Indies 2024 sneak peek: Notre Dame’s CFP ceiling, Oregon State and

Bill Connelly, ESPN Staff WriterJun 28, 2024, 07:53 AM ET Close Costs Connelly is a staff author for ESPN.com.The independent ranks have actually swung and swayed over the last few years. As just recently as 2022, we had seven of them, however BYU signed up with the Big 12, and Liberty and New Mexico State gratefully signed up with Conference U.S.A.. With Army signing up with AAC in football this year, and UMass re-joining the MAC in 2025, we might soon be down to just two: forever-independent Notre Dame and UConn.For now, however, we arrange of have five: 3 indies and a Pac-2. As you probably remember, the Pac-12 was torn apart in 2015, with four schools leaving for the Big Ten (Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington), 4 more leaving for the Huge 12 (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah) and, out of large desperation, 2 getting away for the ACC (Cal, Stanford). Regardless of current on-field success, Oregon State and Washington State were evidently too geographically remote to draw the Huge 12’s attention. It’s uncertain what they intend to do for a future conference home, however in 2024 they’re independents. They have scheduling arrangements with the Mountain West for football and the West Coast Conference for other sports, and their games will air on Fox and The CW this fall.So we’ve got 5 independent or indie-like groups, all in either the Northwest, Northeast or Northern Indiana. Let’s sneak peek them!Every week through the summer, Bill Connelly will sneak peek another FBS conference solely for ESPN +, ultimately consisting of all 134 FBS teams. The previews will include 2023 breakdowns, 2024 previews and team-by-team pills. Here are the MAC, Conference U.S.A., AAC, MWC and Sun Belt previews.Jump to a section: https://www.espn.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/40444584/independents-2024-preview-notre-dame-oregon-state-washington-state#projections”> 2024 projections|https://www.espn.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/40444584/independents-2024-preview-notre-dame-oregon-state-washington-state#games”> Finest games https://www.espn.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/40444584/independents-2024-preview-notre-dame-oregon-state-washington-state#contenders”> CFP competitors|https://www.espn.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/40444584/independents-2024-preview-notre-dame-oregon-state-washington-state#good”> Who might be good https://www.espn.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/40444584/independents-2024-preview-notre-dame-oregon-state-washington-state#bowl”> Wishing for 6-6 2023 wrap-up TEAM REC.(CONF)SP+RK OFF. SP+DEF. SP+ST SP+N otre Dame(Indies)10-3 20.1(8)36.3(14 )16.7(10)0.5 (53)Oregon St.(Pac-12

+during a 6-1 start(in which the only loss was to Wazzu), while Wazzu rose to 20th throughout a 4-0 run that featured wins over OSU and Wisconsin. But the Cougs lost 7 of their last 8, a run that featured four one-score defeats and no bowl quote. OSU, on the other hand, held on a bit longer, reaching 8-2 before a narrow loss to Washington. However the Beavers ended up the year losing by a combined 71-15 to Oregon and Notre Dame. Then, to rub salt in the wound, OSU head coach Jonathan Smith left for Michigan State.The Irish, meanwhile, were up and down, leaping to fourth in SP + after a 4-0 start then losing to Ohio State and playing inadequately in a loss to Louisville. But they won 5 of their last 6 games, losing only at Clemson and overachieving versus SP+forecasts by approximately 15.8 points per game. They ended up eighth in SP +, and were on the rise when the season ended.