NCAA Division I FBS Independent Schools: A Comprehensive Overview

At the Division I level of college football, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) represents the pinnacle of competition. These teams operate outside the structure of NCAA-affiliated conferences, which has significant implications for their revenue, scheduling, and bowl game eligibility. Understanding the landscape of FBS independent schools requires examining their historical context, current status, and the unique challenges and opportunities they face.

Division I Football: FBS vs. FCS

Within Division I, football programs are further classified into two subdivisions: FBS and FCS (Football Championship Subdivision). FBS teams represent the most elite level, characterized by their ability to offer 85 full-ride scholarships. This allows them to attract top-tier recruits. FCS teams are highly competitive, but operate with a limited number of scholarships and participate in a separate playoff system. Division 1 football teams are characterized by their rigorous schedules, and football is almost full-time job on top of the student-athlete’s academics. Student-athletes who play on these teams have to be prepared to put in a lot of work and potentially not see playing time until junior or senior year-or not at all. There are 133 Division 1 FCS football teams and 128 FBS football teams.

FBS, or the Football Bowl Subdivision, consists of 11 different conferences: the ACC, American, Big 12, Big Ten, C-USA, Independent, MAC, Mountain West, PAC-12, SEC and Sun Belt conferences. FCS, or the Football Championship Subdivision, comprises 14 conferences: the Big Sky, Big South, CAA, Independent, Ivy, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Pioneer, Southern, Southland and SWAC conferences.

What Defines an FBS Independent School?

NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions whose football programs are not part of an NCAA-affiliated conference. This independence affects several aspects of their operation.

Scheduling Challenges and Opportunities

FBS independents do not schedule each other for competition like conference schools do. This means that they must individually arrange their schedules each season, seeking opponents from various conferences and other independent institutions. While this can be challenging, it also offers the flexibility to create unique and attractive matchups.

Bowl Game Eligibility

All Division I FBS independents are eligible for a Bowl Championship Series bowl provided they meet eligibility requirements. Historically, independents had eligibility for the so-called "access bowls" (the New Year's Six bowls that issue at-large bids: Cotton, Peach, and Fiesta), if they were chosen by the CFP selection committee. After automatic bids for the top ranked conference champions were removed following the 2024 season, all Division I FBS independents are eligible for the College Football Playoff (CFP), and are currently eligible to receive a bye to the quarterfinals of the playoff.

Revenue Considerations

In recent years, most independent FBS schools have joined a conference for two primary reasons: A guaranteed share of television and bowl revenues, and ease of scheduling. Conference membership ensures a steady stream of revenue through television deals and bowl game payouts, which can be a significant advantage.

Prominent FBS Independent Schools

Notre Dame: A Tradition of Independence

Notre Dame is one of the most prominent programs in the country. Due to its national popularity built over many years, Notre Dame is the only individual school to have its own national television contract, and is the only independent program to be part of the Bowl Championship Series coalition and its guaranteed payout. Notre Dame easily fills its annual schedule without needing conference games to do so. It has longstanding rivalries with many different programs around the country, including annual rivalry games with USC, Michigan, Michigan State, Navy, and Purdue. All Notre Dame home games and most away games are on national television, so other teams have a large financial incentive to schedule the university.

Since 1991, Notre Dame home games have aired on NBC, and since 2021, are also simulcast on NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock. One Notre Dame home game exclusively streams on Peacock since 2021, which was a home opener against Toledo. Previously, some Fighting Irish home games aired on the now-defunct NBCSN, and in 2020, which Notre Dame was a temporary football member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the home opener against South Florida aired on USA Network. A portion of the game against Clemson aired on USA Network due to NBC News' coverage of Joe Biden's victory speech, before returning to NBC for the remainder of the game.

Nonetheless, Notre Dame joined the ACC in 2013 for all sports except football and men's ice hockey (the only other ACC member with a men's ice hockey varsity team is Boston College, which played alongside Notre Dame in Hockey East until 2017 when Notre Dame switched to the Big Ten). As part of this agreement, Notre Dame plays five of its football games each season against ACC members. This arrangement required Notre Dame to eliminate or reduce the frequency of several rivalries: the Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue series were canceled (with a renewal of the latter in 2024), while Boston College and Pitt, ACC members themselves, now play Notre Dame every three or four years. On the other hand, the move has allowed Notre Dame to resume old rivalries with ACC members Georgia Tech and Miami, while still scheduling Big Ten opponents from time to time. In 2020, after several non-ACC games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame opted to play a full ACC football schedule for just the 2020 season. The Irish were eligible for the conference championship game (which they lost to Clemson) and the conference's automatic bowl bids.

Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile

Service Academies: Army and Navy

The other two current independent programs are two of the service academies, Army and Navy. Both service academies have annual games guaranteed with each other and with Air Force. Navy has an annual rivalry game with Notre Dame and Army has a semi-regular rivalry with Notre Dame. Television rights for the longstanding Army-Navy Game serve as a significant revenue source for the programs.

BYU: The "Notre Dame of the West"

In many ways, BYU is a western analog to Notre Dame; during the 2010 conference realignment that eventually saw the university choose football independence, some within the school saw it as a potential future "Notre Dame of the West". The 1984 team's national championship is the most recent by a university that is not a current member of the BCS coalition. The most recent changes to the independent ranks came in 2023 when BYU joined the Big 12 Conference, and Liberty and New Mexico State joined Conference USA.

Liberty University

Liberty University is the fifth independent FBS team That is not shown in the table below. They became bowl eligible in the FBS in 2019. They have won the Cure Bowl in 2019 and 2020. They play at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, VA.

University of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut was a founding member of the original Big East Conference in 1979, but that conference split along football lines in 2013. In the years after the split, UConn's flagship men's and women's basketball programs faced significant issues. Jim Calhoun, the coach who had largely built the UConn men into a national powerhouse, had retired after the 2011-12 season. While his successor Kevin Ollie had led the Huskies to a national title in the first season after the split, the team faded noticeably in later seasons, and Ollie was fired after the 2017-18 season amid an NCAA investigation. Ollie's final season saw UConn men's attendance reach its lowest level in 30 years. The women faced a severe lack of competition in The American. The Huskies received and accepted an invitation to join the reconfigured Big East in 2019, with a July 2020 entry date. Due to the Big East not sponsoring football, UConn was willing to stay in The American as a football-only member. UConn opted not to field a team in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting disruption to college football schedules. Since 2021, UConn home games have aired on CBS Sports Network. The deal between CBS and UConn was made in 2020, initially only including four home games, with all home games televised from 2021 to 2023, but their season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore starting in 2021 against Holy Cross, and the final season being in 2024, although it has been confirmed home games will continue to air on CBS Sports Network in 2025. In 2022, UConn's home opener against Central Connecticut was televised on The CW affiliate WCCT-TV and streaming on WTIC-TV's streaming app, FOX61+. The following year, UConn's athletic department announced a partnership with Hartford-licensed CBS affiliate WFSB and sister independent station WWAX-LD.

The Allure of Conference Membership

The trend of FBS independent schools joining conferences highlights the benefits of a conference affiliation. Guaranteed revenue streams and simplified scheduling are major factors driving this trend. However, some institutions, like Notre Dame, have maintained their independence due to unique circumstances and historical tradition.

Historical Context and Evolution

The following is an incomplete list of teams which have been Division I-A (FBS) Independents since the formation of Division I-A in 1978. School names reflect those in current use by their athletic programs, which may not reflect names used when those schools were independents.

Transitioning to FBS

Delaware officially obtained FBS membership as of July 1, 2025. Missouri State officially obtained FBS membership as of July 1, 2025.

Scholarship Rules and Classifications

Schools in Division I FBS are distinguished from those in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) by being allowed to provide scholarship aid to a total of 85 players, and may grant a full scholarship to all 85. FCS schools are limited to financial assistance amounting to a maximum of 63 full scholarships, although some conferences voluntarily place further restrictions on athletic aid. The NCAA classifies FBS football as a "head-count" sport, meaning that each player receiving any athletically-related aid from the school counts fully against the 85-player limit. By contrast, FCS football is classified as an "equivalency" sport, which means that scholarship aid is limited to the equivalent of a specified number of full scholarships. In turn, this means that FCS schools can freely grant partial scholarships, but are also limited to a total of 85 players receiving assistance. Another NCAA rule mandates that any multi-sport athlete who plays football and receives any athletic aid is counted against the football limit, with an exception for players in non-scholarship FCS programs who receive aid in another sport.

The College Football Playoff (CFP)

Starting in 2014, the FBS began playing a tournament known as the College Football Playoff (CFP) culminating in a National Championship Game to determine its national champion, a system that has been in place from the 2014-2025 seasons by contract with ESPN, broadcaster of the games. The CFP featured four teams from its first season in 2014 through the 2023 season, and expanded to 12 teams in 2024. But since the CFP is not sanctioned by the NCAA, this makes FBS football the only sport without an NCAA-sanctioned champion.

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