Welcome back, oh great and wonderful college football fans. The G-Man is back from a fantastic Nordic trip and, as soon as the luggage catches up, the long vacation will be complete. A proud and thankful shout out to JoJo who debuted as a co-author of the blog – she did a great job and received a lot of positive feedback. She will be back, and I certainly look forward to her insights.
…..
This episode, we are looking at the 15th most difficult conference (out of 25) determined by reviewing the 2025 schedule for every team, providing a score for each opponent based on the win totals, location of the games, and league (Core 4, Group of 5, FCS, other), then taking the average score. That, while a bit nerdy, creates a preseason Strength of Schedule (SOS) score that gives us a decent idea on how difficult the season will be. It’s not 100%, of course, especially in college where teams can be awful one year and champions the next (or vice versa), but, because the GCR does not have a preseason ranking, the preseason SOS does give us some idea.
…..
The 9-team United Athletic Conference (UAC) are an emerging FCS conference that I believe will have a championship contender in the next few years. Both the Tarleton Texans and the Abilene Christian Wildcats won playoff games last season. Keep an eye on the E Kentucky Colonels as well. West Georgia is still transitioning from non-Division I and, along with Austin Peay and S Utah, should be in the cellar.
…..
In the table below, (F) indicates a game against a non-conference FCS opponent, (G) indicates facing a Group of 5 foe, (4) indicates a Core 4 challenge, and (D) indicates a non-division one contest. There are no neutral site games on the schedule. With no further ado, JoJo and I are proud to present the 2025 UAC Preseason SOS ranking:
| Team | Home | 2024 Record (Rank) | 2025 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away Games |
| E Kentucky Colonels (1) | Richmond, KY | 8-5 (168) | 4.88 (156) | Houston Chr (F), Nicholls (F), Austin Peay, Tarleton, S Utah, Abilene Chr | Louisville (4), Marshall (G), West Georgia, N Alabama, C Arkansas, Utah Tech |
| Austin Peay Governors (2) | Clarksville, TN | 4-8 (232) | 4.52 (177) | Morehead St (F), Utah Tech, West Georgia, N Alabama, C Arkansas, Samford | Middle Tennessee (G), Georgia (4), Abilene Chr, E Kentucky, S Utah, Tarleton |
| N Alabama Lions (3) | Florence, AL | 3-9 (216) | 4.48 (172) | Northeastern St (D), C Arkansas, E Kentucky, West Georgia, S Utah | W Kentucky (G), SEMO (F), Illinois St, Abilene Chr, Austin Peay, Utah Tech, Tarleton |
| Abilene Chr Wildcats (4) | Abilene, TX | 9-5 (166) | 4.46 (173) | Steph F Austin (F), Austin Peay, N Alabama, Tarleton, Utah Tech | Tulsa (G), TCU (4), Incarnate Word (F), West Georgia, S Utah, E Kentucky, C Arkansas |
| Utah Tech Trailblazers (5) | St George, UT | 1-11 (215) | 4.10 (190) | UC Davis, N Iowa, Tarleton, S Utah, N Alabama, E Kentucky | N Arizona (F), Idaho (F), Austin Peay, C Arkansas, Abilene Chr, West Georgia |
| C Arkansas Bears (6) | Conway, AR | 6-6 (193) | 4.02 (200) | Ark Pine Bluff (F), Tarleton, Utah Tech, E Kentucky, Abilene Chr | Missouri (4), Sacramento St (F), Lamar (F), N Alabama, West Georgia, Austin Peay, S Utah |
| Tarleton Texans (7) | Stephenville, TX | 10-4 (161) | 3.88 (204) | Mississippi Valley (F), Chattanooga (F), S Utah, West Georgia, N Alabama, Austin Peay | Portland St (F), Army (G), C Arkansas, Utah Tech, E Kentucky, Abilene Chr |
| S Utah Thunderbirds (8) | Cedar City, UT | 7-5 (177) | 3.75 (211) | Idaho St (F), N Arizona (F), West Georgia, Abilene Chr, Austin Peay, C Arkansas | San Diego (F), UC Davis (F), Tarleton, Utah Tech, E Kentucky, N Alabama |
| West Georgia Wolves (9) | Carrolton, GA | 4-7 (261) | 3.27 (239) | E Tennessee St (F), E Kentucky, Abilene Chr, C Arkansas, Utah Tech | Samford (F), Nicholls (F), S Utah, Austin Peay, Tarleton, N Alabama |
…..
That’s it for today. Thank you for reading and, especially, sharing with others. we are always open to feedback to improve our blog, so please provide comments. Until next time, JoJo and G
