Welcome back, oh great and wonderful college sports fans, for episode 659 of the GCR. Thanks go out to JoJo for taking the Big Sky Conference last time. It’s always good to hear her perspective on football. She will be back next time for the lucky 13th most-challenged conference. So far, we’ve talked about the 11 least-challenged conferences in Division I (D1) football for 2026 using our preseason strength of schedule (PS-SOS) metric. We started with the Pioneer League (25th overall at a mean PS-SOS of 3.341) followed by the SWAC (24th at 3.396), the MEAC (23rd at 3.563), the Southland Conference (22nd at 3.626), the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference (21st at 3.672), the CAA (20th at 3.808), the FCS Independents (19th at 3.844), SoCon (18th at 3.989), the UAC (17th at 4.013), the Missouri Valley Conference (16th at 4.021), and the Big Sky (15th at 4.044).
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For new readers, PS-SOS is derived by taking the GCR’s 2025 final Score (a combination of our performance and SOS metrics) and overlaying those values (with special rules for non-D1 opponents), adjusted for away and neutral site games, to each team’s 2026 schedule. Why do we have this convoluted method? The GCR, despite the occasional accusation, has no bias. As of this posting, all 266 D1 teams are tied for first (or last) in both performance and SOS – with measurements of 0.000. Indiana (last year’s undefeated champion) and Chicago St (joining college football for the first time ever) have the same 2026 score. We have to use 2025 data, despite the imperfections, to differentiate teams. We could just forgo the PS-SOS countdown, but we think it’s kind of fun and provides a little excitement to the month or so before the season begins.
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Today, however, is all about our 14th most-challenged conference which is a bit of an oddity. The PS-SOS looks at each team’s full schedules which includes conference games and the 8-team Northeast Conference (NEC) is usually at the bottom of our Score metric, which one would think might pull down their PS-SOS. In fact, only two of the teams (Mercyhurst and C Connecticut) were in the top 200 (out of 265) last season. However, among the 8 teams, they play 15 FBS teams along with strong FCS teams such as South Dakota and South Dakota St, which pulls the metric back up. In basketball, Chicago St is already a member of the NEC but will play this season as an independent before fully joining the football NEC next season. While the regular-season champion of the NEC earns an automatic bid for the 24-team playoff, coming in second will likely not earn an at-large post. The NEC is considered by the committee as a lower-tier conference. But we would argue that they are, collectively, playing the 3rd most-challenging FCS schedule which should cause a reconsideration.
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All of that said, the NEC is 14th in our countdown with a mean PS-SOS of 4.064. In the table below, (4) indicates a Core 4 (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, and Notre Dame) challenge, (G) indicates a fight against a Group of 6 (American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac 12, Sun Belt, and UCONN) opponent, (F) indicates a non-conference FCS foe, and (D) indicates a step down into non-D1 play. There are no neutral site games scheduled. With no further ado, we are proud to present the 2026 Northeast Conference.
| Team Conf Rank | Home Field | 2025 Record (Rank) | 2026 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away Games | Hardest | Easiest |
| Mercyhurst Lakers (1) | Erie, PA | 5-7 (196) | 4.42 (152) | Glenville St (D), C Connecticut, Wagner, New Haven | Youngstown St (F), New Mexico St (G), New Mexico (G), W Kentucky (G), Long Island, Robert Morris, Stonehill, Duquesne | at New Mexico (9.53) | Glenville St (0.08) |
| Duquesne Dukes (2) | Pittsburgh, PA | 7-5 (208) | 4.37 (156) | Rio Grande (F), Long Island, Wagner, Robert Morris, Mercyhurst | Air Force (G), Youngstown St (F), Washington St (G), Stonehill, New Haven, C Connecticut | at Washington St (8.92) | Wagner (2.22) |
| Long Island Sharks (3) | Brookville, NY | 6-6 (193) | 4.37 (157) | Albany (F), Villanova (F), Mercyhurst, Stonehill, C Connecticut | North Dakota (F), Kansas (4), FIU (G), Duquesne, Wagner, New Haven, Robert Morris | at Kansas (9.18) | Albany (1.93) |
| Wagner Seahawks (4) | Staten Island, NY | 5-7 (243) | 4.34 (160) | Robert Morris, S Conn (D), Princeton (F), Long Island, New Haven | James Madison (G), California (4), C Connecticut, Duquesne, Merrimack (F), Mercyhurst, Stonehill | at James Madison (11.44) | S Conn (0.08) |
| Stonehill Skyhawks (5) | Easton, MA | 4-8 (209) | 3.94 (189) | Byrant (F), Duquesne, Mercyhurst, C Connecticut, Wagner | New Haven, New Hampshire (F), UMASS (G), Ohio (G), Sacred Heart (F), Long Island, Robert Morris | at Ohio (9.40) | Bryant, Wagner (2.22) |
| C Connecticut Blue Devils (6) | New Britain, NY | 8-5 (177) | 3.89 (196) | Wagner, AIC (D), New Haven, Robert Morris, Duquesne | South Dakota (F), Toledo (G), Montana St (G), Mercyhurst, Stonehill, Long Island | at Toledo (9.72) | AIC (0.07) |
| New Haven Chargers (7) | West Haven, CT | 5-5 (206) | 3.66 (222) | Marist (F), Stonehill, Brown (F), Duquesne, Long Island | South Dakota St (F), Merrimack (F), Austin Peay (F), Robert Morris, C Connecticut, Wagner, Mercyhurst | at Austin Peay (5.15) | at Wagner (2.56) |
| Robert Morris Colonials (8) | Moon Township, PA | 3-9 (241) | 3.52 (232) | WV St (D), Norfolk St (F), New haven, Mercyhurst, Stonehill, Long Island | Wagner, Akron (G), Buffalo (G), Morgan St (F), C Connecticut, Duquesne | at Buffalo (7.08) | WV St (0.08) |
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That’s it for today. Tune in tomorrow for the 2nd most-challenged (13th overall) FCS conference. Thank you for reading (it’s why we do this), sending comments or questions (it’s how we get better), and sharing with others (it’s how we grow). Until next time, JoJo and G
