2025 NCAA Division I FCS football season

For the 2025 FBS season, see 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season.

2025 NCAA Division I FCS season
Regular season
Number of teams	129
Duration	August 23 – December 6
Playoff
Duration	November 29 – January 5
Championship date	January 5, 2026
Championship site	FirstBank Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee
NCAA Division I FCS football seasons
« 2024

The 2025 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, is organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The regular season began on August 23 and ended in November, with the exception of the SWAC Football Championship Game in early December. The postseason will begin on November 29 and end on 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 were allowed to play 12 regular-season games instead of the usual 11. ^[2] This was the last season before the permanent expansion to a 12-game regular season (see "Notable headlines" below).

Conference changes and new programs

Two schools are playing their first FCS seasons in 2025—one transitioning from NCAA Division II, and the other playing its first season of varsity football. One other school changed conferences within FCS after the 2024 season. Two others left FCS for the Football Bowl Subdivision.

School	2024 conference	2025 conference	Ref
Delaware	CAA Football	CUSA (FBS)	[3] [4]
Missouri State	MVFC	CUSA (FBS)	[5] [6]
New Haven	NE-10 (D-II)	NEC	[7] [8]
Richmond	CAA Football	Patriot	[9]
UTRGV	New program	Southland	[10] [11]

The 2025 season will also be the last for at least six programs in their current FCS conferences, and is also Sacred Heart's last season as an FCS independent.

School	2025 conference	2026 conference	Ref
Sacred Heart	Independent	CAA Football	[12]
Saint Francis	NEC	PAC (Division III)	[13]
Southern Utah	UAC	Big Sky	[14]
Tennessee Tech	OVC–Big South	SoCon	[15]
Utah Tech	UAC	Big Sky	[14]
Villanova	CAA Football	Patriot League	[16]
William & Mary	CAA Football	Patriot League	[17]

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. ^{[18] [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]
• April 25 – William & Mary announced that its football program would leave CAA Football for associate membership in the Patriot League starting in the 2026 season. W&M's non-football sports will remain in the multi-sports CAA, which is a separate entity from CAA Football. ^[17]
• May 5 – 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 replaced founding MVFC commissioner Patty Viverito following her June 30 retirement, and Summit commissioner Josh Fenton filled the new position of executive advisor at that time. Administrative operations are shared by the MVC and Summit, which are home to all but one of the MVFC's 10 members in the 2025 season. ^[19]
• May 6 – 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 5 – Villanova will leave CAA Football after the 2025 season for the Patriot League, while otherwise remaining a member of the non-football Big East Conference. ^[16]
• June 23 – 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. ^{[20] [21]}
• June 25 – The Big Sky Conference announced that Southern Utah and Utah Tech, Western Athletic Conference (WAC) members that play football in the United Athletic Conference (UAC), would join the Big Sky in 2026. ^[14]
• June 26:
  • 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: ^{[22] [23]}
    • 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.
  • The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) and WAC announced that their football alliance, the UAC, would become an all-sports conference in 2026. At that time, the WAC will rebrand as the UAC, with its membership including all seven remaining UAC members with scholarship FCS programs plus non-football UT Arlington. The ASUN membership going forward will consist of five non-football schools, Pioneer Football League member Stetson, and Bellarmine, which plays the non-NCAA variant of sprint football. ^[24]
• July 22 — CAA Football announced that Sacred Heart would join the conference in 2026, ending the Pioneers' two-year stint as an FCS independent. Sacred Heart will remain a member of the non-football Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. ^[12]
• August 13 – The Southern Conference announced that Tennessee Tech would join from the Ohio Valley Conference and the OVC–Big South Football Association in 2026. ^[15]
• October 2 – The Northeast Conference adopted its longstanding abbreviation of NEC as its official name. ^[25]
• October 8:
  • The Division I Administrative Committee, which officially renamed itself the Division I Cabinet at its scheduled meeting, introduced a proposal to expand allowed logos on student-athletes' uniforms and equipment beyond those of the manufacturer. It also approved changes to the football transfer portal previously recommended by the FBS and FCS Oversight Committees: ^[26]
    • A single transfer window will run from January 2–16. This only affects entry into the portal; a player who enters the portal may transfer outside the window.
    • The window for players undergoing a head coaching change was modified. The window for these players will open five calendar days after the hiring or public announcement of a new head coach, and run for 15 days. Should a school not hire or announce a new head coach after 30 days from the previous coach's departure, a separate 15-day window will open on the 31st day, provided that the 31st day is on or after January 3. The opportunity for such a window will exist through June 30.
• October 18 – Shortly before its homecoming game against Marist, Morehead State officially renamed its home of Jayne Stadium to Phil Simms Stadium. ^[27]

Kickoff games

The regular season began on Saturday, August 23 in Week 0:

• FCS Kickoff (Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama): No. 11 Mercer vs. No. 8 UC Davis ^{[b] [28]}
• MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Center Parc Stadium, Atlanta): North Carolina Central 31, Southern 14
• No. 5 Incarnate Word 6, Nicholls 20
• No. 10 Tarleton State 42, Portland State 0
• Idaho State 31, UNLV 38

Conference standings

2025 Big Sky Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 Montana State $^   8 – 0     11 – 2   No. 3 Montana ^   7 – 1     12 – 1   No. 11 UC Davis ^   6 – 2     9 – 3   Sacramento State   5 – 3     7 – 5   Idaho State   5 – 3     6 – 6   Northern Arizona   4 – 4     7 – 5   Eastern Washington   4 – 4     5 – 7   Cal Poly   2 – 6     4 – 8   Idaho   2 – 6     4 – 8   Northern Colorado   2 – 6     4 – 8   Weber State   2 – 6     4 – 8   Portland State   1 – 7     1 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 7, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll	2025 Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 8 Rhode Island $^   8 – 0     11 – 2   No. 9 Villanova ^   7 – 1     10 – 2   No. 22 New Hampshire ^   6 – 2     8 – 5   No. 21 Monmouth   6 – 2     9 – 3   William & Mary   6 – 2     7 – 5   Maine   5 – 3     6 – 6   Elon   4 – 4     6 – 6   Stony Brook   4 – 4     6 – 6   Towson   4 – 4     6 – 6   North Carolina A&T   2 – 6     2 – 10   Campbell   2 – 6     2 – 10   Bryant   1 – 7     3 – 9   Albany   1 – 7     2 – 10   Hampton   0 – 8     2 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 7, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll	2025 Ivy League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 24 Yale +^   6 – 1     9 – 2   No. 15 Harvard +^   6 – 1     9 – 2   Dartmouth   4 – 3     7 – 3   Penn   4 – 3     6 – 4   Cornell   3 – 4     4 – 6   Princeton   2 – 5     3 – 7   Brown   2 – 5     5 – 5   Columbia   1 – 6     2 – 8   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 7, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll
2025 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   South Carolina State $   5 – 0     9 – 3   Delaware State   4 – 1     8 – 4   North Carolina Central   3 – 2     8 – 4   Howard   2 – 3     5 – 7   Morgan State   1 – 4     4 – 8   Norfolk State   0 – 5     1 – 11   $ – Conference champion As of December 7, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll	2025 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 North Dakota State $^   8 – 0     12 – 1   No. 12 South Dakota ^   6 – 2     10 – 4   No. 17т Illinois State ^   5 – 3     10 – 4   No. 19 North Dakota ^   5 – 3     8 – 6   No. 14 Youngstown State ^   5 – 3     8 – 5   No. 16 South Dakota State ^   4 – 4     9 – 5   No. 23 Southern Illinois   4 – 4     7 – 5   Northern Iowa   1 – 7     3 – 9   Murray State   1 – 7     1 – 11   Indiana State   1 – 7     3 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 7, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll	2025 Northeast Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Central Connecticut $^   6 – 1     8 – 5   Duquesne   5 – 2     7 – 5   Mercyhurst*   4 – 3     5 – 7   LIU   4 – 3     6 – 6   Wagner   4 – 3     5 – 7   Stonehill   3 – 4     4 – 8   Robert Morris   2 – 5     3 – 9   New Haven*   0 – 0     5 – 5   Saint Francis   0 – 7     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * – Ineligible for NEC title and FCS postseason play due to transition from NCAA Division II. Rankings from STATS Poll
2025 OVC–Big South football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 6 Tennessee Tech $^   8 – 0     11 – 2   UT Martin   6 – 2     6 – 6   Gardner–Webb   5 – 3     7 – 5   Lindenwood   5 – 3     6 – 6   Charleston Southern   4 – 4     5 – 7   Southeast Missouri State   3 – 5     4 – 8   Western Illinois   3 – 5     4 – 8   Eastern Illinois   2 – 6     3 – 8   Tennessee State   0 – 8     2 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2025 Patriot League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 4 Lehigh $^   7 – 0     12 – 1   Lafayette   6 – 1     8 – 4   Holy Cross   3 – 4     3 – 9   Richmond   3 – 4     7 – 5   Georgetown   3 – 4     6 – 6   Colgate   3 – 4     5 – 7   Bucknell   2 – 5     5 – 7   Fordham   1 – 6     1 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 7, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll	2025 Pioneer Football League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Drake $^   7 – 1     8 – 4   Presbyterian   6 – 2     10 – 2   San Diego   6 – 2     8 – 4   St. Thomas (MN)   5 – 3     7 – 5   Dayton   5 – 3     7 – 4   Morehead State   4 – 4     6 – 6   Butler   4 – 4     6 – 6   Marist   3 – 5     5 – 7   Stetson   2 – 6     3 – 9   Davidson   1 – 7     2 – 10   Valparaiso   1 – 7     2 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll
2025 Southern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 7 Mercer $^   8 – 0     9 – 2   Western Carolina   6 – 2     7 – 5   East Tennessee State   5 – 3     7 – 5   Wofford   5 – 3     6 – 6   Chattanooga   4 – 4     5 – 7   Furman   4 – 4     6 – 6   The Citadel   3 – 5     4 – 8   Samford   1 – 7     1 – 11   VMI   0 – 8     1 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 7, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll	2025 Southland Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 10 Stephen F. Austin $^   8 – 0     11 – 2   No. 17т Southeastern Louisiana ^   7 – 1     9 – 4   No. 25 Lamar ^   5 – 3     8 – 5   UT Rio Grande Valley   5 – 3     9 – 3   Nicholls   4 – 4     4 – 8   McNeese   4 – 4     5 – 7   East Texas A&M   3 – 5     3 – 9   Incarnate Word   3 – 5     5 – 7   Houston Christian   1 – 7     2 – 10   Northwestern State   0 – 8     1 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 7, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll	2025 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division No. 20 Jackson State xy   7 – 2     9 – 3   Alabama State x   7 – 1     10 – 2   Bethune–Cookman   5 – 3     6 – 6   Florida A&M   4 – 4     5 – 7   Alabama A&M   1 – 7     4 – 8   Mississippi Valley State*   1 – 7     2 – 10   West Division Prairie View A&M xy$   8 – 1     10 – 3   Texas Southern   5 – 3     6 – 5   Alcorn State   4 – 4     5 – 7   Grambling State   4 – 4     7 – 5   Arkansas–Pine Bluff*   2 – 6     4 – 8   Southern   1 – 7     2 – 10   Championship: Prairie View A&M 23, Jackson State 21 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant * – Ineligible for FCS postseason play due to failed academic requirements [29] As of December 7, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll
2025 United Athletic Conference standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 13 Abilene Christian +^   7 – 1     9 – 5   No. 5 Tarleton State +^   7 – 1     12 – 1   Southern Utah   6 – 2     7 – 5   West Georgia*   5 – 3     8 – 3   Austin Peay   4 – 4     7 – 5   Eastern Kentucky   3 – 5     5 – 7   Central Arkansas   2 – 6     3 – 9   Utah Tech   1 – 7     2 – 10   North Alabama   1 – 7     2 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant * – Ineligible for the UAC title and FCS postseason play due to transition from NCAA Division II. As of December 7, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll	2025 NCAA Division I FCS independents football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Sacred Heart   –     8 – 4   Merrimack   –     4 – 8

Playoff qualifiers

Automatic berths for conference champions

Montana State

Rhode Island

Yale

North Dakota State

Central Connecticut

Tennessee Tech

Lehigh

Drake

Mercer

Stephen F. Austin

Abilene Christian

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Locations of the 11 playoff automatic berths participants

Conference	Team	Record	Appearance	Last bid	Result of last appearance
Big Sky Conference	Montana State	10–2	15th	2024	Lost to North Dakota State in National Championship
CAA Football	Rhode Island	10–2	5th	2024	Lost to Mercer in the second round
Ivy League	Yale	8–2	1st [c]	–	–
Missouri Valley Football Conference	North Dakota State	12–0	16th	2024	Won National Championship against Montana State
Northeast Conference	Central Connecticut	8–4	4th	2024	Lost to Rhode Island in the first round
OVC–Big South	Tennessee Tech	11–1	2nd	2011	Lost to Central Arkansas in the first round
Patriot League	Lehigh	12–0	13th	2024	Lost to Idaho in the second round
Pioneer Football League	Drake	8–3	3rd	2024	Lost to Tarleton State in the first round
Southern Conference	Mercer	9–2	3rd	2024	Lost to North Dakota State in quarterfinal
Southland Conference	Stephen F. Austin	10–2	9th	2021	Lost to Incarnate Word in first round
United Athletic Conference	Abilene Christian	8–4	2nd	2024	Lost to North Dakota State in second round

At-large qualifiers

Illinois State

North Dakota

South Dakota State

South Dakota

Youngstown State

Southeastern Louisiana

Lamar

Villanova

New Hampshire

Harvard

Tarleton State

Montana

UC Davis

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Locations of the 13 playoff at-large qualifiers participants

Conference	Team	Record	Appearance	Last bid	Result of last appearance
Missouri Valley Football Conference	Illinois State	8–4	10th	2024	Lost to UC Davis in second round
	North Dakota	7–5	6th	2023	Lost to Sacramento State in first round
	South Dakota State	8–4	15th	2024	Lost to North Dakota State in semifinals
	South Dakota	8–4	5th	2024	Lost to Montana State in semifinals
	Youngstown State	8–4	14th	2023	Lost to Villanova in second round
Southland Conference	Southeastern Louisiana	9–3	6th	2022	Lost to Samford in second round
	Lamar	8–4	2nd	2018	Lost to Northern Iowa in first round
CAA Football	Villanova	9–2	17th	2024	Lost to Incarnate Word in second round
	New Hampshire	8–4	19th	2024	Lost to UT Martin in first round
Ivy League	Harvard	9–1	1st [c]	–	–
United Athletic Conference	Tarleton State	11–1	2nd	2024	Lost to South Dakota in second round
Big Sky Conference	Montana	11–1	30th	2024	Lost to South Dakota State in second round
	UC Davis	8–3	4th	2024	Lost to South Dakota in the quarterfinals

Abstentions

• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State
• Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State & Prairie View A&M

Postseason

NCAA Division I playoff bracket

	First Round November 29 Campus sites USA: ESPN+ Canada: TSN+					Second Round December 6 Campus sites ESPN+					Quarterfinals December 12/13 Campus sites USA: ABC, ESPN, ESPN+ Canada: TSN+					Semifinals December 20 Campus sites USA: ABC/ESPN2 Canada: TSN+					National Championship January 5 7:30 p.m. EST FirstBank Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee USA: ESPN Canada: TSN2/TSN+
						1	North Dakota State	28
	16	Southeastern Louisiana	3				Illinois State	29
		Illinois State	21									Illinois State
						8	UC Davis
	9	Rhode Island	27			9	Rhode Island
		Central Connecticut	19
						5	Lehigh	7
	12	Villanova	52			12	Villanova	14
		Harvard	7								12	Villanova
											4	Tarleton State
						4	Tarleton State	31
	13	Tennessee Tech	6				North Dakota	13
		North Dakota	31
						3	Montana	50
	14	South Dakota State	41			14	South Dakota State	29
		New Hampshire	3								3	Montana
											11	South Dakota
						6	Mercer	0
	11	South Dakota	38			11	South Dakota	47
		Drake	17
						7	Stephen F. Austin	41
	10	Abilene Christian	38			10	Abilene Christian	34
		Lamar	20								7	Stephen F. Austin
											2	Montana State
						2	Montana State	21
	15	Youngstown State	42				Yale	13
		Yale	43

Rankings

Main article: 2025 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings

The top 25 from the Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches polls.

Pre-season polls

Stats Perform
Ranking	Team
1	North Dakota State (54)
2	Montana State (1)
3	South Dakota State
4	South Dakota (1)
5	Incarnate Word
6	Illinois State
7	Montana
8	UC Davis
9	Rhode Island
10	Tarleton State
11	Mercer
12	Idaho
13	Villanova
14	Lehigh
15	Sacramento State
16	Abilene Christian
17	Jackson State
18	Western Carolina
19	Northern Arizona
20	Southern Illinois
21	Tennessee Tech
22	Monmouth
23	Stephen F. Austin
24	Stony Brook
25	Richmond

STATS source: ^[30]

Regular season top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the Stats Perform Poll.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 6	No. 2  South Dakota State	No. 3  Montana State	Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, Montana	30–24 2OT	22,117	[31]
September 27	No. 8  Idaho	No. 5  Montana	Washington–Grizzly Stadium • Missoula, Montana (Little Brown Stein)	30–41	27,025	[32]
October 4	No. 1  North Dakota State	No. 6  Illinois State	Hancock Stadium • Normal, Illinois	33–16	9,829	[33]
October 11	No. 8  Southern Illinois	No. 1  North Dakota State	Fargodome • Fargo, North Dakota	17–45	15,812	[34]
October 25	No. 1  North Dakota State	No. 2  South Dakota State	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, South Dakota (Dakota Marker)	38–7	19,477	[35]
November 15	No. 9  UC Davis	No. 3  Montana State	Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, Montana	17–38	21,777	[36]
November 22	No. 3  Montana State	No. 2  Montana	Washington–Grizzly Stadium • Missoula, Montana (Brawl of the Wild)	31–28	27,340	[37]
#Rankings from STATS poll released prior to the game.

Upsets

See also: 2025 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings

This section lists unranked teams defeating STATS poll-ranked teams during the season.

Regular season

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
August 23	No. 5  Incarnate Word	Nicholls	Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium • Thibodaux, Louisiana	6–20	8,779	[38]
August 30	Presbyterian	No. 11  Mercer	Five Star Stadium • Macon, Georgia	15–10	8,149	[39]
August 30	Gardner–Webb	No. 18  Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, North Carolina	52–45	11,889	[40]
September 6	No. 4  South Dakota	Lamar	Provost Umphrey Stadium • Beaumont, Texas	13–20	6,043	[41]
September 6	West Georgia	No. 22  Nicholls	Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium • Thibodaux, Louisiana	34–10	5,456	[42]
September 6	No. 24  Southern Utah	San Diego	Torero Stadium • San Diego, California	27–30	2,564	[43]
September 20	No. 25  New Hampshire	Dartmouth	Memorial Field • Hanover, New Hampshire (Granite Bowl)	20–27	4,457	[44]
September 27	Cal Poly	No. 21  Sacramento State	Hornet Stadium • Sacramento, California	32–24	15,016	[45]
September 27	No. 12  Abilene Christian	Incarnate Word	Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium • San Antonio, Texas	7–38	3,006	[46]
October 3	No. 8  Rhode Island	Brown	Centreville Bank Stadium • Pawtucket, Rhode Island (Governor's Cup)	21–28	5,047	[47]
October 11	Northern Colorado	No. 11  Idaho	Kibbie Dome • Moscow, Idaho	49–33	12,902	[48]
October 11	No. 16  Austin Peay	Eastern Kentucky	Roy Kidd Stadium • Richmond, Kentucky	20–34	5,753	[49]
October 18	Youngstown State	No. 10  Illinois State	Hancock Stadium • Normal, Illinois	40–35	9,834	[50]
October 18	No. 13  Abilene Christian	Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum • Cedar City, Utah	24–31	2,030	[51]
October 18	No. 24  Idaho	Eastern Washington	Roos Field • Cheney, Washington (rivalry)	14–21	6,071	[52]
October 25	Grambling State	No. 12  Jackson State	Allegiant Stadium • Las Vegas, Nevada (Las Vegas HBCU Classic)	26–24	29,655	[53]
October 25	No. 19  Presbyterian	Dayton	Welcome Stadium • Dayton, Ohio	19–35	2,687	[54]
October 31	Idaho	No. 19  Northern Arizona	Walkup Skydome • Flagstaff, Arizona	35–32 OT	8,010	[55]
November 1	Indiana State	No. 4т  South Dakota State	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium • Brookings, South Dakota	24–12	15,842	[56]
November 1	Idaho State	No. 6  UC Davis	UC Davis Health Stadium • Davis, California	38–36	10,973	[57]
November 1	No. 8  North Dakota	South Dakota	DakotaDome • Vermillion, South Dakota (Sitting Bull Trophy)	21–26	6,809	[58]
November 1	No. 14  Lamar	Incarnate Word	Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium • San Antonio, Texas	17–24	2,680	[59]
November 1	No. 22  Austin Peay	Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum • Cedar City, Utah	17–33	2,808	[60]
November 8	New Hampshire	No. 7  Monmouth	Kessler Stadium • West Long Branch, New Jersey	34–13	3,127	[61]
November 8	No. 25  Presbyterian	Davidson	Davidson College Stadium • Davidson, North Carolina (1919 Cup)	13–14	2,373	[62]
November 15	East Tennessee State	No. 25  Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, North Carolina (Blue Ridge Border Battle)	52–35	10,543	[63]
November 22	Albany	No. 12  Monmouth	Kessler Stadium • West Long Branch, New Jersey	31–24	2,813	[64]
November 22	No. 23  Northern Arizona	Weber State	Stewart Stadium • Ogden, Utah (Red Rock Trophy)	28–48	3,149	[65]
#Rankings from STATS poll released prior to the game.

FCS teams wins over FBS teams

Italics denotes FBS teams.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
August 29	No. 10  Tarleton State	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, New York	30–27 2OT	23,032	[66] [67]
August 30	Austin Peay	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee	34–14	18,505	[66] [68]
September 6	Bryant	UMass	Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Amherst, Massachusetts	27–26	3,714	[66] [69]
September 6	LIU	Eastern Michigan	Rynearson Stadium • Ypsilanti, Michigan	28–23	15,313	[66] [70]
#Rankings from STATS poll released prior to the game.

Non-DI team wins over FCS teams

Italics denotes non-DI teams.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
August 30	Webber International (NAIA)	Stetson	Spec Martin Stadium • DeLand, Florida	31–21	1,975	[71]
September 6	Adrian (D-III)	Valparaiso	Brown Field • Valparaiso, Indiana	10–7	1,941	[72]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season

This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2025, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled games but before its playoff games. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2025, see 2024 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Southern	Terrence Graves	October 20, 2025	Fired [73]	Fred McNair (interim)
Samford	Chris Hatcher	November 9, 2025	Fired [74]	Scot Sloan (interim)
Weber State	Mickey Mental	November 10, 2025	Fired [75]	Brent Myers (interim)

End of season

This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement	Previous position
Portland State	Bruce Barnum	November 22, 2025	Fired [76]	TBD
Hampton	Trenton Boykin	November 23, 2025	Fired [77]	TBD
Cal Poly	Paul Wulff	November 23, 2025	Fired [78]	Tim Skipper [79]	UCLA interim head coach (2025)
Penn	Ray Priore	November 24, 2025	Resigned [80]
Southern	Fred McNair (interim)	November 30, 2025	Permanent replacement	Marshall Faulk [81]	Colorado running backs coach (2025)
Samford	Scot Sloan (interim)	December 3, 2025	Permanent replacement	John Grass [82]	Clemson senior offensive analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach (2024–25)
Sacramento State	Brennan Marion	December 5, 2025	Became offensive coordinator at Colorado [83]

See also

• 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2025 NCAA Division II football season
• 2025 NCAA Division III football season
• 2025 NAIA football season
• 2025 U Sports football season

Footnotes

1. The Ivy League officially dates its existence from the 1954 extension of the Ivy Group Agreement.
2. Game was declared a no contest after long weather delay.
3. This was the first year that the Ivy League participated in the playoff.

References

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75. Reynolds, Kevin (November 10, 2025). "Weber State fires football coach amid three-year skid". The Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved November 11, 2025.
76. Streng, Nik (November 23, 2025). "Portland State fires football coach Bruce Barnum after 1-11 season". oregonlive. Retrieved November 23, 2025.
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