THE RFC Offseason Schedule Tracker: Big Sky Conference (FCS)

Big Sky Conference (FCS) 

Overview: Any discussion of Big Sky Conference football for the 2026 season should begin and end with the two teams from the same state, the Montana State University Bobcats and the University of Montana Grizzlies, respectively. 

Montana State overcame an 0-2 start to win its final 14 games, culminating in a dramatic win over Illinois State in the FCS title game on January 5th, 2026. The 35-34 win over the Redbirds gave the Bobcats their second-ever FCS/NCAA Division I-AA national championship, with their only other title coming in 1984. With the win, Montana State finished the 2025 season at 14-2 overall.

As for Montana, the Grizzlies carried an undefeated record into their annual "Brawl of the Wild" showdown in Missoula, Montana. But it was the Bobcats that ended the Griz's quest for an undefeated regular season with a 31-28 Montana State win on November 22. 

The Grizzlies then won two FCS playoff games over South Dakota State and South Dakota to earn a rematch against the Bobcats in the semifinals. However, Montana State won that battle in a contest that wasn't really close, with the Bobcats cruising to a 48-23 win on December 20th, 2025. Montana's 2025 season ended at 13-2 overall after losing to Montana State.

The only other Big Sky Conference team to advance to the FCS playoffs last fall was the University of California-Davis Aggies. UC Davis defeated Rhode Island 47-26 in the second round before being eliminated by eventual national runner-up Illinois State 42-31. The Aggies finished their 2025 season at 9-4 overall.

The upcoming 2026 season will bring multiple changes to the Big Sky Conference membership, with longtime member Sacramento State leaving for the FBS Group of Six Mountain West Conference, while Southern Utah and Utah Tech are moving into the Big Sky from the United Athletic Conference (UAC).

It will be interesting to see whether Montana and Montana State will continue to dominate the Big Sky Conference discussion or if other squads will have a say in the conference championship conversation this season. 

161. Cal Poly

162. Eastern Washington

163. Idaho

164. Idaho State

165. Montana

166. Montana State

167. Northern Arizona

168. Northern Colorado

169. Portland State

170. Southern Utah

171. UC Davis

172. Utah Tech

173. Weber State

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The RFC Offseason Schedule Tracker: Southland Conference (FCS)

Southland Conference (FCS)

Overview: After outlasting Abilene Christian 41-34 in the second round of the FCS playoffs, followed by a season-ending loss to eventual national champion Montana State in the quarterfinals, to finish the 2025 season at 11-3 overall, the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks will look to win another Southland Conference crown in 2026. But SFA will have solid competition looking to dethrone the Lumberjacks, who finished unbeaten in SLC action at 8-0 last season. Expect challenges from Southeastern Louisiana (9-4, 7-1), second-year UT Rio Grande Valley (9-3, 5-3), and Lamar (8-5, 5-3), amongst other challengers.

151. East Texas A&M

152. Houston Christian

153. Lamar

154. McNeese State

155. Nicholls 

156. Northwestern State

157. Southeastern Louisiana

158. Stephen F. Austin

159. UIW

160. UT Rio Grande Valley

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The RFC Offseason Schedule Tracker: FCS Independent-Merrimack

Overview: Due to the nature of conference realignment in college sports, the lone FCS program that's currently not a conference member will stay independent, for now.

That one program is the Merrimack College Warriors from North Andover, Massachusetts. The Warriors struggled to a disappointing 4-8 record in 2025, with four of those losses coming by seven points or less. That includes a heartbreaking 23-20 overtime loss to Colgate on November 1. 

The 2026 schedule for Merrimack will be brutal, as all 12 of the Warriors' opponents this fall finished the 2025 season with a combined overall record of 96-51 (.653). Out of that group, 11 teams finished with a .500 or better winning percentage, 10 won six or more games, nine won seven or more games, and six squads advanced to postseason play in some form. Four of these teams-Rhode Island, Tarleton State, Yale, and New Hampshire- advanced to the FCS playoffs, while two FBS teams-Delaware and Wake Forest-played in bowl games last season.

If they play well during the first half of the season, don't be surprised if Merrimack finally gets its first winning season as an FCS program this fall. The Warriors' last winning season was in 2022, when they finished at 8-3 overall. 

150. Merrimack

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The RFC Offseason Schedule Tracker: Ivy League (FCS)

Ivy League-(FCS)

Overview: The Ivy League experienced multiple changes in 2025, with the biggest being that all eight teams were eligible for the FCS playoffs for the first time in the storied history of the "Ancient Eight".

One team that made the most of this change was the Yale University Bulldogs. The Bulldogs pulled off the upset over their longtime archrivals in the Harvard University Crimson to clinch the Ivy League's first-ever automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. The Bulldogs then rallied from a 28-point halftime deficit to defeat and eliminate Youngstown State for Yale's first-ever FCS playoff win a week later. Yale's historic season came to a close the following week after giving eventual FCS national champion Montana State all it could handle before succumbing 21-13 to finish at 9-3 overall.

As for Harvard, the Crimson saw its quest for an undefeated regular season end after being upset by Yale, 45-28, and settled for a share of the Ivy League championship. Harvard was eliminated by Villanova in its first-ever FCS playoff game, 52-7. The Crimson finished its 2025 campaign at 9-2 overall.

With the 2026 season soon to start in just a matter of months, the questions are these: Will Harvard and Yale make it a two-team race for the Ivy League title, with both squads finishing the 2025 season at 6-1 in conference play? Or will one or more of the other six squads have a say in who comes out on top this fall?

142. Brown

143. Columbia 

144. Cornell (N.Y.)

145. Dartmouth

146. Harvard

147. Penn*

148. Princeton 

149. Yale

*-Schedule courtesy of fbschedules.com.


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The RFC Offseason Schedule Tracker: Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC)-(FCS)

Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC)-(FCS)

Overview:  After one of the most competitive football seasons in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) history, the Prairie View A&M University Panthers traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, and knocked off the Jackson State University Tigers, 23-21, on Saturday, December 6, 2025, to win their first SWAC title since 2009. The Panthers then fell to MEAC champion South Carolina State, 40-38, in four overtimes at the Celebration Bowl the following week, to end the 2025 season at 10-4 overall.

 

The 2026 season promises more of the same intense competition from top to bottom, with Jackson State (9-3 overall in 2025) and Alabama State (10-2 in 2025) looking to win the East Division title, while Prairie View hopes to repeat as SWAC champions this fall.

However, there's one squad that won't be part of the conference championship conversation this season due to poor academic performance with the Florida A&M University Rattlers. On April 10, 2026, the NCAA banned FAMU from postseason play after receiving Level Two Academic Progress Rate (APR) penalties, which include practice restrictions, in addition to missing out on postseason action.

East Division

130. Alabama A&M

131. Alabama State

132. Bethune-Cookman

133. Florida A&M

134. Jackson State

135. Mississippi Valley State

West Division

136. Alcorn State

137. Grambling State

138. Prairie View A&M

139. Southern

140. Texas Southern*

141. UAPB

*-Schedule courtesy of fbschedules.com.

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The RFC Offseason Schedule Tracker: Quick Schedule Updates-Louisiana Tech, San Diego, and West Florida

Editor's Note: Louisiana Tech, San Diego, and West Florida have updated their schedules as of Friday, May 1, 2026. Please click the following links listed below to find those schedules. All schedules are subject to change.)

Louisiana Tech (Schedule includes games vs. Sun Belt Conference opponents for the 2026 season.)

San Diego (11-game regular-season schedule in 2026) 

West Florida (12-game regular season schedule for the Argonauts first season at the FCS level in 2026. The schedule is courtesy of fbschedules.com.)

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The RFC Offseason Schedule Tracker: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)-(FCS)

 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)-(FCS)

Overview:  After outlasting SWAC champion Prairie View A&M 40-38 in four overtimes to win the Celebration Bowl on December 13, 2025, the South Carolina State University Bulldogs, who ended last year with a 10-3 overall record and unbeaten in conference play at 5-0, will enter the 2026 season hoping to win their third-straight title this fall. 

But S.C. State will get some serious competition this season from the Delaware State University Hornets, who finished their 2025 season at 4-1 in MEAC action en route to a final overall record of 8-4. Don't count North Carolina Central (8-4, 3-2) out of the MEAC mix either.

 

124. Delaware State

125. Howard

126. Morgan State

127. Norfolk State

128. North Carolina Central

129. South Carolina State

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