Back to Pete's Home
Pete's Power Poll
Wk-11 Games of 11/14/09
Conference Power Poll
Wk-11 Games of 11/14/09
2009 Schedule Ratings
2009 Statistics
2008 Power Performers
Pete's Forum
Our Favorite Links
Pete's Week-12
Preview/Wk-11 Review
Pick Week-12 Winners
*See Results Here

 

What is FCS?
The Play-Off System
FCS Championship
History and Stats
Member School Info
Awards
Rivalry Games
Historical Schedules
Stadium Information
Players in the NFL Draft
NFL Free-Agents

 

2009 FCS Schools
2009 FCS Schedules
2009-10 Football Rules
Field Specifications
NCAA Football Signals
2009 FCS/I-AA Championship Guide
2009 FCS Records

 

 

 

 

 

 

FCS/I-AA Football History

What is FCS/I-AA Football?

NCAA Division-I schools are the major collegiate athletic schools, with larger budgets, more elaborate facilities, and higher numbers of athletic scholarships than those in Divisions II or III. This level was once called the "University" division of the NCAA in contrast to the "College" division; this terminology was replaced with the current system of numeric (I, II, & III) divisions in 1973. In 1978, Division-I was further subdivided into Divisions IA and I-AA. In 2007, the NCAA eliminated the "A" and "AA" sub-divisions within Division-I, in favor of FBS {Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as IA)} and FCS {Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as I-AA)}.

The most important differences between FBS (formerly known as IA) and FCS (formerly known as I-AA) are:

  • Authority: The Div. I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) falls completely under the jurisdiction of the NCAA, with various committees ... the most prominent of which is the I-AA Playoff Selection Committee, which ranks the teams in order to determine post-season candidates. In contrast, division IA falls under the jurisdiction of the NCAA; but also with a separate body, known as the BCS (or Bowl Championship Series), also governing most clubs.

  • Championships: As indicated above, the division I-FCS determines it's champion on the field, in a play-off. The play-off is a 16-team single-elimination tournament. In fact, the FBS subdivision is the only NCAA-sponsored football without an organized tournament to determine its champion; where the FCS subdivision is the highest level of football to do so.

  • Scholarships: Division-I FBS schools (except the service academies) are allotted a total of 85 players receiving financial assistance. For competitive reasons, and due to the fact that a student on partial scholarship counts fully against the total of 85, virtually all FBS schools award only full scholarships, although not required to do so. Division I FCS schools are currently allotted financial assistance amounting to a total of 63 full scholarships. Unlike those in FBS, FCS institutions may give partial assistance; they have no limit as to the overall number of players receiving such. There are also several FCS schools (mid-major) that offer no football scholarships or grants.

The FCS and FBS designations are only used in the sport of football. All schools who compete at the FCS level in football, are NCAA Division-I schools in all sports. In fact, such powerful schools as Villanova & UCONN in basketball, Cornell or Lehigh in men's wrestling, Albany in men's LaCrosse, Cal-Poly in cross-country, and many more of the nations most powerful D1 schools are (or have been) I-AA/FCS in football. The NCAA has divided the Division-I Football Championship Subdivision into 4 regions ... West, South, Central and East. Within these regions are 15 conferences with approximately 130 teams, including independents. States included in each region:

West
South
Central
East
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
Kansas
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Mexico
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Oregon
South Dakota
Utah
Texas
Washington
Wyoming
Alabama
Florida
Georgia
Louisiana
Missouri
North Carolina
South Carolina
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Ohio
Michigan
Tennessee
Wisconsin
Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Vermont
Rhode Island
Virginia
West Virginia

The 15 conferences are as follows:
(Click on conference for more info)

 

The teams sponsoring I-AA football are as follows:
(C)

Big Sky
Missouri Valley Football Conference
Eastern Washinton
Idaho State
Montana
Montana State
Northern Arizona
Northern Colorado
Portland State
Sacramento State
Weber State

llinois St.
Indiana St.
North Dakota St.
Northern Iowa
Missouri St.
South Dakota St.
Southern Ill.
Western Ill.
Youngstown St.

   
Big South
Northeast
Charleston S.
Coastal Carolina
Gardner-Webb
Liberty
Presbyterian
Stony Brook
Virginia Military
Albany
Central Conn. St.
Duquesne
Monmouth
Robert Morris
Sacred Heart
St. Francis (PA)
Wagner
   
Colonial Ohio Valley
North
North
Hofstra
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Northeastern
Rhode Island

South
Delaware
James Madison
Richmond
Towson
Villanova
William & Mary

Austin Peay
Eastern Illinois
Eastern Kentucky
Jacksonville St.
Murray St.
SE Missouri St.
Tennessee St.
Tennessee Tech
Tenn-Martin
   
Great West
Patriot League
Cal Poly
UC Davis
North Dakota
South Dakota
Southern Utah
Bucknell
Colgate
Fordham
Georgetown | HoyaReport.com
Holy Cross
Lafayette
Lehigh
   
Independents Pioneer League
Old Dominion
Bryant
N.C. Central
Savannah St.
Winston-Salem



Butler
Campbell
Davidson
Dayton
Drake
Jacksonville
Marist
Morehead St.
San Diego
Valparaiso
   
Ivy League Southern
Brown
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Harvard
Pennsylvania
Princeton
Yale
Appalachian State
Chattanooga
Citadel
Elon
Furman
Georgia Southern
Samford
Western Carolina
Wofford
   
Mid-Eastern Athletic Southland

Bethune-Cookman
Delaware St.
Florida A&M
Hampton
Howard
Morgan St.
Norfolk St.
N.C. A&T
S. Carolina St.
Winston-Salem St.

Central Arkansas
McNeese St.
Nicholls St.
Northwestern St.
Sam Houston St.
SE Louisiana
Stephen F. Austin
Texas St.
   
  Southwestern Athletic
  East
Alabama A&M
Alabama St.
Alcorn St.
Jackson St.
Miss. Valley St.

West
AR Pine Bluff
Grambling St.
Prairie View A&M
Southern
Texas Southern

   


 


 

 

 

© 2009 The Horizon Connection
Some Content provided by The NCAA

 
  1. Southern Illinois
  2. Montana
  3. Villanova
  4. William & Mary
  5. S. Carolina St
  6. Appalachian St
  7. Richmond
  8. Northern Iowa
  9. S. Dakota St
  10. New Hampshire
  11. McNeese St
  12. Holy Cross
  13. Elon
  14. Liberty
  15. Eastern WA
  16. Eastern IL
  17. Jacksonville St
  18. Stephen F. Austin
  19. Lafayette
  20. Colgate
  21. Weber St
  22. Texas St
  23. Montana St
  24. Missouri St
  25. Delaware
 Also Mentioned:
James Madison
Massachusetts
Florida A&M
Southeastern Louisiana
Central Arkansas

Click Here For Entire Poll

 

  1. Colonial
  2. MVFC
  3. Southland
  4. Big Sky
  5. SoCon
  6. Patriot
  7. Great West
  8. OVC
  9. Big South
  10. Mid-Eastern