Division I (NCAA)

NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, 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 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.

For college football only, D-I schools are further divided into the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the Football Championship Subdivision (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.

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 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 "Football Championship Subdivision" (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 culminating in a title game, the NCAA Division I Football Championship, to determine a national champion. Meanwhile, FBS teams play in bowl games, with various polls ranking teams after the conclusion of these games, yielding a Consensus National Champion annually since 1950. Starting with the 2014 postseason, a four-team College Football Playoff has been contested, replacing a one-game championship format that had started during the 1992 postseason with the Bowl Coalition. 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 College Football Playoff

‡ "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
, 1869 (FBS)
1978 (FCS)
, 257
(130 FBS,
127 FCS)
, 24
(10 FBS,
14 FCS)
, (FBS)
63.0 (FCS)
, Fall
, Princeton (28)
, -
!, 2
, Basketball
, 1939
, 351
, 32
,
, Winter
, UCLA (11)
, -
!, 3
, Baseball
, 1947
, align=center, 299
, align=center, 30
, align=center,
, align=center, Spring
, align=center, USC (12)
, -
!, 4
, Soccer
, 1959
, 204
, 23
, {{{nts, 9.9
, Fall
, Saint Louis (10)
, -
!, 5
, Ice Hockey
, 1948
, 61
, 6
, {{nts, 18.0
, Winter
, Michigan (9)
, -
!, 6
, Lacrosse
, 1971
, 74
, 10
, {{nts, 12.6
, Spring
, Syracuse (10)
, -
!, 7
, Volleyball
, 1970
, 29
, 5
, {{nts, 4.5
, Spring
, UCLA (19)
, -
!, 8
, Water polo
, 1969
, 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 Upper Midwest, or the Colorado Front Range. Only one D-I all-sports conference, the Big Ten, 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—Air Force and Denver on the Colorado Front Range, Lindenwood on the Missouri side of the St. Louis metropolitan area, Marquette in Milwaukee, and Utah.
* Volleyball — Of the traditional D-I conferences, only the Big West Conference 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, 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
, Basketball , , 1982
, 348
, 32
, {{nts, 15
, Winter
, UConn (11)
, -
!, 2
, Soccer , , 1982
, 335
, 31
, {{nts, 14.0
, Fall
, North Carolina (21)
, -
!, 3
, Volleyball , , 1981
, 332
, 32
, {{nts, 12*
, Fall
, Stanford (9)
, -
!, 4
, Softball , , 1982
, 293
, 32
, {{nts, 12.0
, Spring
, UCLA (12)
, -
!, 5
, Rowing , , 1997
, 87
, 12
, {{nts, 20.0
, Spring
, Brown (7)
, -
!, 6
, Lacrosse , , 1982
, 119
, 13
, {{nts, 12.0
, Spring
, Maryland (14)
, -
!, 7
, Field Hockey , , 1981
, 77
, 10
, {{nts, 12.0
, Fall
, Old Dominion (9)
, -
!, 8
, Ice Hockey , , 2001
, 34
, 5
, {{nts, 18.0
, Winter
, Minnesota, Wisconsin (6)
, -
!, 9
, Beach volleyball , , 2016
, 62
, 5
, {{nts, 6.0*
, Spring
, USC (4)
, -
!, 10
, Water polo , , 2001
, 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 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 , , Basketball , , CBS, Turner , , $8.8B ($1.1B) , ,
, -
, College Football Playoff , , Football , , ESPN , , $5.6B ($470m) , ,
, -
, Pac-12 Conference , , All , , Fox, ESPN , , $3.0B ($250m) , ,
, -
, Big Ten Conference (Big Ten/B1G) , , All , , Fox, ESPN, CBS , , $2.6B ($440m) , ,
, -
, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) , , All , , ESPN , , $3.6B ($240m) , ,
, -
, Big 12 Conference , , All , , Fox, ESPN , , $2.6B ($200m) , ,
, -
, Southeastern Conference (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 (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 & 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
, -
, Baseball , , 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 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;" , –
, -
, Basketball , , style="text-align: center;" , 13 , , style="text-align: center;" , 15
, -
, Beach volleyball , , 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 , , style="text-align: center;" , –, , style="text-align: center;" , 5.0
, -
, Cross country/Track and field , , 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 , , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 15.0
, -
, Fencing , , style="text-align: center;" , 4.5 , , style="text-align: center;" , 5.0
, -
, Field hockey , , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 12.0
, -
, Football , , 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 , , style="text-align: center;" , 4.5 , , style="text-align: center;" , 6.0
, -
, Gymnastics , , 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 , , 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.
, -
, Lacrosse , , style="text-align: center;" , 12.6 , , style="text-align: center;" , 12.0
, -
, , Rifle , , 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 , , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 12.0
, -
, Skiing , , style="text-align: center;" , 6.3 , , style="text-align: center;" , 7.0
, -
, Soccer , , style="text-align: center;" , 9.9 , , style="text-align: center;" , 14.0
, -
, Softball , , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 12.0
, -
, Swimming and diving , , style="text-align: center;" , 9.9 , , style="text-align: center;" , 14.0
, -
, Tennis , , style="text-align: center;" , 4.5 , , style="text-align: center;" , 8
, -
, Triathlon , , style="text-align: center;" , – , , style="text-align: center;" , 6.5
, -
, Volleyball , , style="text-align: center;" , 4.5 , , style="text-align: center;" , 12
, -
, Water polo , , style="text-align: center;" , 4.5 , , style="text-align: center;" , 8.0
, -
, Wrestling , , 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 football.{{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, Georgia Southern, and Old Dominion—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 college football. 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, which made the transition from FCS in 2017 and 2018. The next school to become a full FBS member is James Madison University, which joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2022. 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 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 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 is a football-only member.
* Future full members Charlotte and UAB are men's soccer members in 2022–23.
* Florida, James Madison, Old Dominion, and Vanderbilt are members in women's lacrosse.
* Future full member Florida Atlantic, plus FIU, 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 are women's swimming & diving members in 2022–23 (though Rice fields only swimmers and no divers).
* Old Dominion and Sacramento State are members in women's rowing.{{efn, group=FBS, 14 members (both full and football) in 2023 with the following changes:
* Loss of Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.
* Addition of Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA.
, 22
, Providence, Rhode Island
, -
, Atlantic Coast Conference **
, 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 Conference **
, Big Ten, B1G
, 1896
, 14 {{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the full members, two schools have affiliate membership:
* Johns Hopkins, otherwise a Division III member, is an affiliate in both men's and women's 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 and USC.
, 28
, Rosemont, Illinois
, -
, Big 12 Conference **
, Big 12
, 1996
, 10 {{efn, group=FBS, As many as 14 members in 2023 with addition of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.
* 12 members no later than 2025 with loss of Oklahoma and Texas.{{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the full members, the Big 12 has 13 members that participate in only one sport.
* Air Force, California Baptist, Missouri, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, and Wyoming compete in men's wrestling.
* Alabama and Tennessee compete in women's rowing.
* Denver competes in women's gymnastics.
* Fresno State competes in women's equestrian.
, 21
, Irving, Texas
, -
, Conference USA ***
, 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, Liberty, New Mexico State, and Sam Houston.{{efn, group=FBS, 10 members in 2024 with addition of Kennesaw State.{{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the full members, Conference USA features six schools that play one sport in the conference.
* Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Southern Miss, Tulane, and Louisiana–Monroe play beach volleyball. All but Tulane will leave in July 2023 when those schools' home of the Sun Belt Conference adds beach volleyball.
* Dallas Baptist, a Division II member that plays D-I baseball, is a baseball member.
, 18
, Dallas, Texas
, -
, NCAA Division I FBS independent schools, 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.
,
,
, -
, Mid-American Conference ***
, 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.
* Appalachian State University, Appalachian State, Bellarmine University, Bellarmine, and Longwood University, Longwood compete in field hockey, women's field hockey.
* Binghamton University, Binghamton competes in men's tennis.
* Chicago State University, Chicago State competes in men's soccer.
* University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris University, Robert Morris, and Youngstown State University, Youngstown State compete in women's lacrosse.
* University of Evansville, Evansville, Missouri State University, Missouri State, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Southern Illinois, University of Illinois Chicago, UIC, and Valparaiso University, 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 University, Cleveland State, George Mason University, George Mason, Rider University, Rider, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, SIU Edwardsville, plus four Division II members that compete in D-I wrestling, namely Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg, PennWest Clarion, Clarion, PennWest Edinboro, Edinboro, and Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, Lock Haven.

, 24{{efn, group=FBS, Possibility of 23 sports in 2023 with potential dropping of men's soccer.
, Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio
, -
, Mountain West Conference ***
, MW
, 1999
, 11 {{efn, group=FBS, Since 2012, University of Hawai{{okinai at Mānoa, Hawai{{okinai has been a football-only associate member, with most of its remaining teams in the non-football Big West Conference.{{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 Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey, men's ice hockey team, plays Division I women's soccer in the MW.
, 19
, Colorado Springs, Colorado
, -
, Pac-12 Conference **
, 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, 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 University of Idaho, Idaho never joined the Pac-12. The PCC's berth in the Rose Bowl Game, 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 University, San Diego State plays men's soccer. California State University, Bakersfield, Cal State Bakersfield, California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly, and University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock compete in wrestling.
* University of California, Davis, UC Davis 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
, -
, Southeastern Conference **
, SEC
, 1932
, 14 {{efn, group=FBS, 16 members no later than 2025 with addition of Oklahoma and Texas.
, 20
, Birmingham, Alabama
, -
, Sun Belt Conference ***
, Sun Belt, SBC
, 1976
, 14 {{efn, group=FBS, In addition to the 14 full members, three schools are men's soccer affiliates—Kentucky Wildcats men's soccer, Kentucky, South Carolina Gamecocks men's soccer, South Carolina, and West Virginia Mountaineers men's soccer, West Virginia. UCF Knights men's soccer, UCF 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, New Orleans, Louisiana

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

{{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 NCAA Division I FCS football season, 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 bracket tournament, culminating in a title game, the NCAA Division I Football Championship. As of the 2018 season, the tournament begins with 24 teams; 10 conference champions that received automatic bids, and 14 teams selected At-large bid, at-large by a selection committee.

The postseason tournament traditionally begins on Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving 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 (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. From 1997 through 2009, the title game was played in December in Chattanooga, Tennessee, preceded by five seasons in Huntington, West Virginia.

Abstainers

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

The Ivy League was reclassified to I-AA (FCS) following the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season, 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, citing academic concerns. (The last college which is now an Ivy League member to play in a bowl game was Columbia Lions football, Columbia in the 1934 Rose Bowl.)

The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) has its own SWAC Championship Game, championship game 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 Tigers football, Grambling State and Southern Jaguars football, Southern play each other in the Bayou Classic, and Alabama State Hornets football, Alabama State plays Tuskegee Golden Tigers football, 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 Tigers football, Jackson State in 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season#Postseason, 1997; 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 (2006–2009), 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 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 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, 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 Ivy League 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 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
!NCAA Division I Football Championship, FCS Tournament Bid
, -
, ASUN Conference
, 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—Liberty Flames football, Liberty as an FBS independent, Stetson Hatters football, Stetson in the Pioneer Football League, and Bellarmine Knights, Bellarmine outside of NCAA control in the weight-restricted variant of sprint football.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the full members, the ASUN has 12 associate members that participate in at least one sport.
* Air Force, Cleveland State University, Cleveland State, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris University, Robert Morris, and University of Utah, Utah participate only in men's lacrosse.
* College of Charleston, Charleston, Stephen F. Austin State University, Stephen F. Austin, and University of North Carolina Wilmington, UNC Wilmington participate only in beach volleyball.
* Coastal Carolina and Delaware State University, Delaware State compete only in women's lacrosse. Delaware State will move women's lacrosse to the Northeast Conference after the 2023 season.
* Lindenwood University, Lindenwood participates in both men's and women's lacrosse.
* Mercer University, Mercer competes in beach volleyball and men's lacrosse.{{efn, group=FCS, 12 full members and 5 football members in 2023 with loss of Jacksonville State and Liberty.
* 11 full members and 4 football members in 2024 with loss of Kennesaw State.
, 21
, Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
, 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 Mustangs football, Cal Poly and UC Davis Aggies football, UC Davis, both full members of the non-football Big West Conference, as football-only affiliates.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the full members and football affiliates, Binghamton University, Binghamton and University of Hartford, Hartford are associate members in men's golf. Hartford will leave in 2023 as part of its planned transition to NCAA Division III.
, 16
, Ogden, Utah
, Automatic
, -
, Big South Conference
, 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 Bulldogs football, Bryant, North Carolina A&T Aggies football, North Carolina A&T, and Robert Morris Colonials football, Robert Morris.
* The Big South will merge its football league with that of the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023, when Campbell University, Campbell 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 University, Furman, Mercer University, Mercer, and Wofford College, Wofford 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
, Automatic
, -
, Colonial Athletic Association
, 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 was formed by five New England state universities, plus one private university in that region (Northeastern University, Northeastern), in 1938. Four of the public schools—University of Maine, Maine, University of Massachusetts Amherst, UMass, University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire, and University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island—were in the CAA football conference through the 2011 season. However, UMass Minutemen football, UMass football left for the MAC in 2012. Rhode Island Rams football, 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 A-10 inherited the Yankee Conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division I Football Championship, 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 Great Danes football, Albany, Maine Black Bears football, Maine, New Hampshire Wildcats football, New Hampshire, Rhode Island Rams football, Rhode Island, Richmond Spiders football, Richmond, and Villanova Wildcats football, 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 North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T 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 University, Eastern Michigan, University of California, San Diego, UC San Diego, and University of Connecticut, UConn in women's rowing.
* Fairfield University, 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
, Automatic
, -
, NCAA Division I FCS independent schools, 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
, 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 University, Brown, 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
, 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 University, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, and UAB participate in women's ten-pin bowling, bowling.
, 14
, Norfolk, Virginia
, Abstains
, -
, Missouri Valley Football Conference
, MVFC
, 1985 {{efn, group=FCS, The football conference dates to 1985, but the conference charter was established in 1982. See Missouri Valley Football Conference#History, History of the Missouri Valley Football Conference for more details.
, 11 {{efn, group=FCS, 12 members in 2023 with addition of Murray State Racers football, Murray State.
, 1
, St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
, Automatic
, -
, Northeast Conference
, NEC
, 1981
, 9 {{efn, group=FCS, The conference has 7 full members that sponsor football. Duquesne University, Duquesne of the non-football Atlantic 10 Conference, Atlantic 10 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 University, Coppin State and Norfolk State University, Norfolk State are associates only in baseball.
* Daemen University, Daemen and D'Youville University, 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 University, 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 University, Fairfield and Rider University, Rider are field hockey associates.
* Howard University, Howard 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.
* University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Maryland Eastern Shore competes in baseball and men's and women's golf.
* North Carolina Central University, 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 Murray State Racers football, Murray State, a former full member that is playing OVC football in the 2022 season before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023. Morehead State Eagles football, Morehead State plays non-scholarship football in the Pioneer Football League, while Little Rock Trojans, Little Rock, SIU Edwardsville Cougars, SIU Edwardsville, and Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles, Southern Indiana do not sponsor football.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the full members, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga is an associate in beach volleyball. Murray State University, Murray State 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
, Automatic
, -
, Patriot League
, 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 University, American, Boston University and Loyola University Maryland, Loyola (Maryland) do not sponsor football at all; United States Military Academy, Army is an NCAA Division I FBS independent schools, FBS independent; and Navy plays in the American Athletic Conference. Fordham University, Fordham and Georgetown University, Georgetown are associate members in football.{{efn, group=FCS, In addition to the football associates, two other schools have single-sport membership:
* Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, otherwise a Division III institution, is an associate in women's rowing.
* University of Richmond, Richmond is a women's golf associate.
, 23
, Center Valley, Pennsylvania
, Automatic
, -
, Pioneer Football League
, PFL
, 1991
, 11
, 1
, St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
, 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.
* Appalachian State University, Appalachian State, Bellarmine University, Bellarmine, Campbell University, Campbell, Davidson College, Davidson, Gardner–Webb University, Gardner–Webb, and Presbyterian College, Presbyterian are members in men's Collegiate wrestling, wrestling.
* Georgia Southern University, Georgia Southern, University of North Georgia, North Georgia (a Division II institution), and UAB are members in rifle. Rifle has NCAA Rifle Championship, a single national championship for all divisions.
, 20
, Spartanburg, South Carolina
, Automatic
, -
, Southland Conference{{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 University, Augusta, otherwise a Division II member, competes in both men's and women's golf.
* Boise State University, Boise State and San Jose State University, San Jose State compete in beach volleyball.
* Bryant University, Bryant competes in men's & women's golf and tennis.
* Francis Marion University, Francis Marion, otherwise Division II, competes in men's golf.
* New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJIT competes in men's and women's tennis.
, 18
, Frisco, Texas
, Automatic
, -
, Southwestern Athletic Conference
, SWAC
, 1920
, 12
, 18
, Birmingham, Alabama
, Abstains
, -
, Western Athletic Conference
, 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 Sam Houston.
* 10 full members and 5 football members no later than 2025 with addition of football by full member University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, UTRGV.{{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:
* Air Force and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, UNLV participate in men's soccer and men's swimming and diving.
* Houston Christian University, Houston Christian and San Jose State University, San Jose State participate only in men's soccer.
* Northern Arizona University, 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.
* Sacramento State participates in baseball.
* Wyoming participates in men's swimming & diving.
, 20
, Englewood, Colorado
, 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. University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, University of Maine, Maine, and University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire play in CAA Football, the technically separate football league of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Bryant University, Bryant is playing football in the Big South Conference in 2022, the final season before the Big South and Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) merge their football leagues.
* The Atlantic 10 Conference has seven football-sponsoring members:
** Davidson Wildcats football, Davidson and Dayton Flyers football, Dayton play in the PFL.
** Duquesne Dukes football, Duquesne plays in the Northeast Conference (NEC).
** Fordham Rams football, Fordham plays in the Patriot League.
** Rhode Island Rams football, Rhode Island and Richmond Spiders football, Richmond play in CAA Football.
** UMass Minutemen football, UMass plays FBS football as an independent.
* The current Big East Conference has four football-sponsoring schools. Three play in FCS—Butler Bulldogs football, Butler in the PFL, Georgetown Hoyas football, Georgetown in the Patriot League, and Villanova Wildcats football, Villanova in CAA Football. The fourth, University of Connecticut, UConn, UConn Huskies football, plays as an FBS independent.
* Three Big West Conference members have football programs. University of California, Davis, UC Davis and California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly play FCS football in the Big Sky Conference, and University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaiʻi Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football, plays FBS football in the Mountain West Conference.
* The Horizon League has two football schools. Robert Morris University, Robert Morris Robert Morris Colonials football, plays Big South football and Youngstown State University, Youngstown State Youngstown State Penguins football, plays in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (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 (MAAC) has one football school, with Marist Red Foxes football, Marist playing in the PFL.
* The Missouri Valley Conference has eight football schools—Drake University, Drake, Illinois State University, Illinois State, Indiana State University, Indiana State, Missouri State University, Missouri State, Murray State University, Murray State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Southern Illinois and Valparaiso University, 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.
* Summit League, The Summit League has six football schools, five of which play in the MVFC—University of North Dakota, North Dakota, North Dakota State, University of South Dakota, South Dakota, South Dakota State and Western Illinois University, Western Illinois. The sixth, University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), St. Thomas of Minnesota, plays in the PFL.
* The West Coast Conference has two football schools in BYU 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 football. 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 University of California, Davis, UC Davis 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
, -
, Atlantic 10 Conference
, 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 University of Pennsylvania, 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, Old Dominion, Quinnipiac University, Quinnipiac, and Temple University, Temple participate in field hockey.
* Denver 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 Conference
, Big West
, 1969
, 11 {{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members, Sacramento State is a member in beach volleyball and men's soccer.
, 18
, Irvine, California
, -
, Horizon League
, 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, Lindenwood University, Lindenwood, University of Southern Indiana, Southern Indiana, Tennessee State University, Tennessee State, and Tennessee Technological University, Tennessee Tech participate in men's tennis only.
* Chicago State University, Chicago State 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 NCAA Division III Commonwealth Coast Conference.
,
,
, -
, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
, MAAC
, 1980
, 11 {{efn, group=NF, In addition to the full members, 14 other schools are MAAC affiliates in at least one sport.
* University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, University of Dayton, Dayton, and University of Hartford, Hartford participate in women's golf. Hartford will leave the MAAC in 2023 as part of its Division III transition.
* Drake University, Drake, Robert Morris University, 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:
* University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock 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.
* Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, SIU Edwardsville 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
, St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
, -
, Summit League, The Summit League
, 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.
* Drake University, Drake and Illinois State University, Illinois State are men's tennis associates.
* Eastern Illinois University, Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood University, Lindenwood, 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
, -
, West Coast Conference
, WCC
, 1952
, 10 {{efn, group=NF, 9 members in 2023 with loss of BYU.{{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 University, Fordham, Duquesne University, Duquesne, and University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts) play football in a conference other CAA Football, which still includes two full-time A-10 members (University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island and University of Richmond, Richmond). 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 Western Athletic Conference 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, University of Idaho, Idaho 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

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 Division III 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 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference 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 Big Ten Conference 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 Conference
, 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 Division III 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)

See also

* List of NCAA Division I institutions
* List of NCAA Division I athletic directors
* List of current NCAA Division I champions
* List of NCAA Divisions II and III schools competing in NCAA Division I sports
* List of schools reclassifying their athletic programs to NCAA Division I
* Progress toward degree

References

{{reflist

External links

* {{Official website

{{National Collegiate Athletic Association

{{DEFAULTSORT:NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I,