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FBS CONFERENCE · 2025 SEASON

FBS Independents

#2 overall#2 in FBSRR50 +15.1Upper strength +18.62 teamsTop 25 teams 1

THE LONG WAIT · 2025

The Last Independent

Notre Dame is the reason independent football still exists at FBS level. The Irish have refused conference membership for 135+ years, hold a media partnership with the ACC, and reached the national championship game as the #3 seed in the 2025 CFP — beating a conference champion in the semifinals while playing zero conference games. BYU, Army, and most other long-time independents eventually joined conferences. Notre Dame remains the exception that defines the category, and every structural pressure on the format is ultimately a pressure on one program.

As CFP selection increasingly rewards conference championship résumés, can Notre Dame build a schedule strong enough to earn a top-4 seed on merit alone, or does the bracket math eventually force the decision that 135 years of tradition has refused to make?

FBS2 teamsRace: CFP Access

FBS Independents · Where They Stand · 2025

Power Map

Power ranking entering the 2026 season. Based on last season's neutral-field performance.

Favorites
Notre Dame+21.710–2
Challengers
UConn+13.39–4

FBS Independents · 2026 Season Preview

Three Things to Watch

The Only Program That Matters HereNotre Dame Went to the Title Game. Again.

Notre Dame reached the CFP national championship game in January 2026 as a #3 seed without playing a single conference game. They beat a Power Four conference champion in the semifinals. The argument that independence is structurally disadvantaged broke against the reality that Notre Dame keeps making the bracket. Marcus Freeman enters 2026 with the most talented roster in South Bend since the 2012 title run.

The Schedule Question

Can They Build the Same Case in 2026?

Notre Dame's 2026 schedule includes three games against Power Four opponents in the first five weeks. The committee has shown it will reward the Irish for strength of schedule when the record is clean. But one loss in September — to a team ranked 15th, not 5th — ends the top-4 conversation. The margin for error in the independent model is zero.

The Tradition

135 Years of Saying No

Every major independent since 1990 has eventually joined a conference. Penn State in 1993. Florida State in 1992. Miami in 2004. Arkansas went back to the SEC. BYU joined the Big 12. Army joined the AAC. Notre Dame has refused every time, for 135 years, and keeps succeeding. The structural pressure is real. The program's identity is built on resisting it. That tension is college football's longest-running story.

Conference Standings · FBS Independents · 2025

Standings

# Team Conf Overall Pwr Last 5
1Notre Dame0–010–2+21.7
2UConn0–09–4+13.3

Conference record determines standing. Power = neutral-field pts vs. all-level average. Last 5 = most recent game results.

Conference Power · FBS

Where We Stand

# Conference Avg Power vs Focal Top Team
1SEC
+15.1
1–1Ole Miss
2Big Ten
+14.8
2–0Indiana
3ACC
+14.4
7–2Miami
4Big 12
+14.2
—Texas Tech
5American Athletic
+13.6
3–2North Texas
6Mountain West
+13.3
2–0San Diego State
7Sun Belt
+13.2
—James Madison
8Mid-American
+12.7
2–0Toledo
9Conference USA
+12.4
1–1Western Kentucky

Round-robin power = strength of schedule-adjusted conference average, points vs. all-level average team. Record = FBS Independents's record vs. that conference across all games this season.

FBS Independents is a very small affiliation group this season, so its strength is shown with extra regression instead of being treated like a full league ecosystem.

Conference Snapshot

RR50+15.1
Upper Strength+18.6
Median Power+14.8
Resume Pulse93.0
Avg ATS55.8%
Wins vs Market+0.08
Top-to-Middle Gap4.2
Combined Record19-6

`RR50`, `Upper Strength`, and `Median Power` are shown on the same public power scale as the rest of the site: points on a neutral field versus the average all-level NCAA team. Very small affiliations are gently regressed toward their subdivision baseline so a one-team outlier does not hijack the entire conference board.

FBS Independents Team Board

The league stack, sorted by predictive strength. Power is shown as neutral-field points versus the all-level average team, while resume is shown on a 0-100 season score.

Rank Team Record Power Resume ATS Wins vs Market Recent Form
#4 Notre Dame 10-2 +21.7 98 6-6 -0.33 4-0 over the last 4 (W11 W12 W13 W14)
#84 UConn 9-4 +13.3 88 8-5 +0.49 3-1 over the last 4 (W11 W12 W13 L18)

Biggest Risers

Rank movement since the most recent refresh.

No meaningful risers from the last refresh.

Biggest Faders

Teams whose stock dropped most since the last refresh.

No meaningful faders from the last refresh.

ATS Leaders

Who beat the number most often this season.

TeamCover RateRecord
UConn61.5%8-5 ATS
Notre Dame50.0%6-6 ATS

Wins vs Market

Win total minus the market's implied expectation, by team.

TeamWins vs MarketSample
UConn+0.4913 lined games
Notre Dame-0.3312 lined games

Depth & Parity

How wide the league's power spread runs from top to bottom.

Top Rank#4 Notre Dame
Bottom Rank#84 UConn
Top-to-Middle Gap4.2
Power Spread4.2
Top 25 Teams1
Top 100 Teams2

Moderately layered — the league has real tiers but no runaway gap between them. Power Spread is the standard deviation of neutral-field power across league members.