NCAA Division I FBS independent schools NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision independent schools are four - year institutions whose football programs are not part of an NCAA - affiliated conference . This means that FBS independents are not required to schedule each other for competition like conference schools do . There are many fewer independent schools than in years past ; many independent schools join , or attempt to join , established conferences , usually in order to gain a share of television revenue and access to bowl games that agree to take teams from certain conferences , and in order to help deal with otherwise potentially difficult challenges in scheduling opponents to play throughout the season . All Division I FBS independents are eligible for a Bowl Championship Series bowl provided they meet eligibility requirements . Notre Dame receives an automatic bid by finishing in the top eight of the final BCS ranking . Notre Dame also has other bowl agreements as part of its affiliation with the Big East Conference , and Navy and Army have agreements with the Military Bowl ( formerly the EagleBank Bowl ) . The ranks of football independents increased by one starting with the 2011 season with the announcement that BYU would leave the Mountain West Conference to become a football independent starting with that season . BYU has an agreement with the Armed Forces Bowl for 2011 . The ranks increased by two in 2013 with New Mexico State and Idaho . The ranks of football independents are slated to decrease by one in 2015 with the announcement that Navy will join the Big East Conference as a football only member . Reasons for independence . In recent years , most independent FBS schools have joined a conference for two primary reasons : A guaranteed share of television and bowl revenues , and ease of scheduling . The four remaining independent FBS schools have unique circumstances that circumvent their need for conference affiliation . Notre Dame . Notre Dame is one of the most prominent programs in the country . Because of its national popularity built over several decades , Notre Dame is the only individual school to have its own national television contract , and is the only independent program to be part of the Bowl Championship Series coalition and its guaranteed payout . These factors help make Notre Dame one of the most financially valuable football programs in the country , thus negating the need for Notre Dame to secure revenue by joining a conference . Previously , Notre Dame had easily filled its annual schedule without needing conference games to do so . It has longstanding rivalries with many different programs around the country , including annual rivalry games with USC , Michigan , Michigan State , Navy , Boston College , and Purdue as well as Pitt . All Notre Dame home games and most away games are on national television , so other teams have a large financial incentive to schedule the university . If Notre Dame were to join a conference , it would likely have to eliminate or reduce the frequency of several rivalries . Nonetheless , for all sports except football and hockey Notre Dame will join the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2015 , and will as part of this agreement play five of its football games against ACC members . Army and Navy . Two of the remaining independent programs are two of the service academies , Army and Navy . Whereas television and bowl appearances are important sources of revenue and advertising for most other universities and their football games , the United States federal government fully funds essential scholastic operations of the service academies ( athletics are funded by non - profit associations ) , effectively rendering such income superfluous . Both service academies have annual games guaranteed with each other and with Air Force . Navy has an annual rivalry game with Notre Dame and Army has a semi - regular rivalry with Notre Dame . Television rights for the longstanding Army – Navy Game , which is the last regular season game in the NCAA , serve as a significant revenue source for the programs . The academies also use their football programs to recruit for their services ; without a conference schedule , the service academies are able to more easily schedule games around the country . However , Navy will join the Big East for college football in 2015 , citing that it wanted to maintain competitiveness , had concerns about scheduling and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make more money . BYU . During the conference realignment that saw the university choose football independence in August 2010 , some saw it as a potential future " Notre Dame of the West " . Both are prominent faith - based schools ; Notre Dame is arguably the best - known Catholic university in the U . S . , while BYU is the flagship university of the LDS Church . The 1984 team ' s national championship is the most recent by a university that is not a current member of the BCS coalition . BYU was getting less than $ 2 million a year through its contract with The MTN , the TV network of the Mountain West Conference . BYU has its own cable channel , but had a very restrictive contract which did not allow BYU to broadcast its own football games . The new contract with ESPN will pay BYU an estimated $ 800 , 000 to $ 1 . 2 million per Home game , and allow for greater freedom with its own channel . Future FBS independent schools . Due to the Western Athletic Conference discontinuing sponsorship of football after the 2012 - 13 season , New Mexico State University Aggies and the University of Idaho Vandals will become FBS independents beginning in the 2013 - 14 season . Old Dominion University Monarchs are transitioning from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision , and will be an FBS independent for one season ( 2014 – 15 ) before joining Conference USA in 2015 . During the 2014 - 15 season , Old Dominion University will not be eligible to go to a post - season bowl . Teams . The following is a complete list of teams which have been Division I - A ( FBS ) Independents since the formation of Division I - A in 1978 .