The 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season, the 2008 season of college football for teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), began on August 28, 2008, and concluded on December 19, 2008, in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

, at the 2008 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, where the

Richmond Spiders The Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The Spiders compete in the Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. The Spider na ...

defeated the Montana Grizzlies to win the NCAA Division I Football Championship.

Rule changes for 2008

The NCAA football rules committee made several rule changes for 2008, and includes the following: *The 25-second play clock was replaced by a 40-second version similar to one that was used in the NFL until 2005. *The penalty for kicking the ball out of bounds on the kickoff is increased, placing the ball at the 40-yard line, similar to the NFL. *All face-mask penalties result in a 15-yard penalty. Incidental contact with the face mask is no longer penalized. *All horse-collar tackles are now subject to a 15-yard penalty. *If a coach challenges a play and they win the challenge, they are given a second challenge to use later in the game, and each coach has a maximum of two challenges per game even if both are decided in their favor. In addition to the rules changes, this was the first season in which a standard provision of NCAA rules allowed FCS teams to schedule 12 regular-season games (not counting conference championship games). In years when the period starting with the Thursday before Labor Day and ending with the final Saturday in November contains 14 Saturdays, FCS programs may play 12 games instead of the regular 11.

Conference and program changes

*The Gateway Football Conference changed its name to its now-current name,

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivi ...

. *Following the 2007 season, the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and ...

was forced to drop its football sponsorship after La Salle dropped its program. The two remaining teams, Iona and Marist, were forced to become independents. Iona would eventually drop its own program at the end of the 2008 season.

FCS team wins over FBS teams

*August 30 – Cal Poly 29,

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

27 *September 6 –

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

28,

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Notable upsets

*August 30 – 21, 0 (Division II over Division I FCS) *August 31 – 33, 22 (Division II over Division I FCS) *September 4 – 21, 0 (NAIA over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *September 4 – 35, 27 (Division II over Division I FCS) *September 5 – 14,

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13 (Division II over Division I FCS) *September 6 – 32,

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

21 (Division III over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *September 6 – 21, 9 (Division II over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *September 6 – 34, 0 (Division II over Division I FCS) *September 13 – 31, 28 (Division III over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *September 20 – 22, 21 (Division II over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *September 20 – 13, 10 (NAIA over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *October 4 – 34, 24 (Division II over Division I FCS) *October 11 – 23, 12 (Division III over Division I FCS non-scholarship)

Conference standings

Conference champions

Automatic berths

Invitation

Abstains

*Overall record, Conference record

Postseason

NCAA Division I playoff bracket

* ''Host institution''

SWAC Championship Game The SWAC Championship Game, officially the Cricket Wireless SWAC Championship Game, is an American college football game that is held annually on the first Saturday in December by the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to determine its foot ...

Gridiron Classic

The Gridiron Classic is an annual game between the champions of the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

and the

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member ...

that has been held since December 2006.

Final poll standings

Standings are from

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final 2008 poll.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 NCAA Division I Fcs Football Season