The non-conference analysis is simply a look at who each FCS team is playing as of late May / early June. Occasionally schedules change, FBS schools buyout contracts and swap opponents, causing a domino effect. So these are tentative opponents, subject to change.
Patriot
Bucknell: vs. Marist, @ William & Mary, vs. Sacred Heart, vs. Monmouth, @ Cornell
Colgate: @ Cal Poly, vs. Richmond, @ Buffalo, vs. Furman, @ Cornell
Fordham: @ Army, @ Central Connecticut State, vs. Eastern Washington, @ Bryant, vs. Yale
Georgetown: @ Campbell, vs. Marist, @ Columbia, vs. Harvard, @ Princeton
Holy Cross: @ Connecticut, vs. New Hampshire, @ Dartmouth, vs. Monmouth, @ Yale
Lafayette: @ Monmouth, vs. Sacred Heart, @ Villanova, vs. Princeton, @ Harvard
Lehigh: vs. Villanova, @ Monmouth, vs. Yale, vs. Penn, @ Wagner
As mentioned previously, the Patriot League is one of two conferences that play at least five teams from three different conferences; Colonial - 5, Ivy -12, Northeast - 5. They also have four games with the Big South, so the Selection Committee will be able to compare the relative strength of many teams just from non-conference Patriot match-ups. This will be especially true with only three FBS games and none against sub-Division I teams. Two interesting games will be Colgate’s trek to sunny California to open the season with Cal Poly and Fordham hosting Eastern Washington. Lehigh will also have a chance to be the FCS “Power of the Keystone,” having games against both Villanova and Penn.
