FB: American Southwest Conference

[HansenRatings]

Ran some numbers on the Cru's non-conference schedule.

NC SOS: 0.976
I would have to dig deeper to crunch the numbers, but this very likely could be best non-conference schedule since 1997 for a team w/ 4 non-conference games. For reference, the rightfully ballyhooed Johns Hopkins non-conference schedule in 2025 is sitting at 0.955, with one fewer game.

Spreads & Win%
vs. Bethel TN (-12.4, 78.4%)
vs. UW-Whitewater (+0.2, 49.5%)
@ Mars Hill (-0.6, 51.3%)
vs. Texas Wesleyan (-15.4, 83.5%)

What about the UW-Oshkosh schedule?

NC SOS of 0.966 (Linfield, NCC, Roosevelt). Roosevelt would be about a TD underdog vs. TX Wesleyan and a double digit 'dog vs. Bethel TN, using preseason numbers from Massey & end-of-2024 numbers from Bill Connelly's SP+.

[CruFrenzy]

This could be a darn fun season for Cru football fans even more so if we put a good squad together.

Home games vs Bethel TN, UW Whitewater, Tx Wesleyan and Hardin Simmons. Doesn't get much better than that!

Credit to Harmon for getting it done.

[IC798891]

Though it was an independent era schedule, the 2001 Buffalo State schedule ended up being the greatest I have ever seen

11-2 Rowan, NCAA Semifinalist
11-2 Ithaca, NCAA Quarterfinalist
11-1 Washington & Jefferson, NCAA 2nd round
9-2 Montclair, NCAA First round
9-2 Brockport, NCAA First round
8-2 Albion
5-5 Cortland
Non-D3 Robert Morris
Non-D3 Mansfield

[HansenRatings]

That

Though it was an independent era schedule, the 2001 Buffalo State schedule ended up being the greatest I have ever seen

11-2 Rowan, NCAA Semifinalist
11-2 Ithaca, NCAA Quarterfinalist
11-1 Washington & Jefferson, NCAA 2nd round
9-2 Montclair, NCAA First round
9-2 Brockport, NCAA First round
8-2 Albion
5-5 Cortland
Non-D3 Robert Morris
Non-D3 Mansfield

That Buffalo State schedule is a monster. I'm surprised I haven't noticed it before. I have that as a 0.898 SOS, which would be the top regular season SOS in the country most years, and even better than the SOS for teams who make deep playoff runs. UWEC and UMHB (including playoffs, excluding the non-countable opponent, because they don't count) would have been the only two in 2024 with a higher SOS.

[IC798891]

That

Though it was an independent era schedule, the 2001 Buffalo State schedule ended up being the greatest I have ever seen

11-2 Rowan, NCAA Semifinalist
11-2 Ithaca, NCAA Quarterfinalist
11-1 Washington & Jefferson, NCAA 2nd round
9-2 Montclair, NCAA First round
9-2 Brockport, NCAA First round
8-2 Albion
5-5 Cortland
Non-D3 Robert Morris
Non-D3 Mansfield

That Buffalo State schedule is a monster. I'm surprised I haven't noticed it before. I have that as a 0.898 SOS, which would be the top regular season SOS in the country most years, and even better than the SOS for teams who make deep playoff runs. UWEC and UMHB (including playoffs, excluding the non-countable opponent, because they don't count) would have been the only two in 2024 with a higher SOS.

It gets better. Here are those D3 opponents' records when their H2H games with each other are removed:

Washington & Jefferson: 11-1
Rowan: 9-1
Ithaca: 9-0
Montclair: 7-0
Brockport: 7-0
Albion: 8-2
Cortland: 4-2

They went 55-6 when not playing someone else on Buff State's schedule.

Unlikely we'll ever see anything like it again. It's also a bummer for them it was the year Jerry Boyes left, because no one else has managed to keep them even remotely competitive

[Reverendbiker]

Carson Horton just announced on X that he is transferring to UMHB. Took a medical redshirt at Tulsa. 6'2", 200#. The QB room is getting interesting...