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:

• The Big Sky Conference
• The Big South Conference
• The Colonial Athletic Association
• The Great West Conference
• The Ivy League
• The Mid-East Athletic Conference
• The Missouri Valley Football Conference
• The Northeast Conference
• The Ohio Valley Conference
• The Patriot League
• The Pioneer Football League
• The Southern Conference
• The Southland Conference
• The Southwestern Athletic Conference

The teams sponsoring I-AA football are as follows:
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