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.

Notre Dame unsuccessfully attempted on three occasions to join an athletic conference in the early 20th century, including the Big Ten in 1926, but was turned down in part due to anti-Catholicism.

Because of its national popularity built over several decades, Notre Dame was the only independent program to be part of the Bowl Championship Series coalition and its guaranteed payout.

Due to many historic rivalries with ACC teams, most fans remain unaware of this, as scheduling changes turned out to be small.

In 2020, after several non-ACC games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame opted to play a full ACC football schedule for just the 2020 season.

Notre Dame's football program returned to independence in 2021, with its schedule including the usual five games against ACC schools.

In the years after the split, UConn's flagship men's and women's basketball programs faced significant issues.

Jim Calhoun, the coach who had largely built the UConn men into a national powerhouse, had retired after the 2011–12 season.

[25] The Huskies received and accepted an invitation to join the reconfigured Big East in 2019, with a July 2020 entry date.

[10] Ironically, the football program's poor record in recent seasons may make it easier to find FBS opponents to fill out the schedule.

[26] UConn opted not to field a team in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting disruption to college football schedules.

[32][33] Since 1991, Notre Dame home games have aired on NBC, and since 2021, are also simulcast on NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock.

[34] The last regular season Notre Dame home game to be televised outside of NBC was against Penn State on ESPN in 1990.

[36] The following year, UConn's athletic department announced a partnership with Hartford-licensed CBS affiliate WFSB and sister independent station WWAX-LD.

Prior to the ESPN agreement, UMass home games were exclusively streaming on FloSports's FloFootball service from 2019 to 2021.

[2] Former independent New Mexico State had a similar agreement with FloSports, with simulcasts on KVIA-TV and now-defunct Bally Sports Arizona until they left for Conference USA in 2023.