2020 college football season may refer to:
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletes from up to 1,268 North American institutions and conferences. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and helps over 480,000 college student-athletes who compete annually in college sports. The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on January 4, 1999. Geographically, the MW covers a broad expanse of the Western United States, with member schools located in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Craig Thompson has served as Commissioner of the MW since October 15, 1998.
The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The 12 member institutions of the Sun Belt are distributed primarily across the southern United States.
The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II level which operates in the Southeastern United States.
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 larger 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.
College basketball in the United States is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). Each of these various organizations are subdivided into from one to three divisions based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes.
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional players, as baseball's professional minor leagues are more extensive, with a greater history of supplying players to the MLB. Moving directly from high school to the professional level is more common in baseball than in football or basketball. However, if players do opt to enroll at a four-year college to play baseball, they must complete three years to regain professional eligibility, unless they reach age 21 before starting their third year of college. Players who enroll at junior colleges regain eligibility after one year at that level. In the 2020 season, which was abbreviated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 300 NCAA Division I teams in the United States.
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment offered in Division III.
Bowl eligibility in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games. When a team achieves this state, it is described as "bowl-eligible".
In American college sports, NCAA Division I independent schools are four-year institutions that do not belong to a conference for a particular sport.
The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level.
The Missouri Tigers football program represents the University of Missouri in college football and competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The Evansville Purple Aces are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of the University of Evansville, located in Evansville, Indiana. The Aces athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and competes at the NCAA's Division I level. Evansville's mascot is Ace Purple, and the school colors are purple, white and orange.
The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the FCS level comprises 128 teams in 13 conferences and one group of independents as of the 2021 season. The FCS designation is only tied to football with the non-football sports programs of each school generally competing in NCAA Division I.
The Presbyterian Blue Hose football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Presbyterian College located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS); while Presbyterian is a full member of the Big South Conference, it plays football in the Pioneer Football League. Presbyterian's first football team was fielded in 1913. The team plays its home games at the 6,500 seat Bailey Memorial Stadium in Clinton, South Carolina. The Blue Hose are coached by Kevin Kelley, who was hired to lead the program on May 6, 2021. The Blue Hose began a transition to non-scholarship football in 2017 and left Big South football after the 2019 season, while otherwise remaining a full Big South member. The Blue Hose football program played the 2020–21 season as an independent and joined the Pioneer League in July 2021 upon completion of its transition.
The American Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, with its football teams competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Member universities represent a range of private and public universities of various enrollment sizes located primarily in urban metropolitan areas in the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States.
The 2020 NAIA football season was the component of the 2020 college football season organized by the NAIA in the United States. The regular season was moved to spring 2021 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic-related measures and protocols.
The 2021 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, began on August 28.
The 2020–21 NCAA Division III football season was the component of the 2020 college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only one game was played during the traditional fall season—the annual Secretaries Cup between Coast Guard and Merchant Marine on November 14, 2020. For other teams that chose to play during the 2020–21 school year, the regular season began on February 6, 2021 and culminated on May 1.