2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season

The 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, is organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The regular season will begin in August and will end in November. The postseason will begin in November, and, aside from any all-star games that are scheduled, will end on January 6th, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.^[1]

2023 NCAA Division I FCS season
Regular season
Number of teams	128
Duration	August 26 – December 2
Playoff
Duration	November 25 – December 16
Championship date	2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game
Championship site	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
NCAA Division I FCS football seasons
«2022

Conference changes and new programs

Membership changes for 2023

School	Former conference	New conference
Campbell	Big South Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Jacksonville State	ASUN	C-USA (FBS)
Kennesaw State	ASUN	Independent
Murray State	Ohio Valley Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
North Carolina A&T	Big South Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Sam Houston	WAC	C-USA (FBS)

In addition to the listed membership changes, on February 22, 2022, the Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference announced that they would merge their football leagues effective in 2023. Certain key details of the merger—specifically, whether the merged league would be run by the Big South or OVC, or become a separate entity—have yet to be announced.^[2]

On December 20, 2022, the ASUN Conference and Western Athletic Conference, which had entered into a football-only partnership in 2021, announced that they would fully merge their football leagues effective in 2023. The new conference, tentatively known as the ASUN–WAC Football Conference, will feature ASUN members Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, and North Alabama, plus WAC members Abilene Christian, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton, and Utah Tech. The new football conference will play a six-game conference schedule in 2023 before starting round-robin play in 2024.^[3]

Rule changes

Other headlines

Kickoff games

"Week Zero"

The regular season will begin on Saturday, August 26 in Week 0.

• FCS Kickoff (Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama): Mercer, North Alabama
• MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Center Parc Stadium, Atlanta): South Carolina State, Jackson State

FCS team wins over FBS teams

Non-DI team wins over FCS teams

Upsets

This section lists instances of unranked teams defeating ranked teams during the season.

Regular season

Regular season top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the STATS Poll.

Rankings

Main article: 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings

The top 25 from the STATS and USA Today Coaches Polls.

Pre-season polls

STATS Ranking Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

USA Today Coaches Ranking Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Conference standings

2023 ASUN–WAC Football Conference standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Abilene Christian   0 – 0     0 – 0   Austin Peay   0 – 0     0 – 0   Central Arkansas   0 – 0     0 – 0   Eastern Kentucky   0 – 0     0 – 0   North Alabama   0 – 0     0 – 0   Southern Utah   0 – 0     0 – 0   Stephen F. Austin   0 – 0     0 – 0   Tarleton*   0 – 0     0 – 0   Utah Tech*   0 – 0     0 – 0   $ – Conference champion Note: Tarleton and Utah Tech are ineligible for the ASUN–WAC title and FCS postseason play due to transitions from NCAA Division II. Rankings from STATS Poll	2023 Big Sky Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Cal Poly   0 – 0     0 – 0   Eastern Washington   0 – 0     0 – 0   Idaho   0 – 0     0 – 0   Idaho State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Montana   0 – 0     0 – 0   Montana State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Northern Arizona   0 – 0     0 – 0   Northern Colorado   0 – 0     0 – 0   Portland State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Sacramento State   0 – 0     0 – 0   UC Davis   0 – 0     0 – 0   Weber State   0 – 0     0 – 0   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2023 Big South Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Bryant   0 – 0     0 – 0   Charleston Southern   0 – 0     0 – 0   Gardner–Webb   0 – 0     0 – 0   Robert Morris   0 – 0     0 – 0   Rankings from STATS Poll
2023 Colonial Athletic Association football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Albany   0 – 0     0 – 0   Campbell   0 – 0     0 – 0   Delaware   0 – 0     0 – 0   Elon   0 – 0     0 – 0   Hampton   0 – 0     0 – 0   Maine   0 – 0     0 – 0   Monmouth   0 – 0     0 – 0   New Hampshire   0 – 0     0 – 0   North Carolina A&T   0 – 0     0 – 0   Rhode Island   0 – 0     0 – 0   Richmond   0 – 0     0 – 0   Stony Brook   0 – 0     0 – 0   Towson   0 – 0     0 – 0   Villanova   0 – 0     0 – 0   William & Mary   0 – 0     0 – 0   Rankings from STATS Poll	2023 Ivy League football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Brown   0 – 0     0 – 0   Columbia   0 – 0     0 – 0   Cornell   0 – 0     0 – 0   Dartmouth   0 – 0     0 – 0   Harvard   0 – 0     0 – 0   Penn   0 – 0     0 – 0   Princeton   0 – 0     0 – 0   Yale   0 – 0     0 – 0   $ – Conference champion Rankings from STATS Poll	2023 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Delaware State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Howard   0 – 0     0 – 0   Morgan State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Norfolk State   0 – 0     0 – 0   North Carolina Central   0 – 0     0 – 0   South Carolina State   0 – 0     0 – 0   + – Conference co-champions Rankings from STATS Poll
2023 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Illinois State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Indiana State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Missouri State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Murray State   0 – 0     0 – 0   North Dakota   0 – 0     0 – 0   North Dakota State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Northern Iowa   0 – 0     0 – 0   South Dakota   0 – 0     0 – 0   South Dakota State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Southern Illinois   0 – 0     0 – 0   Western Illinois   0 – 0     0 – 0   Youngstown State   0 – 0     0 – 0   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of March 24, 2023 Rankings from STATS Poll	2023 Northeast Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Central Connecticut   0 – 0     0 – 0   Duquesne   0 – 0     0 – 0   LIU   0 – 0     0 – 0   Merrimack   0 – 0     0 – 0   Sacred Heart   0 – 0     0 – 0   Saint Francis (PA)   0 – 0     0 – 0   Stonehill *   0 – 0     0 – 0   Wagner   0 – 0     0 – 0   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Note: Stonehill ineligible for NEC title and FCS postseason play due to transition from NCAA Division II Rankings from STATS Poll	2023 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Eastern Illinois   0 – 0     0 – 0   Lindenwood *   0 – 0     0 – 0   Southeast Missouri State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Tennessee State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Tennessee Tech   0 – 0     0 – 0   UT Martin   0 – 0     0 – 0   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Note: Lindenwood ineligible for OVC title and FCS postseason play due to transition from NCAA Division II. Rankings from STATS Poll
2023 Patriot League football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Bucknell   0 – 0     0 – 0   Colgate   0 – 0     0 – 0   Fordham   0 – 0     0 – 0   Georgetown   0 – 0     0 – 0   Holy Cross   0 – 0     0 – 0   Lafayette   0 – 0     0 – 0   Lehigh   0 – 0     0 – 0   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2023 Pioneer Football League standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Butler   0 – 0     0 – 0   Davidson   0 – 0     0 – 0   Dayton   0 – 0     0 – 0   Drake   0 – 0     0 – 0   Marist   0 – 0     0 – 0   Morehead State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Presbyterian   0 – 0     0 – 0   San Diego   0 – 0     0 – 0   St. Thomas (MN) *   0 – 0     0 – 0   Stetson   0 – 0     0 – 0   Valparaiso   0 – 0     0 – 0   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * – Ineligible for FCS playoffs due to transition from NCAA Division III Rankings from STATS Poll	2023 Southern Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Chattanooga   0 – 0     0 – 0   The Citadel   0 – 0     0 – 0   East Tennessee State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Furman   0 – 0     0 – 0   Mercer   0 – 0     0 – 0   Samford   0 – 0     0 – 0   VMI   0 – 0     0 – 0   Western Carolina   0 – 0     0 – 0   Wofford   0 – 0     0 – 0   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll
2023 Southland Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Houston Christian   0 – 0     0 – 0   Incarnate Word   0 – 0     0 – 0   Lamar   0 – 0     0 – 0   McNeese   0 – 0     0 – 0   Nicholls   0 – 0     0 – 0   Northwestern State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Southeastern Louisiana   0 – 0     0 – 0   Texas A&M–Commerce *   0 – 0     0 – 0   * – Texas A&M–Commerce ineligible for FCS postseason play due to transition from NCAA Division II. Rankings from STATS Poll	2023 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Alabama A&M   0 – 0     0 – 0   Alabama State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Bethune–Cookman   0 – 0     0 – 0   Florida A&M   0 – 0     0 – 0   Jackson State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Mississippi Valley State   0 – 0     0 – 0   West Division Alcorn State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Arkansas–Pine Bluff   0 – 0     0 – 0   Grambling State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Prairie View A&M   0 – 0     0 – 0   Southern   0 – 0     0 – 0   Texas Southern   0 – 0     0 – 0   Championship: 2023 SWAC Football Championship Game $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2023 NCAA Division I FCS independents football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Kennesaw State*   0 – 0     0 – 0   + – Conference co-champions * Note: Kennesaw State ineligible for FCS postseason play due to start of transition to FBS. Rankings from STATS Poll

Conference summaries

Postseason

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season

This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2023, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled games but before its playoff games. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2023, see 2022 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

End of season

This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.

See also

• 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2023 NCAA Division II football season
• 2023 NCAA Division III football season
• 2023 NAIA football season

References

1. "FCS Championship: Future dates and sites". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
2. "Big South Conference and OVC Announce Football Agreement; Unique Association to Benefit All Football Members" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. February 22, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
3. "ASUN And WAC Unveil 2023 Football Schedule" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.