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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 IA)} and FCS {Football Championship Subdivision (formerly 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 sole 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 also falls under the jurisdiction of the NCAA; but 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 sport 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 full scholarships. 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:
(Click on team for more info)

Big Sky
Mid-Eastern Athletic
Eastern Wash.
Idaho St.
Montana
Montana St.
Northern Arizona
Northern Colorado
Portland St.
Sacramento St.
Weber St.

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

   
Big South
Northeast
Charleston S.
Coastal Carolina
Gardner-Webb
Liberty
Virginia Military
Albany
Central Conn. St.
Monmouth
Robert Morris
Sacred Heart
St. Francis (PA)
Wagner
   
Colonial Ohio Valley
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.
Samford
SE Missouri St.
Tennessee St.
Tennessee Tech
Tenn-Martin
   
Gateway Patriot League
Illinois St.
Indiana St.
Northern Iowa
Missouri St.
Southern Ill.
Western Ill.
Youngstown St.
Bucknell
Colgate
Fordham
Georgetown
Holy Cross
Lafayette
Lehigh
   
Great West
Pioneer League
Cal Poly
North Dakota St
South Dakota St
Southern Utah
UC Davis
Butler
Davidson
Dayton
Drake
Jacksonville
Morehead St.
San Diego
Valparaiso
   
Independents Southern
N.C. Central
Presbyterian
Savannah St.
Stony Brook



Appalachian St.
Chattanooga
Citadel
Elon
Furman
Georgia Southern
Western Carolina
Wofford
   
Ivy League Southland
Brown
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Harvard
Pennsylvania
Princeton
Yale
Central Arkansas
McNeese St.
Nicholls St.
Northwestern St.
Sam Houston St.
SE Louisiana
Stephen F. Austin
Texas St.
   
Metro Atlantic Athletic Southwestern Athletic
Duquesne
Iona
La Salle
Marist
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

   


 


 

 

 

© 2007 The Horizon Connection
Some Content provided by The NCAA

 

 1. Northern Iowa
 2. Massachusetts
 3. Southern Illinois
 4. McNeese St
 5. North Dakota St
 6. Appalachian St
 7. Montana
 8. Delaware St
 9. Richmond
 10. Eastern Kentucky
 11. Delaware
 12. James Madison
 13. Eastern Illinois
 14. Youngstown St
 15. New Hampshire
 16. Wofford
 17. Western Illinois
 18. Eastern Washington
 19. GA Southern
 20. South Dakota St

 Also Mentioned:
Villanova
Norfolk State
S. Carolina St.
Citadel
Hofstra

Click Here For Entire Poll

 

 1. Gateway
 2. Colonial
 3. Southern
 4. Great West
 5. Mid-Eastern
 6. Big Sky
 7. Ohio Valley
 8. Patriot
 9. Southland
 10. Big South