508) | (31-17) Campbell, Delaware, North Carolina A&T, William & Mary | (24-23) Richmond Monmouth, Maine, Elon | (2-9) Norfolk St | (8-14) (N) Grambling St, Howard |
| Rhode Island (13) | 2.249/226 | 7-4/147 | 53-70 (.431) | (25-21) Stony Brook, Richmond, North Carolina A&T, New Hampshire | (17-27) Maine, Villanova, Albany, Towson | (4-7) Bryant | (7-15) (G) Georgia St, Brown |
| New Hampshire (14) | 2.234/227 | 9-4/224 | 50-71 (.413) | (17-27) Towson, Albany, Villanova, Maine | (22-24) Delaware, Stony Brook, Rhode Island, Monmouth | (3-7) Dartmouth | (8-13) Stonehill, (G) C Michigan |
| William & Mary (15) | 2.150/237 | 11-2/ 173 | 50-72 (.410) | (22-24) Maine, Towson, Monmouth, Richmond | (20-25) Campbell, Elon, Albany, Hampton | (3-8) Wofford | (5-15) Charleston, (P) Virginia |
…..
Wow, over 10% of D1 (261) teams represented by these 2 powerful conferences. We still have a few left in the FCS before we move on the Group of 5 so stay tuned. Thanks for reading and especially for sharing with others as we try to grow the audience, G
