NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of

intercollegiate athletics College athletics encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games. World University Games The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale des É ...

sanctioned by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with large budgets, more elaborate facilities and more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition. This level was previously called the University Division of the NCAA, in contrast to the lower-level College Division; these terms were replaced with

numeric A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

divisions in 1973. The University Division was renamed Division I, while the College Division was split in two; the College Division members that offered scholarships or wanted to compete against those who did became Division II, while those who did not want to offer scholarships became

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. For

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

only, D-I schools are further divided into the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

(FCS), and those institutions that do not have any football program. FBS teams have higher game attendance requirements and more players receiving athletic scholarships than FCS teams. The FBS is named for its series of postseason bowl games, with various polls ranking teams after the conclusion of these games, while the FCS national champion is determined by a multi-team bracket tournament. For the 2020–21 school year, Division I contained 357 of the NCAA's 1,066 member institutions, with 130 in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), 127 in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), and 100 non-football schools, with six additional schools in the transition from Division II to Division I. There was a moratorium on any additional movement up to D-I until 2012, after which any school that wants to move to D-I must be accepted for membership by a conference and show the NCAA it has the financial ability to support a D-I program.

D-I schools

Schools must field teams in at least seven sports for men and seven for women or six for men and eight for women, with at least two team sports for each gender. Teams that include both men and women are counted as men's sports for the purposes of sponsorship counting. Division I schools must meet minimum financial aid awards for their athletics program, and there are maximum financial aid awards for each sport that a Division I school cannot exceed. Several other NCAA sanctioned minimums and differences distinguish Division I from Divisions II and III. Members must sponsor at least one sport (not necessarily a team sport) for each sex in each playing season (fall, winter, spring), again with coeducational teams counted as men's teams for this purpose. There are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria. For sports other than football and basketball, Division I schools must play all the minimum number of contests against Division I opponents—anything over the minimum number of games has to be 50 percent Division I. Men's and women's basketball teams have to play all but two games against Division I teams; for men, they must play one-third of all their contests in the home

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

. In addition to the schools that compete fully as D-I institutions, the NCAA allows D-II and D-III schools to classify one men's and one women's sport (other than football or basketball) as a D-I sport, as long as they sponsored those sports before the latest rules change in 2011. Also, Division II schools are eligible to compete for Division I national championships in sports that do not have a Division II national championship, and in those sports may also operate under D-I rules and scholarship limits.

FBS and FCS

For

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

only, Division I was further subdivided in 1978 into Division I-A (the principal football schools), Division I-AA (the other schools with football teams), and Division I (those schools not sponsoring football). In 2006, Division I-A and I-AA were renamed " Football Bowl Subdivision" (FBS) and "

" (FCS), respectively. FBS teams are allowed a maximum of 85 players receiving athletically based aid per year, with each player on scholarship receiving a full scholarship. FCS teams have the same 85-player limit as FBS teams, but are allowed to give aid equivalent to only 63 full scholarships. FCS teams are allowed to award partial scholarships, a practice technically allowed but essentially never used at the FBS level. FBS teams also have to meet minimum game attendance requirements (average 15,000 people in actual or paid attendance per home game), while FCS teams do not need to meet minimum attendance requirements. Another difference is postseason play. Since 1978, FCS teams have played in an NCAA-sanctioned

bracket tournament A bracket or tournament bracket is a tree diagram that represents the series of games played during a knockout tournament. Different knockout tournament formats have different brackets; the simplest and most common is that of the single-elimin ...

culminating in a title game, the

NCAA Division I Football Championship The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was kn ...

, to determine a national champion. Meanwhile, FBS teams play in

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

s, with various polls ranking teams after the conclusion of these games, yielding a

Consensus National Champion A national championship in the highest level of college football in the United States, currently the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), is a designation awarded annually by various organizations to their selection of the best co ...

annually since 1950. Starting with the 2014 postseason, a four-team

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

has been contested, replacing a one-game championship format that had started during the 1992 postseason with the

Bowl Coalition The College Football Bowl Coalition was formed through an agreement among Division I-A college football bowl games and conferences for the purpose of forcing a national championship game between the top two teams and to provide quality bowl game ...

. Even so, Division I FBS football remains the only NCAA sport in which a yearly champion is not determined by an NCAA-sanctioned championship event.

Finances

Division I athletic programs generated $8.7 billion in revenue in the 2009–2010 academic year. Men's teams provided 55%, women's teams 15%, and 30% was not categorized by sex or sport. Football and men's basketball are usually a university's only profitable sports, and are called "revenue sports". From 2008 to 2012, 205 varsity teams were dropped in NCAA Division I – 72 for women and 133 for men, with men's tennis, gymnastics and wrestling hit particularly hard. In the Football Bowl Subdivision (130 schools in 2017), between 50 and 60 percent of football and men's basketball programs generated positive revenues (above program expenses). However, in the Football Championship Subdivision (124 schools in 2017), only four percent of football and five percent of men's basketball programs generated positive revenues. In 2012, 2% of athletic budgets were spent on equipment, uniforms and supplies for male athletes at NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision school, with the median spending per-school at $742,000. In 2014, the NCAA and the student athletes debated whether student athletes should be paid. In April, the NCAA approved students-athletes getting free unlimited meals and snacks. The NCAA stated "The adoption of the meals legislation finished a conversation that began in the Awards, Benefits, Expenses and Financial Aid Cabinet. Members have worked to find appropriate ways to ensure student-athletes get the nutrition they need without jeopardizing Pell Grants or other federal aid received by the neediest student-athletes. With their vote, members of the council said they believe loosening NCAA rules on what and when food can be provided from athletics departments is the best way to address the issue." According to the finance section of the NCAA page, "The NCAA receives most of its annual revenue from two sources: television and marketing rights for the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and ticket sales for all championships. That money is distributed in more than a dozen ways — almost all of which directly support NCAA schools, conferences and nearly half a million student-athletes. About 60% of the NCAA’s annual revenue — around $600 million — is annually distributed directly to Division I member schools and conferences, while more than $150 million funds Division I championships" (NCAA 2021). https://www.ncaa.org/finances

Football conferences

Under NCAA regulations, all Division I conferences defined as "multisport conferences" must meet the following criteria: * A total of at least seven active Division I members. * Separate from the above, at least seven active Division 1 members that sponsor both men's and women's basketball. * Sponsorship of at least 12 NCAA Division I sports. * Minimum of six men's sports, with the following additional restrictions: ** Men's basketball is a mandatory sport, and at least seven members must sponsor that sport. ** Non-football conferences must sponsor at least two men's team sports other than basketball. ** At least six members must sponsor five men's sports other than basketball, including either football or two other team sports. * Minimum of six women's sports, with the following additional restrictions: ** Women's basketball is a mandatory sport, with at least seven members sponsoring that sport. ** At least two other women's team sports must be sponsored. ** At least six members must sponsor five women's sports other than basketball, including either football or two other team sports. If a conference officially sponsors an NCAA "emerging sport" for women (as of 2020, acrobatics & tumbling, equestrianism, rugby union, triathlon, or wrestling), that sport will be counted if five members (instead of six) sponsor it.

FBS conferences

FBS conferences must meet a more stringent set of requirements for NCAA recognition than other conferences: * A total of at least eight active FBS members. * To be counted toward this total, a school must participate in conference play in at least six men's and eight women's sports, including men's and women's basketball, football, and at least two other women's team sports. ** Each school may count one men's and one women's sport not sponsored by its primary conference toward the above limits, as long as that sport competes in another Division I conference. The men's and women's sports so counted need not be the same sport. † "Power Five" conferences with guaranteed berths in the New Year's Six, the bowl games associated with the

‡ "Group of Five" conferences ;Notes:

FCS conferences

;Notes:

Sports

Men's team sports

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" , - !width= , No. !width= 100 , Sport !width= , Founded !width=70, Teams !width= , !width= , Scholarships
per team !width= , Season !width= , Most
Championships , - !, 1 ,

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, 1869 (FBS)
1978 (FCS) , 257
(130 FBS,
127 FCS) , 24
(10 FBS,
14 FCS) , (FBS)
63.0 (FCS) , Fall , Princeton (28) , - !, 2 ,

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

, 351 , 32 , , Winter , UCLA (11) , - !, 3 ,

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

, align=center, 299 , align=center, 30 , align=center, , align=center, Spring , align=center, USC (12) , - !, 4 ,

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, 204 , 23 , {{{nts, 9.9 , Fall , Saint Louis (10) , - !, 5 ,

Ice Hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, 61 , 6 , {{nts, 18.0 , Winter , Michigan (9) , - !, 6 ,

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, 74 , 10 , {{nts, 12.6 , Spring , Syracuse (10) , - !, 7 ,

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, 29 , 5 , {{nts, 4.5 , Spring , UCLA (19) , - !, 8 ,

Water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, style="text-align:center;", 25 , style="text-align:center;", 4 , style="text-align:center;", {{nts, 4.5 , style="text-align:center;", Fall , align=center, California (14) Sports are ranked according to total possible scholarships (number of teams x number of scholarships per team). Scholarship numbers for head-count sports are indicated without a decimal point. Numbers for equivalency sports are indicated with a decimal point, with a trailing zero if needed. Notes: : The NCAA officially classifies the men's championships in volleyball and water polo as "National Collegiate" championships, that being the designation for championships that are open to members of more than one NCAA division. The ice hockey championship, however, is styled as a "Division I" championship because of the previous existence of a separate Division II championship in that sport. * Football — D-I football programs are divided into FBS and FCS. The 128 FBS programs can award financial aid to as many as 85 players, with each player able to receive up to a full scholarship. The 124 FCS programs can award up to the equivalent of 63 full scholarships, divided among no more than 85 individuals. Some FCS conferences restrict scholarships to a lower level or prohibit scholarships altogether. * Soccer — As of the next NCAA soccer season in 2023, part of the 2023–24 academic year, four of the 10 FBS conferences will not sponsor men's soccer—the Big 12, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, and the SEC. Several other D-I conferences also do not sponsor the sport—the Big Sky, MEAC, Mountain West, Ohio Valley, Southland, and SWAC. The Sun Belt Conference is the most recent conference to add men's soccer, reinstating its league for the 2022 season after having dropped the sport after the 2020–21 academic year. Conference USA shut down its league after losing most of its men's soccer membership to the Sun Belt Conference, followed by the American Athletic Conference taking in C-USA's remaining four teams (three of which will fully join The American in 2023) as associate members for 2022. The MAC was reduced to 5 men's soccer members in the 2022 season, and shut down its league at the end of that season after being unable to find the sixth member needed to maintain its automatic NCAA tournament bid. Of its final men's soccer members, three moved that sport to the Missouri Valley Conference and one to the Big East Conference. * Ice Hockey — Almost all D-I ice hockey programs are in the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

, the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...

, or the Colorado Front Range. Only one D-I all-sports conference, the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, sponsors a men's hockey league. All other conferences operate as hockey-specific leagues. Of the 61 teams competing in D-I hockey in 2022–23, 22 are otherwise classified as either D-II or D-III; a number of schools from D-II play in D-I ice hockey as the NCAA no longer sponsors a championship in D-II and many have traditional/cultural fan bases that support ice hockey, and the D-III schools were "grandfathered" in to D-I through their having sponsored hockey prior to the creation of D-III. * Lacrosse — The vast majority of D-I lacrosse programs are from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Only five D-I programs are not in the

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

—

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

and

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

on the Colorado Front Range,

Lindenwood Lindenwood may refer to a place in the United States: *Lindenwood, Illinois *Lindenwood, Queens, New York *Lindenwood Cemetery, Fort Wayne, Indiana In education: * Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri * Lindenwood University – Bellevil ...

on the Missouri side of the

St. Louis metropolitan area Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...

, Marquette in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. * Volleyball — Of the traditional D-I conferences, only the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

and Northeast Conference sponsor men's volleyball, with those conferences respectively adding the sport in 2017–18 and 2022–23. Two of the other three major volleyball conferences, defined in that sport as leagues that include full Division I members, are volleyball-specific conferences; the third is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, a multi-sport conference that does not sponsor football or basketball. In addition to the D-I schools, 31 D-II schools are competing in the National Collegiate division in 2022–23; eight of these are members of

Conference Carolinas Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Divisio ...

, the first all-sports league outside Division III to sponsor the sport, and six are members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. * Water Polo — The number of D-I schools sponsoring men's water polo has declined from 35 in 1987/88 to 22 in 2010/11. No school outside of California has ever made the finals of the championship, and all champions since 1998 have come from one of the four California-based Pac-12 schools.

Men's individual sports

The following table lists the men's individual D-I sports with at least 1,000 participating athletes. Sports are ranked by number of athletes. {, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" , - !width=40, No. !width=145, Sport !width=50, Founded !width=75, Teams (2022){{cite web, url=https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/sportpart/2022RES_SportsSponsorshipParticipationRatesReport.pdf , title=NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report (1956–57 through 2021–22) , publisher=NCAA , date=October 27, 2022 , access-date=December 24, 2022 !width=75, Teams (1982) !width=65, Change !width=90, Athletes !width=95, Season , - !, 1 , Track (outdoor) , 1921 , 287 , 230 , +57 , 11,387 , Spring , - !, 2 , Track (indoor) , 1965 , 264 , 209 , +55 , 10,369 , Winter , - !, 3 , align=center, Cross country , 1938 , align=center , 315 , 256 , +59 , align=center, 5,032 , Fall , - !, 4 , align=center, Swimming & diving , 1937 , align=center , 130 , 181 , –51 , align=center, 3,826 , Winter , - !, 5 , align=center, Golf , 1939 , align=center, 292 , 263 , +29 , align=center, 2,958 , Spring , - !, 6 , align=center, Wrestling , 1928 , align=center, 76 , 146 , –70 , align=center, 2,665 , Winter , - !, 7 , align=center , Tennis , 1946 , align=center, 233 , 267 , –34 , align=center, 2,293 , Spring D-I college wrestling has lost almost half of its programs since 1982.

Women's team sports

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" , - !width= , No. !width= 100 , Sport !width= , Founded !width= , Teams !width= , {{abbr, Conf., Conferences !width= , Scholarships
per team !width= , Season !width=200 , Most Championships , - !, 1 ,

, ,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, 348 , 32 , {{nts, 15 , Winter , UConn (11) , - !, 2 ,

, ,

, 335 , 31 , {{nts, 14.0 , Fall , North Carolina (21) , - !, 3 ,

, ,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, 332 , 32 , {{nts, 12* , Fall , Stanford (9) , - !, 4 ,

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, ,

, 293 , 32 , {{nts, 12.0 , Spring , UCLA (12) , - !, 5 , Rowing , ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, 87 , 12 , {{nts, 20.0 , Spring , Brown (7) , - !, 6 ,

, ,

, 119 , 13 , {{nts, 12.0 , Spring , Maryland (14) , - !, 7 ,

Field Hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

, ,

, 77 , 10 , {{nts, 12.0 , Fall , Old Dominion (9) , - !, 8 ,

, ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, 34 , 5 , {{nts, 18.0 , Winter , Minnesota, Wisconsin (6) , - !, 9 ,

Beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

, ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, 62 , 5 , {{nts, 6.0* , Spring , USC (4) , - !, 10 ,

, ,

, 34 , 6 , {{nts, 8.0 , Spring , Stanford (8) ;Notes: * As in the men's table above, sports are ranked in order of total possible scholarships. Numbers for head-count sports are indicated without a decimal point; those for equivalency sports are indicated with a decimal point, with a trailing zero if needed. * Women's soccer is the fastest growing NCAA D-I women's team sport over a prolonged period, increasing from 22 teams in 1981–82 to 335 teams in 2021–22. However, in recent years, the fastest-growing has been beach volleyball, which went from 14 Division I teams in 2011–12 to 62 in 2021–22. * ^† = Since the 2016–17 school year,

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

is classified by the NCAA as an "emerging sport" for women. Beach volleyball, which had previously been an "emerging sport" under the name of "sand volleyball",{{cite press release, url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2015-06-30/ncaas-newest-championship-will-be-called-beach-volleyball , title=NCAA's newest championship will be called beach volleyball , publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association , date=June 30, 2015 , access-date=July 3, 2015 became an official NCAA championship sport in 2015–16. * * = The number of scholarships are partially linked for (indoor) volleyball and beach volleyball. Schools that field both indoor and beach volleyball teams are allowed 6.0 full scholarship equivalents specifically for beach volleyball as of 2016–17, with the further limitations that (1) no player receiving aid for beach volleyball can be on the indoor volleyball roster and (2) a maximum of 14 individuals can receive aid in beach volleyball. If a school fields only a beach volleyball team, it is allowed 8.0 full scholarship equivalents for that sport, also distributed among no more than 14 individuals.

Women's individual sports

The following table lists the women's individual D-I sports with at least 1,000 participating athletes. Sports are ranked by number of athletes. {, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" , - !width=40, No. !width=145, Sport !width=75, Teams (2022) !width=75, Teams (1982) !width=65, Change !width=90, Athletes !width=95, Season , - !, 1 , Track (outdoor) , 339 , 180 , +159 , 13,672 , Spring , - !, 2 , Track (indoor) , 331 , 127 , +204 , 13,404 , Winter , - !, 3 , Cross country , 347 , 183 , +164 , 5,896 , Fall , - !, 4 , Swimming & diving , 190 , 161 , +29 , 5,886 , Winter , - !, 5 , Tennis , 300 , 246 , +54 , 2,817 , Spring , - !, 6 , Golf , 262 , 83 , +179 , 2,229 , Spring , - !, 7 , Gymnastics , 61 , 99 , –38 , 1,258 , Winter

Broadcasting and revenue

NCAA Division I schools have broadcasting contracts that showcase their more popular sports — typically football and men's basketball — on network television and in basic cable channels. These contracts can be quite lucrative, particularly for D-I schools from the biggest conferences. For example, the Big Ten conference in 2016 entered into contracts with Fox and ESPN that pay the conference $2.64 billion over six years. The NCAA also holds certain TV contracts. For example, the NCAA's contract to show the men's basketball championship tournament (widely known as March Madness) is currently under a 14-year deal with CBS and Turner that runs from 2010 to 2024 and pays $11 billion. For the 2014–15 fiscal year, the conferences that earned the most revenues (and that distributed the most revenues to each of their member schools) were: # SEC — $527 million (dispersed $33 million to each of its member schools) # Big 10 — $449 million (dispersed $32 million each) # Pac-12 — $439 million (dispersed $25 million each) # ACC — $403 million (dispersed $26 million each) # Big 12 — $268 million (dispersed $23 million each) {, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" , - , + U.S. college sports TV rights , - ! Sports rights , , Sport , , National TV contract , , Total Revenues
(Per Year) , , Ref , - ,

NCAA March Madness The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

, , Basketball , , CBS, Turner , , $8.8B ($1.1B) , , , - ,

, , Football , , ESPN , , $5.6B ($470m) , , , - ,

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

, , All , , Fox, ESPN , , $3.0B ($250m) , , , - ,

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

(Big Ten/B1G) , , All , , Fox, ESPN, CBS , , $2.6B ($440m) , , , - ,

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) , , All , , ESPN , , $3.6B ($240m) , , , - ,

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

, , All , , Fox, ESPN , , $2.6B ($200m) , , , - ,

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) , , All , , CBS, ESPN , , $2.6B ($205m) , , , - , American Athletic Conference , , All , , ESPN , , $910m ($130m) , , , - , Mountain West Conference (MW) , , All , , CBS, ESPN , , $116m ($18m) , , , - ,

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

(MAC) , , All , , ESPN , , $100m ($8m) , ,

Scholarship limits by sport

The NCAA has limits on the total financial aid each Division I member may award in each sport that the school sponsors. It divides sports that are sponsored into two types for purposes of scholarship limitations: * "Head-count" sports, in which the NCAA limits the total number of individuals that can receive athletic scholarships, but allows each player to receive up to a full scholarship. * "Equivalency" sports, in which the NCAA limits the total financial aid that a school can offer in a given sport to the equivalent of a set number of full scholarships. Roster limitations may or may not apply, depending on the sport. The term "counter" is also key to this concept. The NCAA defines a "counter" as "an individual who is receiving institutional financial aid that is countable against the aid limitations in a sport." The number of scholarships that Division I members may award in each sport is listed below. In this table, scholarship numbers for head-count sports are indicated ''without a decimal point''; for equivalency sports, they are listed with a decimal point, with a trailing zero if required. {, class="wikitable sortable" style= , - !Sport, , Men's, , Women's , - ,

Acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

& tumbling , , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 14.0{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.3.1.2 Women's Sports (Maximum Equivalency Limits) , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=223 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020 , - ,

, , style="text-align: center;" , 11.7{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.4 Baseball Limitations , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , pages=225–26 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020{{refn, group=nb, This total is also subject to the following restrictions: * The number of total counters is limited to 27. * Each counter must receive "athletically related and other countable financial aid" equal to at least 25% of a full scholarship.{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.4.1 Minimum Equivalency Value , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=225 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020 Most institutional and governmental non-athletic aid falls in the "countable" category;{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.1.2 Types of Aid Included in Limit , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , pages=210–11 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020 an official NCAA rules interpretation also allows schools to count aid that would otherwise be exempt by NCAA rule (such as purely academic awards) toward the 25% limit, as long as it also is included in the calculations for the team equivalency limit. The 25% rule does not apply to baseball schools that offer only need-based aid (such as

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

members).{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.4.1.1 Exception—Need-Based Athletics Aid Only , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=225 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020 A second exception to the 25% rule, added in 2012, is for players in their final year of athletic eligibility who have not previously received athletically related aid in baseball at any college.{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.4.1.2 Exception—Final Year of Eligibility and Not Previously Aided , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=225 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020 , , style="text-align: center;" , – , - ,

, , style="text-align: center;" , 13 , , style="text-align: center;" , 15 , - ,

, , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 6.0{{refn, group=nb, This total is for schools that also sponsor women's indoor volleyball.{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.8.1 Institutions That Sponsor Women's Beach Volleyball and Women's Volleyball , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=229 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020 If a school does not sponsor women's indoor volleyball, it is allowed 8.0 equivalents for beach volleyball.{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.8.2 Institutions That Sponsor Women's Beach Volleyball but Do Not Sponsor Women's Volleyball , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=229 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020 For all schools, the maximum number of counters in beach volleyball is 14. , - ,

Bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , –, , style="text-align: center;" , 5.0 , - , Cross country/

Track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , 12.6{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.3.1.1 Men's Sports (Maximum Equivalency Limits) , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=222 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020{{refn, group=nb, If a school sponsors men's cross-country but does not sponsor either indoor or outdoor track and field for men, it is allowed 5.0 scholarship equivalents for that sport.{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.3.1.3 Maximum Equivalency Limits—Institutions That Sponsor Cross Country but Do Not Sponsor Track and Field , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=222 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020 , , style="text-align: center;" , 18.0{{refn, group=nb, If a school sponsors women's cross-country but does not sponsor either indoor or outdoor track and field for women, it is allowed 6.0 scholarship equivalents for that sport. , - ,

Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 15.0 , - ,

Fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , 4.5 , , style="text-align: center;" , 5.0 , - ,

Field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 12.0 , - ,

, , style="text-align: center;" , 85 (FBS){{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.6.1 Bowl Subdivision Football. (FBS) , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=226 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020{{refn, group=nb, FBS programs are also limited to 25 new counters per school year.
63.0 (FCS){{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.6.2 Championship Subdivision Football. (FCSD) , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=226 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020{{refn, group=nb, FCS programs are also limited to 85 total counters per school year. Effective with the recruiting cycle for the 2018–19 school year, the previous limit of 30 new counters per year for FCS programs has been removed. , , style="text-align: center;" , – , - ,

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , 4.5 , , style="text-align: center;" , 6.0 , - ,

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , 6.3 , , style="text-align: center;" , 12{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.2 Head-Count Sports Other Than Football and Basketball , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , pages=221–22 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020 , - ,

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , 18.0{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.7 Ice Hockey Limitations , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , page=228 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020{{refn, group=nb, The number of total counters is limited to 30. , , style="text-align: center;" , 18.0{{refn, group=nb, The NCAA Division I Manual does not include any scholarship limitations for women's ice hockey. These limitations are instead found in the Division II Manual. The Division II Manual does not include any limit on total counters for any sport, including women's ice hockey. , - ,

, , style="text-align: center;" , 12.6 , , style="text-align: center;" , 12.0 , - , ,

Rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , 3.6{{refn, group=nb, NCAA rifle competition is fully coeducational. For purposes of sports sponsorship, the NCAA classifies teams that include both men and women as men's teams. Of the 33 NCAA rifle schools (23 in Division I, 4 in Division II, and 6 in Division III), 22 field a single coed/mixed team. Six schools (five in Division I and one in Division III) field women-only teams. Schools are also allowed to field any combination of men's, women's, and mixed teams; several NCAA rifle schools field two types of teams, but none currently fields all three types. The scholarship limits are per school, not per team. , , style="text-align: center;" , – , - , Rowing , , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 20.0 , - ,

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 12.0 , - ,

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , 6.3 , , style="text-align: center;" , 7.0 , - ,

, , style="text-align: center;" , 9.9 , , style="text-align: center;" , 14.0 , - ,

, , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 12.0 , - , Swimming and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , 9.9 , , style="text-align: center;" , 14.0 , - ,

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , 4.5 , , style="text-align: center;" , 8 , - ,

Triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 6.5 , - ,

, , style="text-align: center;" , 4.5 , , style="text-align: center;" , 12 , - ,

, , style="text-align: center;" , 4.5 , , style="text-align: center;" , 8.0 , - ,

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, , style="text-align: center;" , 9.9 , , style="text-align: center;" , 10.0 {{reflist, group=nb

Rules for multi-sport athletes

The NCAA also has rules specifying the sport in which multi-sport athletes are to be counted, with the basic rules being:{{cite book , url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D121.pdf , chapter=Bylaw 15.5.9 Multi-Sport Participants , title=2020–21 NCAA Division I Manual , publisher=NCAA , pages=229–30 , date=August 7, 2020 , access-date=December 17, 2020 * Anyone who participates in football is counted in that sport, even if he does not receive financial aid from the football program. An exception exists for players at non-scholarship FCS programs who receive aid in another sport. * Participants in basketball are counted in that sport, unless they also play football. * Participants in men's ice hockey are counted in that sport, unless they also play football or basketball. * Participants in both men's swimming and diving and men's water polo are counted in swimming and diving, unless they count in football or basketball. * Participants in women's (indoor) volleyball are counted in that sport unless they also play basketball. * All other multi-sport athletes are counted in whichever sport the school chooses.

Football subdivisions

Subdivisions in Division I exist only in

.{{cite web, last=Wieberg , first=Steve , url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2006-08-03-ncaa-subdivisions_x.htm , title=NCAA to rename college football subdivisions , work=USA Today , date=2006-08-03 , access-date=2009-11-19 In all other sports, all Division I conferences are equivalent. The subdivisions were recently given names to reflect the differing levels of football play in them. The method by which the NCAA determines whether a school is Bowl or Championship subdivision is first by attendance numbers and then by scholarships.Football Bowl Subdivision Membership Requirements
(pdf file) For attendance reporting methods, the NCAA allows schools to report either total tickets sold or the number of persons in attendance at the games. They require a minimum average of 15,000 people in attendance every other year. These numbers get posted to the NCAA statistics website for football each year. With the new rules starting in the 2006 season, the number of Bowl Subdivision schools could drop in the future if those schools are not able to pull in enough fans into the games. Additionally, 14 FCS schools had enough attendance to be moved up in 2012. Under current NCAA rules, these schools must have an invitation from an FBS conference in order to move to FBS. Three of them—

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...

, and

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

—began FBS transitions in 2013. All had the required FBS conference invitations, with Old Dominion joining Conference USA in 2013, and Appalachian State and Georgia Southern joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2014. The difference in the postseasons in each of the subdivisions grant the FCS an advantage to have the best record in college football history, 17–0, while the FBS only allows a 15–0 record.

Football Bowl Subdivision

{{Main, NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision {{See also, College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS, List of NCAA Division I FBS football bowl records Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the top level of

. Schools in Division I FBS compete in post-season bowl games, with the champions of five conferences, along with the highest-ranked champion of the other five conferences, receiving automatic bids to the access bowls. FBS schools are limited to a total of 85 football players receiving financial assistance. For competitive reasons, a student receiving partial scholarship counts fully against the total of 85. Nearly all FBS schools that are not on NCAA probation give 85 full scholarships. As of the 2022 college football season, there are 130 full members of Division I FBS, plus one transitional school that is considered an FBS member for scheduling purposes. The most recent school to become a full FBS member is

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

, which made the transition from FCS in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. The next school to become a full FBS member is James Madison University, which joined the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. Because JMU met FBS scheduling requirements (specifically five home games against FBS opposition) in 2022, it was allowed to skip the first year of the normal two-year transitional process, making it eligible for bowl games in 2023. Since the 2016 season, all FBS conferences have been allowed to conduct a championship game that does not count against the limit of 12 regular-season contests. Under the current rules, most recently changed in advance of the 2022 season, conferences have complete freedom to determine the participants in their championship games. From 2016 to 2021, FBS rules allowed such a game to be held either (1) between the winners of each of two divisions, with each team having played a full round-robin schedule within its division, or (2) between the conference's top two teams after a full round-robin conference schedule. Before 2016, "exempt" championship games could only be held between the divisional winners of conferences that had at least 12 football teams and split into divisions. The prize is normally a specific bowl game bid for which the conference has a tie-in. Some conferences have numbers in their names but this often has no relation to the number of member institutions in the conference. The Big Ten Conference did not formally adopt the "Big Ten" name until 1987, but unofficially used that name when it had 10 members from 1917 to 1946, and again from 1949 forward. However, it has continued to use the name even after it expanded to 11 members with the addition of Penn State in 1990, 12 with the addition of Nebraska in 2011, and 14 with the arrival of Maryland and Rutgers in 2014. The Big 12 Conference was established in 1996 with 12 members, but continues to use that name even after a number of departures and a few replacements left the conference with 10 members. On the other hand, the Pac-12 Conference has used names (official or unofficial) that have reflected the number of members since its current charter was established in 1959. The conference unofficially used "Big Five" (1959–62), "Big Six" (1962–64), and "Pacific-8" (1964–68) before officially adopting the "Pacific-8" name. The name duly changed to "Pacific-10" in 1978 with the addition of Arizona and Arizona State, and "Pac-12" (instead of "Pacific-12") in 2011 when Colorado and Utah joined. Conferences also tend to ignore their regional names when adding new schools. For example, the Pac-8/10/12 retained its "Pacific" moniker even though its four newest members (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah) are located in the inland West, and the original Big East kept its name even after adding schools (either in all sports or for football only) located in areas traditionally considered to be in the Midwest (Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette, Notre Dame), Upper South (Louisville, Memphis) and Southwest (Houston, SMU). The non-football conference that assumed the Big East name when the original Big East split in 2013 is another example of this phenomenon, as half of its 10 inaugural schools (Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Marquette, Xavier) are traditionally regarded as being Midwestern.

Conferences

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - !Conference !Nickname !Founded !Members !Sports !Headquarters , - , American Athletic Conference *** , The American , 1979 {{efn, group=FBS, The conference was founded in 1979 as the original Big East Conference. It renamed itself the American Athletic Conference following a 2013 split along football lines. The non-FBS schools of the original conference left to form a new conference that purchased the Big East name, while the FBS schools continued to operate under the old Big East's charter and structure. The American also inherited the old Big East's

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including ...

berth for the 2013 season, the last for the BCS. , 11 {{efn, group=FBS, 10 of the 11 full members sponsor football, with

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

as the only non-football member.{{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the full members, nine schools have single-sport associate membership, and three others are members in two sports. Five of these schools will fully join The American in 2023. *

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

is a football-only member. * Future full members

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

and UAB are men's soccer members in 2022–23. *

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

, and Vanderbilt are members in women's lacrosse. * Future full member

Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-cam ...

, plus

FIU Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida ...

, are members in both men's soccer and women's swimming & diving. FIU will continue as an associate after FAU fully joins The American. * Future full members North Texas and

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

are women's swimming & diving members in 2022–23 (though Rice fields only swimmers and no divers). * Old Dominion and

Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

are members in women's rowing.{{efn, group=FBS, 14 members (both full and football) in 2023 with the following changes: * Loss of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and

UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

. * Addition of Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. , 22 ,

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, - ,

** , ACC , 1953 , 15 {{efn, group=FBS, Notre Dame is a full member except in football, in which it remains independent. It has committed to play at least five games each season against ACC opponents, and to play each other ACC member at least once every three years. , 27 {{efn, group=FBS, 26 sports by NCAA count; the ACC sponsors separate championships in men's and women's fencing, a sport in which the NCAA organizes a single coeducational championship event. * 28 sports (27 by NCAA count) in 2023 with addition of women's gymnastics. , Greensboro, North Carolina , - ,

** , Big Ten, B1G , 1896 , 14 {{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the full members, two schools have affiliate membership: *

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...

, otherwise a

member, is an affiliate in both men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

lacrosse, sports in which the school fields Division I teams. * Notre Dame is a men's hockey affiliate.{{efn, group=FBS, 16 members in 2024 with addition of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. , 28 ,

Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,202. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before that. Whi ...

, - ,

** , Big 12 , 1996 , 10 {{efn, group=FBS, As many as 14 members in 2023 with addition of

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF. * 12 members no later than 2025 with loss of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

.{{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the full members, the Big 12 has 13 members that participate in only one sport. *

, California Baptist,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as th ...

, Northern Colorado,

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually ...

Utah Valley Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

compete in men's wrestling. *

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

compete in women's rowing. *

competes in women's gymnastics. * Fresno State competes in women's equestrian. , 21 ,

Irving, Texas Irving is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. Located in Dallas County, it is also an inner ring suburb of Dallas. The city of Irving is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. According to a 2019 estimate from the United States Census Bureau, ...

, - ,

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

*** , C-USA , 1995 {{efn, group=FBS, The conference was founded in 1995, with football competition starting in 1996. , 11 {{efn, group=FBS, 9 members in 2023 with the following changes: * Loss of Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. * Addition of

Jacksonville State Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's, master's, education specialist, and doctorate degrees ...

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

, New Mexico State, and

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

.{{efn, group=FBS, 10 members in 2024 with addition of

Kennesaw State Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university located in the state of Georgia with two different campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was found ...

.{{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the full members, Conference USA features six schools that play one sport in the conference. *

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

, Tulane, and

Louisiana–Monroe The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Ce ...

play

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

. All but Tulane will leave in July 2023 when those schools' home of the Sun Belt Conference adds beach volleyball. *

Dallas Baptist Dallas Baptist University (DBU) is a Christianity, Christian liberal arts university in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1898 as Decatur Baptist College, Dallas Baptist University currently operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, Texas, Plano, and Hurst, T ...

, a Division II member that plays D-I baseball, is a baseball member. , 18 ,

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, - , Division I FBS Independents {{efn, group=FBS, Note that "Independents" is not a conference; it is simply a designation used for schools whose football programs do not play in any conference. All of these schools have conference memberships for other sports. , , , 7 {{efn, group=FBS, 4 independents in 2023 with BYU joining the Big 12 Conference, and Liberty and New Mexico State joining Conference USA. , , , - ,

*** , MAC , 1946 , 12 {{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the 12 full members, the Mid-American Conference features 21 members that participate in a single sport. *

, Bellarmine, and Longwood compete in

women's field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

. *

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

competes in men's tennis. *

Chicago State Chicago State University (CSU) is a predominantly black public university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1867 as the Cook County Normal School, it was an innovative teachers college. Eventually the Chicago Public Schools assumed control of t ...

competes in men's soccer. * Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris, and

Youngstown State Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges an ...

compete in women's lacrosse. * Evansville,

Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

, UIC, and Valparaiso compete in men's swimming and diving (though Valparaiso fields only swimmers). * Eight schools are men's wrestling affiliates—full Division I members

Cleveland State Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923. ...

, George Mason, Rider, and

SIU Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...

, plus four Division II members that compete in D-I wrestling, namely Bloomsburg,

Clarion Clarion may refer to: Music * Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages * The register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6 * A trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave above unison pitch * "Clarion" (song), a 2 ...

, Edinboro, and Lock Haven. , 24{{efn, group=FBS, Possibility of 23 sports in 2023 with potential dropping of men's soccer. ,

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, - , Mountain West Conference *** , MW , 1999 , 11 {{efn, group=FBS, Since 2012, Hawai{{okinai has been a football-only associate member, with most of its remaining teams in the non-football

.{{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the 11 full members and football affiliate Hawai{{okinai, Colorado College, a Division III school with a Division I men's ice hockey team, plays Division I women's soccer in the MW. , 19 ,

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, - ,

** , Pac-12 , 1915 {{efn, group=FBS, The charter of the Pac-12 dates only to the formation of the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU) in 1959. However, the Pac-12 claims the history of the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

, which was founded in 1915 and began competition in 1916, as its own. Of the nine members of the PCC at the time of its demise in June 1959, only

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

never joined the Pac-12. The PCC's berth in the Rose Bowl passed to the AAWU. , 12 {{efn, group=FBS, The Pac-12 also includes four associate members, each of which competes in a single sport.

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 ...

plays men's soccer. Cal State Bakersfield, Cal Poly, and

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

compete in wrestling. *

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

will become a women's lacrosse member in 2023, with San Diego State adding women's lacrosse to its Pac-12 membership at that time.{{efn, group=FBS, 10 members in 2024 with loss of UCLA and USC. , 24 , Walnut Creek, California , - ,

** , SEC , 1932 , 14 {{efn, group=FBS, 16 members no later than 2025 with addition of Oklahoma and Texas. , 20 ,

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, - ,

*** , Sun Belt, SBC , 1976 , 14 {{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the 14 full members, three schools are men's soccer affiliates—

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

will join this group in 2023. , 18 {{efn, group=FBS, At least 20 sports in 2023 with planned addition of beach volleyball and women's swimming & diving. ,

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

{{small, ** – "Big Five" or "Power Five" conferences with guaranteed berths in the "access bowls" associated with the

{{small, *** – "Group of Five" conferences {{See also, List of NCAA Division I FBS football programs ;Notes: {{notelist, group=FBS

Football Championship Subdivision

{{main, NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision {{See also, NCAA Division I Football Championship, List of NCAA Division I FCS football programs The Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, consists of 130 teams as of the 2022 season, with all participating in one of 14 conferences. The "I-AA" designation was dropped by the NCAA in 2006, although it is still informally and commonly used. FCS teams are limited to 63 players on scholarship (compared to 85 for FBS teams) and usually play an 11-game schedule (compared to 12 games for FBS teams). The FCS determines its national champion through an NCAA-sanctioned single-elimination

, culminating in a title game, the

. As of the 2018 season, the tournament begins with 24 teams; 10 conference champions that received automatic bids, and 14 teams selected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

by a selection committee. The postseason tournament traditionally begins on

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

weekend in late November. When I-AA was formed {{Time ago, 1978 in 1978, the playoffs included just four teams for its first three seasons, doubling to eight teams for one season in 1981.{{cite news , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rRVbAAAAIBAJ&pg=2719%2C2321906, newspaper=Bangor Daily news , location=Maine , last=Haskell , first=Bob , title=NCAA expands I-AA playoffs to eight teams , date=July 7, 1981 , page=15 From 1982 to 1985, there was a 12-team tournament; this expanded to 16 teams in 1986. The playoffs expanded to 20 teams starting in 2010, then grew to 24 teams in 2013. Since the 2010 season, the title game is held in early January at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. From 1997 through 2009, the title game was played in December 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, ...

, preceded by five seasons in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

Abstainers

The Football Championship Subdivision includes several conferences which do not participate in the eponymous post-season championship tournament. The

was reclassified to I-AA (FCS) following the 1981 season, and plays a strict ten-game schedule. Although it qualifies for an automatic bid, the Ivy League has not played any postseason games at all since becoming a conference for the

1956 NCAA University Division football season The 1956 NCAA University Division football season saw the University of Oklahoma Sooners finish a third consecutive season unbeaten and untied to again win the national championship. The 1956 season saw the NCAA split member schools into two divi ...

, citing academic concerns. (The last college which is now an Ivy League member to play in a bowl game was

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

in the

1934 Rose Bowl The 1934 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1934, was an American football bowl game. It was the 20th Rose Bowl Game. The Columbia Lions defeated the Stanford Indians (now Cardinal) 7-0. Cliff Montgomery, the Columbia quarterback, was named the Rose ...

.) The

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in t ...

(SWAC) has its own

championship game In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

in mid-December between the champions of its East and West divisions. Also, three of its member schools traditionally do not finish their regular seasons until Thanksgiving weekend.

Grambling State Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

and

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

play each other in the

Bayou Classic The Bayou Classic is an annual college football classic rivalry game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Southern University Jaguars, first held under that name in 1974 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, although the series it ...

, and

Alabama State Alabama State University (ASU) is a public historically black university in Montgomery, Alabama. Founded in 1867, ASU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Alabama State University was founded in 1867 as the Lin ...

plays Tuskegee (of Division II) in the Turkey Day Classic. SWAC teams are eligible to accept at-large bids if their schedule is not in conflict. The last SWAC team to participate in the I-AA playoffs was

Jackson State Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

; the SWAC never achieved success in the tournament, going winless in 19 games in twenty years (1978–97). It had greater success outside the conference while in Division II and the preceding College Division. From 2006 through 2009, the Pioneer Football League and Northeast Conference champions played in the Gridiron Classic. If a league champion was invited to the national championship playoff as an at-large bid (something the Pioneer league, at least, never received), the second-place team would play in the Gridiron Classic. That game was scrapped after the 2009 season when its four-year contract ran out; this coincided with the NCAA's announcement that the Northeast Conference would get an automatic bid to the tournament starting in 2010. The

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

also received an automatic bid in the same season. The Pioneer Football League earned an automatic bid beginning in 2013. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) began abstaining from the playoffs with the 2015 season. Like the SWAC, its members are eligible for at-large bids, and the two conferences have faced off in the Celebration Bowl as an alternative postseason game since the 2015 season. Schools in a transition period after joining the FCS from a lower division (or from the NAIA) are also ineligible for the playoffs.

Scholarships

Division I FCS schools are currently restricted to giving financial assistance amounting to 63 full scholarships. As FCS football is an "equivalency" sport (as opposed to the "head-count" status of FBS football), Championship Subdivision schools may divide their allotment into partial scholarships. However, FCS schools may only have 85 players receiving any sort of athletic financial aid for football—the same numeric limit as FBS schools. Because of competitive forces, however, a substantial number of players in Championship Subdivision programs are on full scholarships. Another difference is that FCS schools no longer have a limit on the number of new players that can be provided with financial aid in a given season, while FBS schools are limited to 25 such additions per season. Finally, FCS schools are limited to 95 individuals participating in preseason practices, as opposed to 105 at FBS schools (the three service academies that play FBS football are exempt from preseason practice player limits by NCAA rule). A few Championship Subdivision conferences are composed of schools that offer no athletic scholarships at all, most notably the

and the Pioneer Football League (PFL), a football-only conference. The Ivy League allows no athletic scholarships at all, while the PFL consists of schools that offer scholarships in other sports but choose not to take on the expense of a scholarship football program. The Northeast Conference also sponsored non-scholarship football, but began offering a maximum of 30 full scholarship equivalents in 2006, which grew to 40 in 2011 after a later vote of the league's school presidents and athletic directors and has since increased to 45. The

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...

only began awarding football scholarships in the 2013 season, with the first scholarships awarded only to incoming freshmen. Before the conference began its transition to scholarship football, athletes receiving scholarships in other sports were ineligible to play football for member schools. Since the completion of the transition with the 2016 season, member schools have been allowed up to 60 full scholarship equivalents.

Conferences

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - !Conference !Nickname !Founded !Members !Sports !Headquarters ! FCS Tournament Bid , - ,

ASUN Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisio ...

, ASUN , 1978 , 14 {{efn, group=FCS, Of the 14 full members, five do not sponsor football at all. Three play football outside of the ASUN—

as an FBS independent,

Stetson Stetson is a brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company. "Stetson" is also used as a generic trademark to refer to any campaign hat, in particular, in Scouting. John B. Stetson gained inspiration for his most famous hats when he ...

in the Pioneer Football League, and Bellarmine outside of NCAA control in the weight-restricted variant of

sprint football Sprint football, formerly called lightweight football, is a varsity sport played by United States colleges and universities, under standard American football rules. As of the 2022 season, the sport is governed by the Collegiate Sprint Football ...

.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the full members, the ASUN has 12 associate members that participate in at least one sport. *

, Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris, and

participate only in men's lacrosse. *

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

, Stephen F. Austin, and

UNC Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...

participate only in beach volleyball. *

and Delaware State compete only in women's lacrosse. Delaware State will move women's lacrosse to the Northeast Conference after the 2023 season. *

participates in both men's and women's lacrosse. *

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader ...

competes in beach volleyball and men's lacrosse.{{efn, group=FCS, 12 full members and 5 football members in 2023 with loss of

and

. * 11 full members and 4 football members in 2024 with loss of

. , 21 ,

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Automatic (shared){{efn, group=FCS, name=ASUNWAC, The ASUN and WAC are partners in a football alliance that has one automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. , - , Big Sky Conference , Big Sky , 1963 , 10 {{efn, group=FCS, 12 football members with Cal Poly and

, both full members of the non-football

, as football-only affiliates.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the full members and football affiliates,

and Hartford are associate members in men's golf. Hartford will leave in 2023 as part of its planned transition to

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

. , 16 ,

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

, Automatic , - ,

, Big South , 1983 , 10 {{efn, group=FCS, The Big South has three full members that compete for its football championship, plus three football-only associates in

Bryant Bryant may refer to: Organizations * Bryant Bank, a bank in Alabama, United States * Bryant Electric Company, an American manufacturer of electrical components * Bryant Homes, a British house builder, part of Taylor Woodrow * Bryant University ...

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

, and Robert Morris. * The Big South will merge its football league with that of the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023, when

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 ...

leaves for both sides of the CAA and North Carolina A&T joins CAA Football.{{efn, group=FCS, 9 members in 2023 with loss of Campbell.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the full members and football affiliates, Furman,

, and

Wofford Wofford may refer to: People with the surname *Toni Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford, 1931–2019), American writer *Dan Wofford, American politician *Harris Wofford (1926–2019), U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 1991-1995 *James C. Woffor ...

are associate members in women's lacrosse. , 19 {{efn, group=FCS, Potentially 18 sports in 2023, depending on organizational details of the Big South–OVC football merger. ,

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, Automatic , - ,

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

, CAA , 1983 {{efn, group=FCS, The CAA football conference, officially known as CAA Football and legally a separate entity from the all-sports CAA, was only founded in 2007, but has a continuous history dating to the late 1930s (although not under the same charter): * The

New England Conference The New England Conference (full name: New England College Conference of Intercollegiate Athletics) was a collegiate sports conference in the Eastern United States, more specifically in New England, that operated from 1923 to 1947. As four of its ...

was formed by five New England state universities, plus one private university in that region (

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

), in 1938. Four of the public schools—

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

UMass The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, 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 t ...

, and

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

—were in the CAA football conference through the 2011 season. However, UMass football left for the MAC in 2012. URI football initially planned to leave for the Northeast Conference in 2013, but decided to remain in the CAA. * In 1946, the four then-remaining members of the New England Conference affiliated with two other schools to form the Yankee Conference under a separate charter, with athletic competition starting in 1947. * In 1997, the Yankee Conference was absorbed by the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

. The A-10 inherited the Yankee Conference's automatic berth in the Division I-AA (now FCS) playoffs. In addition to the four charter New England Conference members mentioned above, five other members of the Yankee Conference at the time of the A10 merger are still in the CAA football conference. * After the 2006 season, all of the A-10 football teams left for the new CAA football conference. CAA Football inherited the A10's automatic berth in the FCS playoffs. , 13 {{efn, group=FCS, The CAA has 13 full members, but only seven of them are part of CAA Football. Currently, six associate members fill out the ranks of CAA Football: Albany,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, and Villanova. Villanova is also a CAA associate in women's rowing.{{efn, group=FCS, 14 full members and 15 football members in 2023 with the following changes: * Addition of Campbell to both sides of the league. * Addition of all-sports member

to CAA Football.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the CAA Football associates, the CAA has four associate members that each participate in one sport: * Eastern Michigan, UC San Diego, and UConn in women's rowing. * Fairfield plays men's lacrosse. , 21{{efn, group=FCS, 21 sports under CAA administration, with the all-sports CAA also governing CAA Football. ,

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, Automatic , - , Division I FCS Independents {{efn, group=FCS, Note that "Independents" is not a conference; it is simply a designation used for schools whose football programs do not play in any conference. All of these schools have conference memberships for other sports. , , , 0 , , , , - ,

, Ivy League , 1954 {{efn, group=FCS, Although the conference considers 1954 to be its founding date, the athletic league's origins go back to the turn of the 20th century. * The Ivy League considers the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League (EIBL), a men's basketball-only conference founded in 1901, as part of its history. Every school that had been an EIBL member would become part of the Ivy League. * In 1945, the eight schools that would eventually form the athletic Ivy League entered into the Ivy Group Agreement, which governed football competition between the schools. The original agreement was renewed in 1952. * The official founding date of 1954 reflects the extension of the Ivy Group Agreement to all sports. As part of the agreement,

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

, the only one of the original Ivy Group that had not joined the EIBL, did so. All-sports competition began in 1955, with the EIBL directly absorbed into the new league. , 8 , 33 ,

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, Automatic – (Abstains) , - , Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference , MEAC , 1970 , 8 {{efn, group=FCS, The football conference currently consists of 6 of the 8 member schools.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the full members,

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

, and UAB participate in women's

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

. , 14 ,

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, Abstains , - ,

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 Subdivis ...

, MVFC , 1985 {{efn, group=FCS, The football conference dates to 1985, but the conference charter was established in 1982. See History of the Missouri Valley Football Conference for more details. , 11 {{efn, group=FCS, 12 members in 2023 with addition of

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, ...

. , 1 ,

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, Automatic , - , Northeast Conference , NEC , 1981 , 9 {{efn, group=FCS, The conference has 7 full members that sponsor football. Duquesne of the non-football

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

is a football associate.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to Duquesne, which is also an NEC associate in bowling, the NEC has 10 other associate members that participate in one or more sports. *

Coppin State Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State stu ...

and

Norfolk State Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 ...

are associates only in baseball. * Daemen and D'Youville, both Division II members, are associates in men's volleyball, a sport with a combined D-I and D-II championship. * Delaware State competes in baseball and women's golf. It will add women's lacrosse and women's soccer to its NEC membership in 2023. * Fairfield and Rider are field hockey associates. *

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

competes in men's and women's golf, women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's swimming & diving. *

Maryland Eastern Shore The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that ...

competes in baseball and men's and women's golf. * North Carolina Central is an associate in men's and women's golf. , 24 , Somerset, New Jersey , Automatic , - , Ohio Valley Conference , OVC , 1948 , 10 {{efn, group=FCS, The football conference consists of 6 of the 10 member schools, plus

, a former full member that is playing OVC football in the 2022 season before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023.

Morehead State Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential ea ...

plays non-scholarship football in the Pioneer Football League, while

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, and Southern Indiana do not sponsor football.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the full members,

Chattanooga 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, ...

is an associate in beach volleyball.

is also a rifle associate, and will remain so after the football team departs in 2023.{{efn, group=FCS, The OVC will merge its football league with that of the Big South Conference in 2023. , 18 {{efn, group=FCS, Possibility of 17 sports in 2023, depending on organizational details of the impending Big South–OVC football merger. ,

Brentwood, Tennessee Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census.Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...

, Patriot , 1986 {{efn, group=FCS, The Patriot League was founded as the football-only Colonial League in 1986. In 1990, it became an all-sports conference and adopted its current name. , 10 {{efn, group=FCS, Five of the full members do not sponsor FCS football.

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

and Loyola (Maryland) do not sponsor football at all;

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 ...

is an FBS independent; and

plays in the American Athletic Conference. Fordham and Georgetown are associate members in football.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the football associates, two other schools have single-sport membership: * MIT, otherwise a Division III institution, is an associate in women's rowing. *

is a women's golf associate. , 23 , Center Valley, Pennsylvania , Automatic , - , Pioneer Football League , PFL , 1991 , 11 , 1 ,

, Automatic , - , Southern Conference , SoCon , 1921 , 10 {{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the full members, the SoCon currently has 9 associate members, each of which plays one sport in the conference. *

, Bellarmine,

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

, Gardner–Webb, and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

are members in men's

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. *

, North Georgia (a Division II institution), and UAB are members in rifle. Rifle has a single national championship for all divisions. , 20 ,

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat, seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest c ...

, Automatic , - ,

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

{{efn, group=FCS, The Southland Conference has announced that it will adopt a new name in the near future, most likely after the 2022–23 school year. , SLC , 1963 , 10 {{efn, group=FCS, The football conference currently consists of 8 of the 10 member schools.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the full members, six schools are associate members in one or more sports. * Augusta, otherwise a Division II member, competes in both men's and women's golf. *

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

and San Jose State compete in beach volleyball. *

competes in men's & women's golf and tennis. *

Francis Marion Brigadier-General Francis Marion ( 1732 – February 27, 1795), also known as the Swamp Fox, was an American military officer, planter and politician who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. During the Ameri ...

, otherwise Division II, competes in men's golf. *

NJIT {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

competes in men's and women's tennis. , 18 , Frisco, Texas , Automatic , - ,

, SWAC , 1920 , 12 , 18 ,

, Abstains , - ,

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

, WAC , 1962 , 13 {{efn, group=FCS, 13 full members and 6 football members. Of the full members, six do not sponsor football at all, while New Mexico State plays as an FBS independent. * 10 full members and 4 football members in 2023 with loss of New Mexico State and

. * 10 full members and 5 football members no later than 2025 with addition of football by full member

UTRGV The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a public research university with multiple campuses throughout the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas and is the southernmost member of the University of Texas System. The University of Texas ...

.{{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members and football associates, the WAC currently has 8 associate members that house one or two sports in the conference: *

and

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

participate in men's soccer and men's swimming and diving. * Houston Christian and San Jose State participate only in men's soccer. * Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado participate in women's swimming and diving. New Mexico State will remain an affiliate in that sport after its departure for C-USA. *

participates in baseball. *

participates in men's swimming & diving. , 20 ,

Englewood, Colorado The City of Englewood is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 33,659 at the 2020 United States Census. Englewood is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

, Automatic (shared){{efn, group=FCS, name=ASUNWAC {{See also, List of NCAA Division I FCS football programs ;Notes: {{notelist, group=FCS

Division I non-football schools

Several Bowl Subdivision and Championship Subdivision conferences have member institutions that do not compete in football. Such schools are sometimes unofficially referred to as I-AAA.
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621141953/http://www.uwgbathletics.com/genrel/040907aab.html, date=June 21, 2009 The following non-football conferences have full members that sponsor football: * The America East Conference has four football-sponsoring schools. Albany,

, and

play in CAA Football, the technically separate football league of the

(CAA).

is playing football in the

in 2022, the final season before the Big South and Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) merge their football leagues. * The

has seven football-sponsoring members: **

and

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

play in the PFL. ** Duquesne plays in the Northeast Conference (NEC). ** Fordham plays in the

. **

and

play in CAA Football. **

plays FBS football as an independent. * The current Big East Conference has four football-sponsoring schools. Three play in FCS—

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

in the PFL, Georgetown in the Patriot League, and Villanova in CAA Football. The fourth, UConn, plays as an FBS independent. * Three

members have football programs.

and Cal Poly play FCS football in the Big Sky Conference, and Hawaiʻi plays FBS football in the Mountain West Conference. * The

Horizon League The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

has two football schools. Robert Morris plays Big South football and

plays in the

(MVFC). Barring any further realignment, Robert Morris will move to the new football league to be formed in 2023 when the Big South and OVC merge their football leagues. * 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 N ...

(MAAC) has one football school, with Marist playing in the PFL. * The Missouri Valley Conference has eight football schools—

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

and Valparaiso. Drake and Valparaiso play in the PFL; all others except Murray State compete in the MVFC (a separate legal entity from the MVC, despite the similar name). Murray State is playing the 2022 football season in its former full-time home of the OVC before joining the MVFC in 2023. *

The Summit League ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

has six football schools, five of which play in the MVFC—

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

and

Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-County (United States), county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of ...

. The sixth, St. Thomas of Minnesota, plays in the PFL. * The

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

has two football schools in

and University of San Diego, San Diego, which respectively play football as BYU Cougars football, an FBS independent and San Diego Toreros football, a PFL member. BYU will leave the WCC and the FBS independent ranks in 2023 when it joins the Big 12 Conference. The following Division I conferences do not sponsor

. These conferences still compete in Division I for all sports that they sponsor.

Conferences

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - !Conference !Nickname !Founded !Members !Sports !Headquarters , - , America East Conference , America East , 1979 , 9 {{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members, there are five associate members: * University of California, Berkeley, California, Stanford University, Stanford, and

are associates in field hockey. * Merrimack College, Merrimack is an associate in men's lacrosse. * Virginia Military Institute, VMI is an associate in men's and women's swimming & diving. , 18 , Boston, Boston, Massachusetts , - ,

, A-10 , 1975 , 15 {{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members, four schools are single-sport associates: * High Point University, High Point and Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Hobart, the latter a Division III member that plays men's lacrosse in Division I, compete in men's lacrosse. * Lock Haven, otherwise a Division II institution, and Saint Francis University, Saint Francis (Pennsylvania) compete in field hockey. , 22 , Newport News, Virginia , - , Big East Conference , Big East , 2013 {{efn, group=NF, The current Big East was formed in 2013 as a result of 2010–13 Big East Conference realignment, the split of the original Big East Conference. The original conference charter was retained by the football-sponsoring schools now known as the American Athletic Conference. While both leagues claim 1979 as their founding date, the current Big East maintains the history of the original conference in all sports that it sponsors. The pre-split histories of Big East football and rowing—the two sports that are sponsored by The American but not the current Big East—are not recognized by either offshoot conference. , 11 {{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members, the following schools are Big East affiliates in one or more sports: * Liberty,

, Quinnipiac University, Quinnipiac, and Temple University, Temple participate in field hockey. *

participates in men's and women's lacrosse. * University of Akron, Akron will become a men's soccer affiliate in 2023. , 23 {{efn, group=NF, 22 NCAA-sanctioned sports plus the non-NCAA and fully coeducational esports. , New York City, New York City, New York , - ,

, Big West , 1969 , 11 {{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members,

is a member in beach volleyball and men's soccer. , 18 , Irvine, California , - ,

, Horizon , 1979 , 11 {{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members, the following schools are Horizon affiliates in tennis: * Belmont University, Belmont, Eastern Illinois University, Eastern Illinois,

, University of Southern Indiana, Southern Indiana, Tennessee State University, Tennessee State, and Tennessee Technological University, Tennessee Tech participate in men's tennis only. *

participates in both men's and women's tennis. , 19 , Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana , - , NCAA Division I independent schools#Full independents, Independents{{efn, group=NF, Note that "Independents" is not a conference, it is simply a designation used to indicate schools which are not a member of any conference. , Independents , , 2 {{efn, group=NF, Chicago State and Hartford. * 1 independent in 2023 with Hartford joining the

Commonwealth Coast Conference. , , , - ,

, MAAC , 1980 , 11 {{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members, 14 other schools are MAAC affiliates in at least one sport. * Albany, University of Dayton, Dayton, and Hartford participate in women's golf. Hartford will leave the MAAC in 2023 as part of its Division III transition. *

, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart University, Sacred Heart, and Stetson University, Stetson participate in women's rowing. Sacred Heart also competes in men's lacrosse. * Long Island University, LIU, St. Francis College, St. Francis Brooklyn, Villanova University, Villanova, Virginia Military Institute, VMI, and Wagner College, Wagner participate in women's water polo. LIU, VMI, and Wagner also compete in men's lacrosse. * Jacksonville University, Jacksonville participates in women's rowing and the non-NCAA sport of men's rowing. * La Salle University, La Salle participates in women's golf and women's water polo. , 25 {{efn, group=NF, 23 NCAA-recognized sports plus two non-NCAA sports, esports (fully coeducational) and men's rowing. , Edison, New Jersey , - , Missouri Valley Conference , MVC / Valley , 1907 , 12 {{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members, three schools house one sport in the conference: *

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

and Marshall University, Marshall are associates in women's swimming & diving. Marshall is an MVC associate for the 2022–23 season only; its full-time home of the Sun Belt Conference will add the sport in 2023–24. *

is an associate in men's soccer. * Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois University, Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan University, Western Michigan become men's soccer associates in 2023. , 17 ,

, - ,

, The Summit , 1982 , 10 {{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members, three schools are single-sport associates, and three others house multiple sports in the conference. *

and

are men's tennis associates. * Eastern Illinois University, Eastern Illinois,

, and University of Southern Indiana, Southern Indiana are associates in men's soccer, plus men's and women's swimming & diving. * Northern Colorado is a baseball associate. , 19 , Sioux Falls, South Dakota , - ,

, WCC , 1952 , 10 {{efn, group=NF, 9 members in 2023 with loss of

.{{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members, Creighton University, Creighton is an associate member in women's rowing. , 15 , San Bruno, California {{See also, List of NCAA Division I non-football programs ;Notes: {{notelist, group=NF Of these, the two that most recently sponsored football were the Atlantic 10 and MAAC. The A-10 football league dissolved in 2006 with its members going to CAA Football, the technically separate football league operated by the all-sports Colonial Athletic Association. In addition, four A-10 schools (University of Dayton, Dayton, Fordham, Duquesne, and University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts) play football in a conference other CAA Football, which still includes two full-time A-10 members (

and

). The MAAC stopped sponsoring football in 2007, after most of its members gradually stopped fielding teams. Among current MAAC members that were in the conference before 2007, only Marist College, Marist, which plays in the Pioneer Football League, still sponsors football. From 2013 to 2021, the

was a non-football league, having dropped football after 2010–2013 Western Athletic Conference realignment, a near-complete membership turnover that saw the conference stripped of all but two of its football-sponsoring members. The two remaining football-sponsoring schools,

and New Mexico State, played the 2013 season as FBS independents before becoming football-only members of the Sun Belt Conference in 2014. Both left Sun Belt football in 2018, with Idaho downgrading to FCS status and adding football to its all-sports Big Sky Conference membership and New Mexico State becoming an FBS independent. The WAC added two more football-sponsoring schools with the 2020 arrival of Tarleton and Utah Tech (then Dixie State) from Division II; both schools planned to be FCS independents for the foreseeable future. The WAC would reinstate football at the FCS level in 2021, coinciding with the arrival of four new members with FCS football; for its first season, it entered into a formal partnership with the ASUN Conference to give it enough playoff-eligible members to receive an automatic playoff berth. This partnership was renewed for the 2022 season, with five ASUN and three WAC schools participating, though each conference will play its own schedule.

Division I in ice hockey

{{main, College ice hockey {{see also, List of NCAA Division I ice hockey programs Cornell vs

Some sports, most notably ice hockey{{cite web, url=http://www.insidecollegehockey.com/3Conferences/conferencesSection.htm , title=Conferences , publisher=Inside College Hockey , access-date=2009-11-19 and men's volleyball, have completely different conference structures that operate outside of the normal NCAA sports conference structure. As College ice hockey, ice hockey is limited to a much smaller number of almost exclusively Northern schools, there is a completely different conference structure for teams. These conferences feature a mix of teams that play their other sports in various Division I conferences, and even Division II and

schools. For most of the early 21st century, there was no correlation between a team's ice hockey affiliation and its affiliation for other sports, with the exception of the Ivy League's hockey-playing schools all being members of the ECAC. For example, before 2013, the Hockey East men's conference consisted of one ACC school, one Big East school, four schools from the America East, one from the A-10, one CAA school, and two schools from the D-II Northeast-10 Conference, while the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) both had some Big Ten representation, plus Division II and III schools. Also, the divisional structure is truncated, with the Division II championship abolished in 1999. The

ceased its sponsorship of the sport in 2003, with the remaining members forming Atlantic Hockey. For the next decade, no regular all-sport conferences sponsored ice hockey. Starting with the 2013–14 season, Division I men's hockey experienced 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment#Hockey, a major realignment. The

began to sponsor ice hockey, and their institutions withdrew their membership from the WCHA and CCHA. Additionally, six other schools from those conferences withdrew to form the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference at the same time.{{Unreliable source?, date=October 2022 The fallout from these moves led to the demise of the original CCHA, two more teams entering the NCHC, and further membership turnover in the men's side of the WCHA. Women's hockey was largely unaffected by this realignment. The Big Ten still has only four members with varsity women's hockey (full members Michigan and Michigan State only ice men's teams, as does hockey-only member Notre Dame), with six teams required under conference bylaws for official sponsorship. As a result, the only changes in women's hockey affiliations in the 2010–14 period occurred in College Hockey America, which saw two schools drop the sport and three new members join. The next significant realignment took place after the 2020–21 season, when seven of the 10 then-current men's members of the WCHA left to form a revived CCHA, which in turn led to the demise of the men's side of the WCHA.

Conferences

{, class="wikitable" , - !Conference !Nickname !Founded !Members !Men !Women , - , Atlantic Hockey , AHA , 1997 , 10 {{efn, group=H, 11 members in 2023 with return of Robert Morris Colonials men's ice hockey, Robert Morris. , 10 , none , - ,

, Big Ten, B1G , 1896 {{efn, group=H, Founded as an all-sports conference in 1896, but did not sponsor ice hockey until 2013–14. , 7 , 7 , none , - , Central Collegiate Hockey Association , CCHA , 1971,
2020 {{efn, group=H, First version founded in 1971 and disbanded in 2013; reestablished in 2020, with play resuming in 2021–22. The current CCHA considers the original league to be part of its history. , 8 {{efn, group=H, 9 members in 2023 with addition of Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings men's ice hockey, Augustana (SD). , 8 , none , - , College Hockey America , CHA , 1999 {{efn, group=H, Founded as a men's-only conference in 1999, with women's hockey added in 2002. Men's hockey was dropped after the 2009–10 season. , 5 {{efn, group=H, 6 members in 2023 with return of Robert Morris Colonials women's ice hockey, Robert Morris. , none , 6 , - , ECAC Hockey , N/A , 1961 {{efn, group=H, Founded as a men's-only conference in 1961. A women's invitational tournament was first held in 1985; regular-season play began informally in 1988 before becoming officially sponsored in 1992. Originally part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, but independent of that body since 2004. , 12 , 12 , 12 , - , Hockey East , HEA , 1984 {{efn, group=H, Founded as a men's-only conference in 1984, with women's hockey added in 2002. , 12 , 11 , 10 , - , NCAA Division I independent schools (ice hockey), Independents , , , 6 {{efn, group=H, Alaska Nanooks men's ice hockey, Alaska, Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey, Alaska Anchorage, Arizona State Sun Devils men's ice hockey, Arizona State, Lindenwood Lions men's ice hockey, Lindenwood, LIU Sharks men's ice hockey, LIU, and Stonehill Skyhawks men's ice hockey, Stonehill. , 6 , none , - , National Collegiate Hockey Conference , NCHC , 2011 {{efn, group=H, Date of founding; play began in 2013–14. , 8 , 8 , none , - , New England Women's Hockey Alliance , NEWHA , 2018 {{efn, group=H, Founded as a scheduling alliance in 2017; formally organized as a conference in 2018. Received official NCAA recognition in 2019. , 7 {{efn, group=H, 8 members in 2023 with addition of Assumption Greyhounds, Assumption. , none , 7 , - , Western Collegiate Hockey Association , WCHA , 1951 {{efn, group=H, Founded as a men's-only conference in 1951, with women's hockey added in 1999. Men's hockey was dropped after the 2020–21 season. , 8 , none , 8 ;Notes {{notelist, group=H

Classification debate

In the early 21st century, a controversy arose in the NCAA over whether schools will continue to be allowed to have one showcased program in Division I with the remainder of the athletic program in a lower division, as is the case of, notably, Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse, Johns Hopkins University lacrosse as well as Colorado College and University of Alabama in Huntsville in College ice hockey, ice hockey. This is an especially important issue in ice hockey, hockey, which has no Division II national championship and has several schools whose other athletic programs compete in Division II and Division III. This controversy was resolved at the 2004 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee when the members supported Proposal 65–1, the amended legislation co-sponsored by Colorado College, Clarkson University, Hartwick College, the Johns Hopkins University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers University–Newark, St. Lawrence University, and SUNY Oneonta.{{cite web, url=http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2004/05jan04/05ncaa.html , title=Johns Hopkins Gazette | January 5, 2004 , publisher=Jhu.edu , date=2004-01-05 , access-date=2009-11-19 Each school affected by this debate is allowed to grant financial aid to student-athletes who compete in Division I programs in one men's sport and one women's sport. It is still permitted for other schools to place one men's and one women's sport in Division I going forward, but they cannot offer scholarships without bringing the whole program into compliance with Division I rules. In addition, schools in Divisions II and III are allowed to "play up" in any sport that does not have a championship for the school's own division, but only Division II programs and any Division III programs covered by the exemption can offer scholarships in those sports. Five Division I programs at "waiver schools" were grandfathered with the passing of Proposal 65-1: * Clarkson University – Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey, men's and Clarkson Golden Knights women's ice hockey, women's ice hockey * Colorado College – Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey, men's ice hockey, women's soccer * Johns Hopkins University – men's and Johns Hopkins Blue Jays women's lacrosse, women's lacrosse * Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – RPI Engineers men's ice hockey, men's ice hockey (RPI Engineers women's ice hockey, women's ice hockey moved up to Division I in 2005) * St. Lawrence University – St. Lawrence Saints men's ice hockey, men's and St. Lawrence Saints women's ice hockey, women's ice hockey An additional three programs were grandfathered in Proposal 65-1 but no longer are sponsored in Division I: * Hartwick College – men's soccer, women's water polo (men's soccer dropped to

in 2018, with women's water polo discontinued at the same time) * Rutgers University–Newark – men's volleyball (dropped to Division III in 2014) * SUNY Oneonta – men's soccer (dropped to Division III in 2006)

References

{{reflist

External links

* {{Official website {{National Collegiate Athletic Association {{DEFAULTSORT:NCAA Division I NCAA Division I,