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The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) will have one of the most fascinating conference races in college football history. The league will use the NCAA’s Power Index (NPI) to place affiliate member Gallaudet in the conference standings.
As we covered in the offseason, the SCAC invited Gallaudet as a football-only member for the next two seasons. The move gave the league a sixth-team to fill out their Championship Weekend tripleheader after the departure of Schreiner.
However, this came with a caveat. Gallaudet would not play a single conference game in the regular season. Instead, the SCAC would seed them for its Championship Weekend based on their NPI at the end of November 7th.
Beginning with this week’s release of the NCAA’s first NPI rankings of 2026, we will take a look at Gallaudet’s NPI placement and games relevant to their seeding.
| Team | Record (SCAC) | NPI | Change From Last Week | Remaining Opponents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Lutheran | 5-1 (0-0) | 38 | +8 | Lyon, Austin, Centenary |
| Hendrix | 4-1 (1-0) | 74 | -15 | Austin, Rhodes, Lyon |
| Lyon | 2-4 (1-0) | 170 | -7 | TLU, Centenary, Hendrix |
| Centenary | 2-4 (0-1) | 180 | +7 | Lyon, TLU |
| Austin | 1-6 (0-1) | 221 | -7 | Hendrix, TLU |
| Gallaudet | 0-5 | 242 | +1 | Keystone (NPI: 161) |
Currently, Gallaudet seems destined for the fifth-place game with the 241st-highest NPI, the second worst in Division III. They are 21 spots behind Austin, the next worst team, and 61 behind Centenary, the 4th place team.
There does not seem to be much room for growth for the Bison. Gallaudet has one more Division III opponent in Keystone on November 7th. However, the Giants carry the 171st-best NPI.
Keystone’s lone win came against Alvernia. Alvernia leaped 34 spots after beating #126 Albright. The Golden Wolves also nearly beat #50 Misericordia on the last play. An Alvernia win against #27 Eastern, would pay huge dividends for Keystone and potentially Gallaudet’s NPI.
0-7 Rhodes out of the Southern Athletic Association is fifth-place SCAC team Austin’s lone win on the season. Rhodes is the worst team in Division III based on NPI. Rhodes continuing to lose minimizes the gap between Gallaudet and Austin.
