List of NCAA Division I FCS football programs
This is a list of schools in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that play football in the United States as a varsity sport and are members of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), known as Division I-AA from 1978 through 2005. There are 129 FCS programs as of the 2025 season.[1] Conference affiliations are current for the 2025 season. The teams in this subdivision compete in a 24-team playoff for the NCAA Division I Football Championship. All leagues allow scholarships with the exception of the Ivy League and Pioneer Football League.
FCS programs
[edit]- ^ 12 states (Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming) do not currently have FCS programs.
- ^ According to conferences in football, not necessarily a team's primary conference.
- ^ The campus mailing address is Huntsville; Normal is a Huntsville neighborhood that encompasses the AAMU campus.
- ^ The first fielded team only played three seasons (1922–1924), from 1925 through 1969 Albany did not have a football program. The modern era of Albany football began in 1970, when the school restored football as a club sport. The team was upgraded to full varsity status in 1973.
- ^ The Alcorn State campus has a Lorman mailing address, but is in unincorporated Claiborne County and is designated by the US Census Bureau as Alcorn State, Mississippi.
- ^ Although the academic core of the Harvard campus, including the university administration, is located in Cambridge, the school's athletic complex, including the football stadium, is within the city limits of Boston.
- ^ This is Idaho's second stint in the grouping now known as FCS; it had been a member of what was then known as Division I-AA from the group's creation in 1978 through 1995, after which it moved to the league then known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (now the Big West Conference). At that time, the PCAA sponsored FBS (then Division I-A) football.
- ^ Effective in 2019-20, Long Island University merged its two athletic programs the Division I non-football LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and Division II football-sponsoring LIU Post Pioneers into a single D-I athletic program under the Sharks name. The LIU Post football team became the new LIU football team, playing at its current home on the Post campus and joining the Northeast Conference. LIU was immediately eligible for the playoffs, as it was treated as a new football program of an existing D-I institution, but lost all its Division I games in the 2019 season and failed to qualify.
- ^ First season of the LIU Post program that became the LIU program in 2019. The Brooklyn campus first played football in 1928, but dropped the sport in 1940, before the Post campus existed; LIU traces the history of its current football program through Post.
- ^ The MVSU campus has an Itta Bena mailing address, but is in unincorporated Leflore County and is designated by the US Census Bureau as Mississippi Valley State, Mississippi.
- ^ Portland State's campus is in the city of Portland, but it plays its home football games in the suburb of Hillsboro.
- ^ Saint Francis University will drop its athletics from Division I to Division III and will join the Presidents' Athletic Conference in 2026.
- ^ a b Southern Utah and Utah Tech will join the Big Sky Conference in 2026.
- ^ Also known simply as Tarleton.
- ^ While UTRGV has multiple campuses within its service area, its athletic program is based at the Edinburg campus, which it inherited from its athletic predecessor, the University of Texas–Pan American. The football team plans to play home games in both Brownsville (home to a UTRGV campus inherited from the University of Texas at Brownsville) and Edinburg; when UTRGV confirmed the addition of football in late 2022, it committed to establishing separate marching bands and spirit programs for the two campuses.[2]
- ^ The former UTPA played football while it was a junior college, but never had a football program as a four-year institution.
- ^ a b Villanova and William & Mary will join the Patriot League as football affiliates in 2026.
Transitioning from Division II
[edit]The following programs are transitioning from NCAA Division II to FCS, or have announced definitive plans to do so. Under current NCAA rules, they must have an invitation from a Division I conference to begin the transition. During the normally four-year transition period, they are ineligible for the FCS playoffs. Since January 2025, the NCAA has expedited the reclassification period for schools, by one year, with schools already reclassifying to Division I being given the option to use either the new, shorter reclassification period or the original, longer period they initially agreed to. The new transition period is three years instead of the previous four for schools transitioning from Division II.[3]
| Team | School | City | State | Founded | First played | Conference | Full membership |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercyhurst Lakers[a] | Mercyhurst University | Erie | Pennsylvania | 1926 | 1981 | NEC | 2027[4] |
| New Haven Chargers[b] | University of New Haven | West Haven | Connecticut | 1920 | 1973 | NEC[c] | 2028[5] |
| West Georgia Wolves[d] | University of West Georgia | Carrollton | Georgia | 1906 | 1981 | UAC | 2027[6] |
- ^ Mercyhurst started a transition from Division II to Division I in 2024, joining the Northeast Conference.
- ^ New Haven will start a transition from Division II to Division I in July 2025, joining the Northeast Conference as a full member, including football.
- ^ New Haven sponsors football, but will not immediately play a full Northeast Conference schedule. Full conference play is expected for 2026.
- ^ West Georgia started a transition from Division II to Division I in 2024 as a new member of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). The football team plays in the United Athletic Conference, a single-sport alliance between the ASUN and the Western Athletic Conference.
See also
[edit]Programs moving to FCS
[edit]This lists existing members of Division I that have announced plans to start FCS programs. Conference affiliations are those expected to be in effect for the season when the program begins FCS play.
| Team | School | City | State | Future conference |
Begins play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago State Cougars | Chicago State University | Chicago | Illinois | Northeast | 2026[a] |
Former Division I FCS football programs
[edit]- ^ Nickname changed to Red Wolves in 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h 8 of the 10 schools in the MAC at the time were reclassified from Division I-A to Division I-AA prior to the 1982 season. However, following appeals from Bowling Green, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan, the conference as a whole was permitted to remain in I-A beginning in the 1983 season.
- ^ Nickname changed to Knights in 2007.
- ^ UCF's campus has an Orlando mailing address, but is located entirely within unincorporated Orange County.
- ^ Cincinnati was initially reclassified from Division I-A to Division I-AA prior to the 1982 season. However, the university filed an injunction to postpone their demotion to after the 1982 season, and was ultimately successful in remaining in I-A.
- ^ UConn currently plays its home games in East Hartford, Connecticut.
- ^ Nickname changed to Eagles in 1991.
- ^ FIU's campus has a Miami mailing address, but is located entirely within unincorporated Miami-Dade County.
- ^ Kennesaw State's campus has a Kennesaw mailing address, but is located entirely within unincorporated Cobb County.
- ^ Nickname changed to RedHawks in 1996.
- ^ University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) since 1999.
- ^ Nickname changed to Warhawks in 2006.
- ^ Texas State University since 2013.
- ^ Troy University since 2004.
- ^ West Texas A&M University since 1993.
See also
[edit]- List of NCAA Division I FCS football stadiums
- List of NCAA Division I FCS playoff appearances by team
- List of NCAA Division I non-football programs
- List of NCAA Division I institutions
- List of NCAA Division II institutions
- List of NCAA Division III institutions
- List of NCAA Division I FBS football programs
- List of NCAA Division II football programs
- List of NCAA Division III football programs
- List of NAIA football programs
- List of community college football programs
- List of colleges and universities with club football teams
- List of defunct college football teams
References
[edit]- ^ "NCAA Directory - Directory - Member Listing".
- ^ "UTRGV announces approval of football, women's aquatics, band, spirit programs" (Press release). UTRGV Vaqueros. November 18, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "NCAA: D-I men's teams no longer need waivers for preseason games". ESPN. January 16, 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ "Mercyhurst University marks new era in athletics with move to Division I". Mercyhurst University. April 4, 2024.
- ^ "Charging Up! University of New Haven Accepts Northeast Conference Membership Invite" (Press release). Northeast Conference. May 6, 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
- ^ "UWG Athletics to Transition to NCAA Division I". West Georgia Athletics. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ "Chicago State Sports Expansion". Chicago State Cougars. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
- ^ "Chicago State Introduces Bobby Rome II as Head Football Coach" (Press release). Chicago State Cougars. April 8, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
