Where fans fuel champions.
Simple. Secure. Direct.
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Where fans fuel champions.
Simple. Secure. Direct.
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Where fans fuel champions.
Simple. Secure. Direct.
Where fans fuel champions.
Simple. Secure. Direct.
2 Schools•Division I•Est. 1869
NCAA Division I FBS independents are football programs that compete outside of an affiliated conference, giving them full control over their own scheduling, television rights, and bowl game negotiations. The category has existed since the formation of Division I-A football in 1978, when the majority of major programs operated independently before the era of large, revenue-generating conferences. Over the decades, most independents have joined conferences to gain guaranteed shares of television revenue and bowl game access, shrinking the group from dozens of programs to just two as of the 2025-26 season: Notre Dame and the University of Connecticut. Notre Dame is by far the most prominent FBS independent in history, having unsuccessfully attempted to join the Big Ten as far back as 1926 before building a national brand powerful enough to make independence more financially advantageous than conference membership. Since 1991, Notre Dame home games have aired on NBC, and the program joined the ACC in 2013 for all sports except football, agreeing to schedule five games per season against ACC opponents. UConn became an FBS independent in 2020 after rejoining the non-football Big East Conference, which left its football program without a conference home. All FBS independents are eligible for the College Football Playoff and were previously eligible for the New Year's Six access bowls if selected by the CFP committee. Notre Dame plays its home games at Notre Dame Stadium, which seats 80,795, while UConn plays at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field, which holds 38,066.
NCAA Division I FBS independents are football programs that compete outside of an affiliated conference, giving them full control over their own scheduling, television rights, and bowl game negotiations. The category has existed since the formation of Division I-A football in 1978, when the majority of major programs operated independently before the era of large, revenue-generating conferences. Over the decades, most independents have joined conferences to gain guaranteed shares of television revenue and bowl game access, shrinking the group from dozens of programs to just two as of the 2025-26 season: Notre Dame and the University of Connecticut. Notre Dame is by far the most prominent FBS independent in history, having unsuccessfully attempted to join the Big Ten as far back as 1926 before building a national brand powerful enough to make independence more financially advantageous than conference membership. Since 1991, Notre Dame home games have aired on NBC, and the program joined the ACC in 2013 for all sports except football, agreeing to schedule five games per season against ACC opponents. UConn became an FBS independent in 2020 after rejoining the non-football Big East Conference, which left its football program without a conference home. All FBS independents are eligible for the College Football Playoff and were previously eligible for the New Year's Six access bowls if selected by the CFP committee. Notre Dame plays its home games at Notre Dame Stadium, which seats 80,795, while UConn plays at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field, which holds 38,066.