The Emporia State Hornets football program is a college football team that represents Emporia State University, often referred to as "Emporia State" or "ESU". The team competes as a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), which is a conference in the Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The program began in 1897 and has fifteen conference titles. On December 15, 2006, former Hornet quarterback Garin Higgins became the team's 24th head coach, following the resignation of Dave Wiemers. Home games are played on Jones Field at Welch Stadium, located on the Emporia State University campus in Emporia, Kansas. In August 2017, Hero Sports named Emporia State the "best football team in Kansas, regardless of division."
The Sacramento State Hornets football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the California State University, Sacramento located in Sacramento, California. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Big Sky Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1954. The team plays its home games at the 21,195-seat Hornet Stadium.
The Turkey Day Classic is a college football game, traditionally held annually on Thanksgiving Day. Originally, it was played between Alabama State University and Tuskegee University, two historically black universities. The game was originally played in Montgomery, Alabama's Cramton Bowl, but relocated to Alabama State's new Hornet Stadium in 2012. The game is one of two black college football classics to be associated with Thanksgiving weekend; the other is the younger, but more widely known, Bayou Classic, held two days later.
The 2011 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Reggie Barlow, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 8–3 with a mark of 7–2 in conference play, sharing SWAC East Division title with Alabama A&M and Southern. Alabama A&M advanced to SWAC Football Championship Game by virtue of a head-to-head win over the Alabama State, while Southern was ineligible for postseason play due to low Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores. Alabama State played home games at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama.
The 2012 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Reggie Barlow, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 7–4 with a mark of 7–2 in conference play. Alabama State played home games in Montgomery, Alabama, at the Cramton Bowl until Thanksgiving Day, when they moved into the newly-built Hornet Stadium.
The 2013 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Reggie Barlow, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 8–4 with a mark of 7–2 in conference play, tying for second place in the SWAC East Division. Alabama State played home games at New ASU Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
The 2014 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by Reggie Barlow in his eighth and final season as head coach, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 5–4 in conference play, placing second in the SWAC East Division. Alabama State played home games at New ASU Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
The 2015 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Brian Jenkins, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 5–4 in conference play, placing second in the SWAC East Division. Alabama State played home games at New ASU Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
The 2016 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach Brian Jenkins, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 4–7 with a mark of 3–6 in conference play, tying for third place in the SWAC East Division. Alabama State played home games at New ASU Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
The 2017 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Hornets were led by third-year head coach Brian Jenkins for the first five games of the season before he was fired. Donald Hill-Eley was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Alabama State compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 4–3 in conference play, placing second in the SWAC East Division. The team played home games at New ASU Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
The 2018 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Donald Hill-Eley, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 4–7 with a mark of 3–4 in conference play, placing fourth in the SWAC East Division. Alabama State played home games at New ASU Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
The 2019 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach Donald Hill-Eley, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 4–3 in conference play, tying for second place in the SWAC East Division. Alabama State played home games at New ASU Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
The 2020 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers played their home games at Jordan–Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama, and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by eighth-year head coach Gus Malzahn until his dismissal at the end of the regular season. The team's spring game, originally intended to be played on April 11, 2020, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tigers' regular-season schedule was also impacted as all non-conference games were canceled and the SEC allowed teams to play 10 in-conference games only.
The 2020 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Donald Hill-Eley, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 3–3 with a mark of 3–2 in conference play, tying for second place in the SWAC's East Division. Alabama State played home games at New ASU Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
The 2021 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers played their home games at Jordan–Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama, and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by first-year head coach Bryan Harsin. They finished the season at 6–7, the program's first season finishing below .500 since 2012.
The 2021 Alabama State Hornets football team represented Alabama State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Hornets were led by fourth-year head coach Donald Hill-Eley for the first seven games of the season before he was fired on November 1. The team's defensive coordinator, Travis Pearson, was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Alabama State compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 3–4 in conference play, tying for fourth place in the SWAC East Division. The team played home games at New ASU Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
The 2022 Troy Trojans football team represented Troy University as a member of the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Jon Sumrall, the Trojans played home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Alabama.
The 2022 South Alabama Jaguars football team represented the University of South Alabama as a member of the Sun Belt Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by head coach Kane Wommack, who was coaching his second season with the team. The Jaguars played their home games at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.
The 2023 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers were led by Brian Kelly in his second year as LSU's head coach. Quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy and several other awards for the season after scoring 50 total touchdowns, leading the NCAA with nearly 5,000 total yards, and setting the FBS single-season passer rating record.
The 2023 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs were led by Zach Arnett, who was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach in December 2022 following the death of Mike Leach, until his firing on November 13, 2023.
