| 2025 NCAA Division I FCS season |
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| Number of teams | 129 |
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| Duration | August 23 – December 6 |
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| Duration | November 29 – January 5 |
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| Championship date | January 5, 2026 |
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| Championship site | FirstBank Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee |
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The 2025 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, will be organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The regular season will begin on August 23 and end in November. The postseason will begin in November 29 and end in January 5, 2026 with the 2026 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.[1]
Due to the structure of the calendar in 2025, FCS teams will be allowed to play 12 regular-season games instead of the usual 11.[2]
Conference changes and new programs
Notable headlines
- December 12, 2024 – The Ivy League announced that starting with the 2025 football season; the Ivy League champion will compete in the FCS playoffs. This will be the first time that conference has participated in postseason play since the 1945 signing of the Ivy Group Agreement, which initially governed football competition between Ivy schools but was extended to cover all sports in 1954.[12][a]
- March 25, 2025 – Saint Francis announced that it would reclassify to NCAA Division III starting in 2026–27, when it will leave the Northeast Conference for the Presidents' Athletic Conference.[13]
- May 5, 2025 – The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) announced a new governance structure that formalized the decades-long informal ties between it and the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), and created a formal relationship between the MVFC and the non-football Summit League. MVC commissioner Jeff Jackson will replace founding MVFC commissioner Patty Viverito, who is retiring on June 30, and Summit commissioner Josh Fenton will fill the new position of executive advisor at that time. Administrative operations will be shared by the MVC and Summit, which are home to all but one of the MVFC's 10 members in the 2025 season.[14]
- May 6, 2025 – New Haven announced that it accepted an invite to join the Northeast Conference effective July 1, 2025, and begin reclassification from NCAA Division II to be eligible for postseason play in 2028–29.[7]
- June 23, 2025 – The NCAA Division I Board of Directors announced that St. Thomas had met all the requirements to be fully instated as a Division I university starting with the 2025–26 academic year. The Tommies will now be eligible for all NCAA postseason tournaments, including the FCS playoffs.[15][16]
- June 26, 2025 – The Division I Council approved the following measures, to take effect with the 2026 season, which the NCAA's FCS Oversight Committee had recommended on May 6:[17][18]
- Permanent expansion of the FCS regular season from 11 to 12 games.
- Standardization of the regular season starting date as the Thursday 13 weeks before the FCS playoff bracket is released on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. (The normal start of the FCS regular season had been the Thursday preceding Labor Day).
- Elimination of rule exceptions allowing contests that meet legislated criteria to be played as early as the second Saturday before Labor Day. (Instead, all FCS teams will be able to play during what the Football Bowl Subdivision calls Week 0).
Conference standings
Playoff qualifiers
Postseason
Kickoff games
The regular season begins on Saturday, August 23 in Week 0:
See also
- ^ The Ivy League officially dates its existence from the 1954 extension of the Ivy Group Agreement.
References
- ^ "FCS Championship: Future dates and sites". NCAA.com. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- ^ "Bylaw 17.11.6.1: Number of Contests (FBS/FCS): Maximum Limitations – Institutional" (PDF). 2023–24 NCAA Division I Manual. NCAA. August 5, 2023. p. 263. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
In championship subdivision football . . . Twelve football contests shall be permissible during those years in which there are 14 Saturdays from the first permissible playing date through the last playing date in November (e.g., 2024, 2025).
- ^ "CUSA Adds Delaware, Blue Hens to Join in 2025". conferenceusa.com. November 28, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
- ^ "Delaware Accepts Invitation to Join Conference USA as Full Member". University of Delaware Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
- ^ "CUSA Adds Missouri State, Bears to Join in 2025". conferenceusa.com. May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
- ^ "Missouri State Accepts Invitation to Join Conference USA". Missouri State University Athletics. May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
- ^ a b "Charging Ahead: University of New Haven accepts Northeast Conference membership invite". newhavenchargers.com. New Haven Chargers. May 6, 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
- ^ "Charging Up! University of New Haven Accepts Northeast Conference Membership Invite". northeastconference.org. Northeast Conference. May 6, 2025. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
- ^ "Richmond Football to Move to Patriot League Following 2024 Season" (Press release). Richmond Spiders Athletics. May 14, 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
- ^ "UTRGV announces approval of football, women's aquatics, band, spirit programs" (Press release). UTRGV Vaqueros. November 18, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "UTRGV Athletics Accepts Invitation to Join Southland Conference in 2024-25" (Press release). UTRGV Vaqueros Athletics. March 25, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- ^ "Play by Play: How Student-Athletes Ended Ivy League Football's 80-Year Ban on Postseason Games | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
- ^ "Saint Francis University to Reclassify to NCAA Division III, Join Presidents' Athletic Conference" (Press release). Presidents’ Athletic Conference. March 25, 2025. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
- ^ "Missouri Valley Football Conference, Summit League Forge Partnership" (Press release). Missouri Valley Football Conference. May 5, 2025. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
- ^ "History in the making: St. THomas instated as full Division I member". tommiesports.com. St. Thomas Tommies. June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ^ "St. Thomas is now a full Division 1 member, fully eligible for postseason play". kstp.com. KSTP 5 Eyewitness News. June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ^ "Changes proposed to maximum number of FCS games, standardized start date" (Press release). NCAA. May 6, 2025. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
- ^ "DI Council introduces proposals to add 2 women's championships" (Press release). NCAA. June 25, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
- ^ "Akron handed 2025 bowl ban: Zips flunk out of postseason after failing to meet NCAA academic standings". cbssports.com. CBS Sports. May 6, 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2025.