2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season

For the fall 2021 FCS season, see 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season.

2020 NCAA Division I FCS season
Regular season
Number of teams	127 (101)
Duration	Fall 2020 / Spring 2021
Payton Award	Cole Kelley, QB, Southeastern Louisiana
Buchanan Award	Jordan Lewis, DL, Southern
Playoff
Duration	April 24, 2021 – May 8, 2021
Championship date	May 16, 2021
Championship site	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
Champion	Sam Houston State
NCAA Division I FCS football seasons
« 2019 2021 »

The 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.

The regular season and postseason were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Several FCS conferences moved their scheduled games from the fall of 2020 to the spring of 2021, and in August 2020, the NCAA announced that the FCS postseason would also be delayed. ^[1]

While the NCAA at one point announced a cancellation of the FCS playoff, ^[2] in late September 2020 a revised playoff schedule was announced, with the FCS Championship Game played on May 16, 2021. ^{[3] [4]} Sam Houston State defeated South Dakota State for the title, 23-21.

Of the 127 programs in FCS for this season, 101 played at least one game in either the fall of 2020 or the spring of 2021. The remaining 26 schools opted not to participate. The Ivy League was the only FCS conference with no members competing in football in 2020–21.

Conference changes and new programs

School	2019 conference	2020–21 conference
Dixie State	RMAC (D-II)	FCS Independent
North Dakota	FCS Independent	MVFC
Tarleton State	LSC (D-II)	FCS Independent
Presbyterian	Big South
Jacksonville	Pioneer	Dropped program
Robert Morris	NEC	Big South

Notable headlines

• May 19 – The NCAA declared four FCS football programs ineligible for postseason play in 2020 due to failure to meet the required Academic Progress Rate (APR) benchmarks: Howard, McNeese State, Prairie View A&M, and Stephen F. Austin. ^[5]
• July 8 – The Ivy League announced that it would play no sports until January 1, 2021, at the earliest, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[6]
• July 13 – The Patriot League announced the cancellation of its fall sports season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[7]
• July 16 – The MEAC announced that it would not play sports in the fall. ^[8]
• July 17 – The Colonial Athletic Association announced that it would not play fall sports, but that teams still wishing to play football could compete as independents for the 2020 season. ^[9] Due to the cancellation of the MEAC season, ESPN Events announced that the MEAC/SWAC Challenge and Celebration Bowl had both been canceled. ^[10]
• July 19 – The SWAC announced that it had canceled fall sports but became the first conference to commit to playing football in the spring, with the announcement of a seven-game conference schedule preceded by an eight-week training schedule to start in January 2021. ^[11]
• July 27 – The Pioneer Football League announced that it would play a conference-only schedule in 2020. ^[12]
• July 29 – The Northeast Conference announced the postponement of all fall sports. ^[13]
• August 7 – The Pioneer Football League canceled its fall football season, with no announcement made with regard to playing in the spring. ^[14] The Big Sky Conference became second FCS conference to commit to playing football in the spring of 2021. ^[15]
• August 10 – The Missouri Valley Football Conference likewise announced that it would play its fall 2020 football season in spring of 2021. ^[16]
• September 22 – After several more conferences decided to play at least a limited spring football schedule, the NCAA announced that the 2020 FCS playoffs would be held in the spring of 2021, with bracket reduced from 24 teams to 16, culminating in the FCS Championship Game to be played on May 16, 2021. ^[3]

FCS team wins over FBS teams

October 23, 2020: Jacksonville State 19, FIU 10
February 21, 2021: Tarleton State 43, New Mexico State 17

Conference standings

All teams played spring schedules, except where noted. The Ivy League did not play in either the fall or spring.

2020 Big Sky Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 9 Weber State $^   5 – 0     5 – 1   No. 10 Eastern Washington ^   5 – 1     5 – 2   No. 14 UC Davis   3 – 2     3 – 2   Northern Arizona   3 – 2     3 – 2   Idaho State   2 – 4     2 – 4   Idaho   2 – 4     2 – 4   Southern Utah   1 – 5     1 – 5   Cal Poly‡   0 – 3     0 – 3   Montana†   –     2 – 0   Portland State†   –     0 – 1   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Notes: Due to COVID-19, the Big Sky suspended the fall 2020 football season. Montana State, Northern Colorado, and Sacramento State opted out of the spring season. † – Montana and Portland State opted out of the conference season, but scheduled non-conference games. ‡ – Cal Poly opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 29, 2021. Rankings from STATS Poll	2020 Big South Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 10 Monmouth $^   3 – 0     3 – 1   No. 17 Kennesaw State   2 – 1     4 – 1   Charleston Southern   2 – 2     2 – 2   Gardner–Webb   0 – 2     2 – 2   Robert Morris   0 – 2     0 – 3   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Notes: Due to COVID-19, the Big South suspended the fall 2020 football season. Hampton opted out of the spring schedule. Campbell and North Alabama played only in the fall. Rankings from STATS Poll	2020 Colonial Athletic Association football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North Division No. 4 Delaware x$^   4 – 0     7 – 1   No. 18 Rhode Island †   2 – 1     2 – 1   No. 16 Villanova   2 – 2     2 – 2   Maine   2 – 2     2 – 2   Stony Brook   1 – 3     1 – 3   Albany †   1 – 3     1 – 3   New Hampshire †   0 – 1     0 – 1   South Division No. 3 James Madison x^   3 – 0     7 – 1   No. 15 Richmond   3 – 1     3 – 1   William & Mary   1 – 2     1 – 2   Elon   0 – 4     1 – 5   $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Notes: Due to COVID-19, the CAA suspended the fall 2020 football season. Towson opted out of the spring football season. † – Albany, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 31, April 6, and April 7 respectively. Rankings from STATS Poll
2020 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North Division Delaware State   2 – 2     2 – 3   Howard*   0 – 2     0 – 2   South Division South Carolina State   2 – 0     3 – 1   Notes: Due to COVID-19, the Mid-Eastern Athletic suspended the fall 2020 football season. Florida A&M, Bethune–Cookman, North Carolina Central, North Carolina A&T, Morgan State, and Norfolk State opted out of the spring season. The MEAC suspended the spring season on February 11, due to only having three schools playing in the spring. * – Ineligible for FCS postseason play due to NCAA sanctions Rankings from STATS Poll	2020 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 South Dakota State +^   5 – 1     8 – 2   No. 12 Missouri State +^   5 – 1     5 – 5   No. 7 North Dakota ^   4 – 1     5 – 2   No. 6 North Dakota State ^   5 – 2     7 – 3   No. 14 Southern Illinois ^   3 – 3     6 – 4   Northern Iowa   3 – 4     3 – 4   South Dakota   1 – 3     1 – 3   Illinois State†   1 – 3     1 – 3   Western Illinois†   1 – 5     1 – 5   Youngstown State   1 – 6     1 – 6   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Note: Indiana State opted out of the spring season. † – Illinois State and Western Illinois opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 21 and April 5, 2021, respectively. Rankings from STATS Poll	2020 Northeast Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Duquesne y   4 – 0     4 – 1   Sacred Heart y$^   2 – 1     3 – 2   LIU   2 – 2     2 – 2   Bryant   2 – 2     2 – 2   Wagner   0 – 2     0 – 2   Merrimack*   0 – 3     0 – 3   Championship: Sacred Heart 34, Duquesne 27 (OT) $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant ^ – FCS playoff participant Note: Due to COVID-19, the Northeast suspended the 2020 football season. * – Merrimack ineligible for NEC title and FCS postseason play due to transition to NCAA Division I Central Connecticut and Saint Francis (PA) opted out of the spring season. Rankings from STATS Poll
2020 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 8 Jacksonville State $^   6 – 1     10 – 3   No. 19 Murray State   5 – 2     5 – 2   No. 21 Austin Peay   4 – 2     4 – 5   Southeast Missouri State   4 – 3     4 – 4   UT Martin   3 – 4     3 – 4   Tennessee Tech   2 – 5     2 – 5   Tennessee State   2 – 5     2 – 5   Eastern Illinois   1 – 5     1 – 5   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Note: Eastern Kentucky played only in the fall and opted out of the spring season. Rankings from STATS Poll	2020 Patriot League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North Division Holy Cross $^   2 – 0     3 – 1   Fordham   2 – 1     2 – 1   Colgate   0 – 2     0 – 2   South Division Bucknell   2 – 1     2 – 2   Lafayette   2 – 1     2 – 1   Lehigh   0 – 3     0 – 3   Championship: Holy Cross 33, Bucknell 10 $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Notes: Due to COVID-19, the Patriot League suspended the fall 2020 football season. Georgetown opted out of the spring football season. Rankings from STATS Poll	2020 Pioneer Football League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Davidson $^   4 – 1     4 – 3   Valparaiso   4 – 2     4 – 2   San Diego   4 – 2     4 – 2   Morehead State   4 – 2     4 – 3   Drake   2 – 3     2 – 3   Stetson   0 – 4     0 – 4   Butler   0 – 6     0 – 6   Presbyterian   0 – 0     4 – 3   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Notes: Due to COVID-19, the Pioneer Football League suspended the fall 2020 football season. Dayton and Marist opted out of the spring season. Presbyterian played a full PFL schedule, but was ineligible for the conference title, and its games were not counted in PFL standings. Rankings from STATS Poll
2020 Southern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 11 VMI $^   6 – 1     6 – 2   No. 22 East Tennessee State   4 – 2     4 – 2   Chattanooga†   3 – 1     3 – 2   Mercer   5 – 3     5 – 6   Samford   4 – 3     4 – 3   Furman   3 – 4     3 – 4   Wofford†   1 – 4     1 – 4   The Citadel   2 – 6     2 – 10   Western Carolina   1 – 5     1 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant † – Chattanooga and Wofford opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 29 and April 5, 2021, respectively. Rankings from STATS Poll	2020 Southland Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 Sam Houston State $^   6 – 0     10 – 0   No. 20 Southeastern Louisiana   4 – 2     4 – 3   No. 23 Nicholls   3 – 3     4 – 3   Incarnate Word   3 – 3     3 – 3   Lamar   2 – 4     2 – 4   McNeese State*   2 – 4     3 – 4   Northwestern State   1 – 5     1 – 5   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * – Ineligible for FCS postseason play due to NCAA sanctions Note: Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, and Stephen F. Austin played only in the fall and opted out of the spring season. Rankings from STATS Poll	2020 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division No. 24 Alabama A&M x$   3 – 0     5 – 0   Alabama State   3 – 2     3 – 3   Jackson State   3 – 2     4 – 3   Mississippi Valley State   1 – 3     1 – 3   West Division Arkansas–Pine Bluff x   4 – 0     4 – 1   Southern   4 – 1     5 – 1   Prairie View A&M*   2 – 1     2 – 1   Texas Southern   1 – 2     1 – 2   Grambling State   0 – 4     0 – 4   Championship: Alabama A&M 40, Arkansas–Pine Bluff 33 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Note: The SWAC played a spring conference-only schedule (February–May 2021) due to COVID-19 pandemic. Alcorn State opted out of the spring season; all of their scheduled games were counted as forfeit wins for their opponents. * – Ineligible for FCS postseason play due to NCAA sanctions. Rankings from STATS Poll
2020 NCAA Division I FCS independents football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Stephen F. Austin   –     6 – 4   Tarleton State†   –     5 – 3   Central Arkansas   –     5 – 4   Presbyterian†   –     4 – 3   Eastern Kentucky   –     3 – 6   Dixie State†   –     2 – 3   Houston Baptist   –     1 – 3   Abilene Christian   –     1 – 5   Campbell   –     0 – 4   North Alabama   –     0 – 4   Note: † – Dixie State, Presbyterian, and Tarleton State played only in the spring. All other teams listed played only in the fall. Presbyterian was in a scheduling agreement with the Pioneer Football League, which it fully joined in July 2021.	2020 Ivy League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Brown   –     –   Columbia   –     –   Cornell   –     –   Dartmouth   –     –   Harvard   –     –   Penn   –     –   Princeton   –     –   Yale   –     –   Note: Due to COVID-19, the Ivy League suspended the 2020 football season. Rankings from STATS Poll

Playoff qualifiers

Automatic berths for conference champions

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid	Result of last appearance
Big Sky Conference	Weber State	8th	2019	Semifinals (L – James Madison)
Big South Conference	Monmouth	3rd	2019	Second Round (L – James Madison)
Colonial Athletic Association	Delaware	17th	2018	First Round (L – James Madison)
Missouri Valley Football Conference	South Dakota State	10th	2019	Second Round (L – Northern Iowa)
Northeast Conference	Sacred Heart	3rd	2014	First Round (L – Fordham)
Ohio Valley Conference	Jacksonville State	10th	2018	Second Round (L – Maine)
Patriot League	Holy Cross	4th	2019	First Round (L – Monmouth)
Pioneer Football League	Davidson	1st	–	–
Southern Conference	VMI	1st	–	–
Southland Conference	Sam Houston State	12th	2017	Semifinals (L – North Dakota State)

At large qualifiers

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid	Result of last appearance
Big Sky Conference	Eastern Washington	14th	2018	First Round (L – North Dakota State)
Colonial Athletic Association	James Madison	17th	2019	Championship Game (L – North Dakota State)
Missouri Valley Football Conference	Missouri State	3rd	1990	First Round (L – Idaho)
	North Dakota	3rd	2019	First Round (L – Nicholls)
	North Dakota State	11th	2019	National Champions (W – James Madison)
	Southern Illinois	9th	2009	Quarterfinals (L – William & Mary)

Abstentions

• Ivy League – None
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – None
• Southwestern Athletic Conference – Alabama A&M

Postseason

In late September 2020, the NCAA announced that the FCS postseason would take place in April and May 2021. ^[3] Also announced was a reduction of participating teams from 24 to 16, with 10 automatic qualifiers. The first round of the playoffs was scheduled for April 24, with the Championship Game in mid-May, ^[3] later set for May 16.

Bowl game

Due to the MEAC cancelling all fall sports for the 2020 season, the MEAC/SWAC Celebration Bowl (the one FCS bowl game) was canceled. ^[10]

NCAA Division I playoff bracket

	First Round April 24 Campus sites					Quarterfinals May 2 Campus sites					Semifinals May 8 Campus sites					National Championship Game May 16 Toyota Stadium Frisco, Texas
	1	South Dakota State*	31
		Holy Cross	3
						1	South Dakota State*	31
							Southern Illinois	26
	Southern Illinois		34
	Weber State*		31
											1	South Dakota State*	33
												Delaware	3
	Delaware*		19
	Sacred Heart		10
							Delaware	20
						4	Jacksonville State*	14
		Davidson	14
	4	Jacksonville State*	49
																1	South Dakota State	21
																2	Sam Houston State	23
	3	James Madison*	31
		VMI	24
						3	James Madison	34
							North Dakota	21
	Missouri State		10
	North Dakota*		44
											3	James Madison	35
											2	Sam Houston State*	38
	North Dakota State*		42
	Eastern Washington		20
							North Dakota State	20
						2	Sam Houston State*	24
		Monmouth	15
	2	Sam Houston State*	21

*Host institution

Kickoff game

Saturday, August 29 – FCS Kickoff (Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama): Central Arkansas 24, Austin Peay 17. ^[17]

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season

Table only includes coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2020. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2020, see 2019 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Austin Peay	Mark Hudspeth	July 3	Resigned	Marquase Lovings (interim)
Jackson State	John Hendrick	August 31	Fired	Deion Sanders
Austin Peay	Marquase Lovings (interim)	October 27	Permanent replacement	Scotty Walden
Montana State	Jeff Choate	January 22	Hired as Texas defensive coordinator	Brent Vigen

End of season

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Norfolk State	Latrell Scott	March 3	Hired as East Carolina tight ends coach	Dawson Odums
Western Carolina	Mark Speir	April 9	Fired	Kerwin Bell
Tennessee State	Rod Reed	April 11	Retired	Eddie George
Southern	Dawson Odums	April 20	Hired by Norfolk State	Jason Rollins (interim)
Presbyterian	Tommy Spangler	April 21	Fired	Kevin Kelley

See also

• 2020 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings
• 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2020–21 NCAA Division III football season
• 2020 NAIA football season

References

1. Martin, Jill (August 8, 2020). "The NCAA's FCS playoffs will not happen this fall after two more conferences postpone football". CNN . Retrieved October 22, 2020.
2. Sutherland, James (August 10, 2020). "NCAA FCS Football Playoffs Officially Cancelled". swimswam.com. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
3. Kelley, Kevin (September 22, 2020). "FCS Playoff Schedule format for Spring 2021 football season set". fbschedules.com. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
4. Chiusano, Anthony (November 12, 2020). "How the 2020-21 FCS Football Season Will Work". NCAA.com. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
5. Borzello, Jeff (May 19, 2020). "NCAA: 15 Division I programs face postseason bans over APR results". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
6. West, Jenna. "Ivy League to Postpone Fall Athletics, No Date Set for Return". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
7. "Patriot League cancels fall sports due to virus". ESPN.com. July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
8. "MEAC suspends all fall sports for indefinite period". ESPN.com. July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
9. Singelais, Mark (July 16, 2020). "Reports: CAA football won't play this fall". Times Union. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
10. "MEAC-SWAC 2020 football matchups in Atlanta canceled". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
11. Wilmer, Brian (July 21, 2020). "SWAC postpones 2020 football season to spring 2021". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
12. Kelley, Kevin (July 27, 2020). "Pioneer Football League to play conference-only football schedule in 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
13. Kelley, Kevin (July 30, 2020). "Northeast Conference postpones 2020 football season due to COVID-19". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
14. Kelley, Kevin (August 7, 2020). "Pioneer Football League postpones fall 2020 football schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
15. "Big Sky Postpones Football Conference Competition Until Spring". bigskyconf.com. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
16. Kelley, Kevin (August 10, 2020). "Missouri Valley Football Conference postpones season to Spring 2021". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
17. "Austin Peay Football to Open 2020 at Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. January 29, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.