Independent, in the context of college athletics in the United States, refers to college and university sports teams that do not compete as members of an athletic conference. Accordingly, they do not compete for conference championships and do not share in conference revenues, including television revenues. Independents also do not have binding commitments to play games against a set of teams that are members of the same conference and generally have greater flexibility, and sometimes difficulty, in scheduling opponents.

History In the 19th century, most schools competed without conference affiliations. In 1900, the majority of football teams (including Arkansas, Army, Baylor, California, Harvard, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Navy, Nebraska, North Carolina A&M, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn, Penn State, Princeton, Rutgers, South Carolina, Stanford, Syracuse, Texas A&M, USC, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Yale) competed as independents.

Efforts to organize into conferences began in 1888 with the formation of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and continued over several decades with the formation of, among other conferences, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1892), Big Ten Conference (1895), Ohio Athletic Conference (1902), Missouri Valley Conference (1907, predecessor to the Big Eight Conference), Southwest Conference (1914), Pacific Coast Conference (1915), Southern Conference (1921), Border Conference (1931), Southeastern Conference (1932), Mid-American Conference (1946), and Atlantic Coast Conference (1953). The growth of conferences has resulted in fewer schools and teams competing as independents.

The decline of independent college football programs accelerated rapidly after 1990. In 1990, there were 26 Division I-A independents, a total that was reduced to nine in 2000, and only three (Army, Navy, and Notre Dame) by 2010. The 2010s saw a slight increase in independents, with BYU, Liberty, New Mexico State, and UMass joining the independent ranks by 2019. Liberty, New Mexico State, and UMass became independent due to trouble finding conferences to play in, while BYU wanted more access and exposure. The challenges of being an independent team in the 2010s caused Idaho to drop from NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) to NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in order to join a conference. Notably, Notre Dame played the 2020 season as a member of the ACC due to the challenges of scheduling as an independent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Current state As of the 2026 college football season, only two FBS teams are independent: UConn and Notre Dame. Army and Navy, two traditionally independent teams, joined the American Athletic Conference in 2024 and 2015, respectively, in order to have better access at bowl games and ultimately make more money, the common reason why teams join conferences. Notre Dame remains independent due to their $20 million television deal with NBC, while UConn, being a college basketball powerhouse, prioritizes having their men's and women's basketball programs in the Big East, a conference that does not sponsor football.

List of historic independent football programs The following is an incomplete list of college programs that have been independents in college football. Since most schools were independent in the early years of college football, the list is limited to programs that competed as independents for at least five years in the modern era after the 1930s.

Team Years as independent SourceAir Force 1955–1979 Akron 1891–1914, 1937–1947, 1966–1977, 1987–1991 Arkansas State 1911–1929, 1951–1963, 1987–1992, 1996–1998 Army 1890–1997, 2005–2023 Boston College 1893–1990 Boston University 1884, 1886–1887, 1891–1897, 1904–1905, 1917–1942, 1945–1972 Bowling Green 1919–1920, 1932, 1942–1951 Brown 1878, 1880, 1886, 1889–1953 Bucknell 1881–1957, 1970–1985 Buffalo1894–1903, 1915–1925, 1935–1942, 1946–1970, 1977–1998 BYU 2011–2022 Cal Poly1915–1921, 1925–1945, 1996–2003 Carnegie Mellon 1906–1957 Central Michigan 1896–1926, 1931–1949, 1970–1974 Chattanooga 1899–1913, 1942–1976 Cincinnati 1885–1909, 1938–1946, 1953–1956, 1970–1995 Coast Guard 1922–1923, 1926–1991 Colgate 1890–1917, 1919–1985 Colorado State 1962–1967 Columbia 1870, 1872–1884, 1889–1891, 1899–1905, 1915–1953 Cornell 1887–1917, 1919–1952 Dartmouth 1881–1884, 1886–1953 Dayton 1905–1925, 1939–1992 Delaware 1889–1945, 1947–1957, 1970–1985 Detroit 1896–?, ?−1948, 1957–1964 Drake 1893−1907, 1952–1970, 1987–1992 Drexel 1892−1909, 1918−1936, 1941−1942, 1944−1957, 1970−1973 Duquesne 1891–1894, 1896–1903, 1913–1914, 1920–1923, 1930–1942, 1947–1950 East Carolina 1932–1946, 1962–1964, 1977–1996 Eastern Michigan 1891–1893, 1895, 1902–1919, 1926, 1931–1949, 1966–1975 Ferris State 1899–1937, 1946–1973 Florida State 1947, 1951–1991 Florida A&M 1907–1925, 1984–1985, 2004, Fordham 1881–1954, 1970–1972, 1978–1984, 1989 Fresno State 1921, 1942–1945, 1951–1952 Georgetown 1881–1906, 1922–1950, 1964–1992 Georgia Southern 1924–1941, 1982–1991 Georgia Tech 1892–1915, 1964–1982 Harvard 1873–1952 Hawaii 1909–1978 Holy Cross 1891–1985 Houston 1950, 1960–1975 Idaho 1894–1907, 1959–1964, 2013 Illinois State 1887–1907, 1970–1980 Indiana State 1896–1933, 1968–1975 Lafayette 1882–1985 Liberty 1973–2001, 2018–2022 Louisiana 1901–1947, 1982–1992, 1996–2000 Louisiana Tech 1901–1914, 1987–1992, 1996–2000 Louisiana–Monroe 1951–1952, 1972–1981, 1994–2000 Louisville 1912–1947, 1949–1962, 1975–1995 Loyola of Los Angeles 1889, 1897, 1901–1909, 1919–1951 Marquette c.1892–1960 Marshall 1895–1924, 1952–1953, 1969–1976 Memphis 1912–1927, 1947–1967, 1973–1995 Miami (FL) 1927–1928, 1942–1990 Miami (OH) 1888–1910; 1940–1946 Michigan State 1908–1952 Middle Tennessee 1911–1951, 1999–2000 Montana 1897–1923, 1950, 1962 Navy 1879–2014 Nevada 1896–1924, 1940–1953, 1969–1978 New Mexico State 1893–1930, 1962–1970, 2013, 2018–2022 North Texas 1913–1921, 1975–1982, 1995 Northern Illinois 1899–1921, 1926–1927, 1966–1974, 1986–1992, 1996 Notre Dame 1887–1999, 2001–present NYU 1873–1876, 1879, 1882–1883, 1886, 1889–1892, 1894–1941, 1944–1952 Ohio 1894–1909, 1939–1946 Pacific (CA) 1895, 1898–1899, 1919–1921, 1924, 1943–1945, 1949–1968 Penn 1876–1953 Penn State 1887–1890, 1892–1992 Pittsburgh 1890–1990 Portland 1927–1942, 1946–1949 Princeton 1869–1953 Richmond 1881–1900, 1922–1926, 1976–1985 Rutgers 1895–1928, 1952–1957, 1962–1990 Saint Mary's 1892-1899, 1915-1924, 1929-1950, 1970-2003 San Diego State 1925, 1942, 1945, 1968, 1976-1977 San Francisco c.1925–1926, 1929–1951 San Jose State 1893–1921, 1936–1938, 1950–1968 Santa Clara 1896–1952, 1959–1981 South Carolina 1892–1921, 1971–1991 South Florida 1997–2002 Southern Miss 1912–1930, 1942–1947, 1952–1995 Syracuse 1889–1990 Tampa 1933–1937, 1942, 1946, 1950–1974 Temple 1894–1957, 1970–1990, 2005–2006 Toledo 1917–1920, 1948–1951 Troy 1909–1937, 1991–1995, 2001–2003 Tulane 1893–1894, 1966–1995 Tulsa 1895–1913, 1986–1995) UAB 1991–1998 UCF 1979–2001 UConn 1896, 2000–2003, 2020–present UMass 1879–1896, 1930–1946, 2016–2024 UNLV 1968–1981 Utah State 1892–1901, 1962–1977, 2001–2002 UTEP 1914–1934, 1962–1967 Villanova 1894–1980, 1985–1987 Virginia1888–1899, 1906–1911, 1937–1953 Virginia Tech 1892–1897, 1899–1911, 1965–1990 Washington University 1887–1906, 1947–1962, 1973–1987 Wayne State 1918–1926, 1931–1945, 1947–1954, 1966–1974 West Texas State 1910–1924, 1931–1938, 1962–1971, 1992–1994 West Virginia 1891–1924, 1928–1949, 1968–1990 Western Kentucky 1913–1925, 1982–1998, 2007–2008 Western Michigan 1906–c.1925, 1932–1947 Wichita State 1895–1923, 1927, 1940–1945, 1986 William & Mary 1893–1894, 1896–1902, 1922–1926, 1977–1992 Xavier c.1916–1920, 1935–1943, 1946–1973 Yale 1872–1953 Youngstown State 1938–1977, 1988–1996

See also List of NCAA Division I FCS football programs NCAA Division I FBS independent schools NCAA Division I independent schools NCAA Division II independent schools NCAA Division III independent schools NAIA independent schools

References