Independent Team Season Grades
Independent Season Grade: A-
Considering how much scrambling had to be done – and with UConn and New Mexico State not playing, and Notre Dame spending a year in the ACC – it was a fantastic run for the independents.
UMass was the only down part of this. Not having a great Irish team didn’t matter with Liberty and BYU putting up phenomenal seasons, and with Army coming up with a nine-win campaign and a good bowl performance against West Virginia.
2019 Final Grade: C
Army 2020 Season Grade: A-
2020 Record: 9-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 99
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 66
2019 Final Grade: D+
The Knights won nine games, got to a bowl game and pushed a far more talented West Virginia team to the edge, the O worked, there were enough blowout wins to make it a fun run, and … oh yeah. It beat Navy and Air Force in back-to-back weeks.
BYU 2020 Season Grade: A
2020 Record: 11-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 66
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 13
2019 Final Grade: C+
The only loss was on the road against a great Coastal Carolina team it had about ten minutes to prepare for. Every other win was dominant, the bowl victory over UCF was impressive, and the program restored the pop again.
Liberty 2020 Season Grade: A
2020 Record: 10-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 112
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 11
2019 Final Grade: B+
So the one loss came on the road at NC State on a blocked kick. That the Flames were even in that position was fantastic. They beat two other ACC teams and handed Coastal Carolina its only loss of the season in a phenomenal Cure Bowl. There were a TON of layup games, but 10-1 is 10-1.
New Mexico State 2020 Season Grade: Incomplete
2020 Record: 0-0
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 128
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: Not Ranked
2019 Final Grade: D
New Mexico State didn’t play this season
UConn 2020 Season Grade: Incomplete
2020 Record: 0-0
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 130
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: Not Ranked
2019 Final Grade: D
UConn didn’t play this season
UMass 2020 Season Grade: D
2020 Record: 0-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 126
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 127
2019 Final Grade: D-
Give the program some credit for giving it a go, and the grade is slightly generous considering absolutely nothing was expected this year, but … there’s 0-4, and there’s UMass 0-4. Not only did it lose all four games – to good Group of Five teams – but it lost by a combined score of 161-12. The Minutemen scored one more touchdown than you did this season.
2020 Team Season Grades
ACC | American | Big Ten East | West
Big 12 | C-USA East | West
Independents | MAC East | West
Mountain West | Pac-12 North | South
SEC East | West | Sun Belt East | West