The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with the Big South Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision, the lower of two levels of Division I football competition. The OVC has 11 members, seven of which compete in football in the conference.
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 13 full members are located in five Northeastern states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Participating schools are located principally in the Northeastern United States, from which the conference derives its name.
NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions in the United States whose football programs are not part of a football conference. This means that FCS independents are not required to schedule each other for competition as conference schools do. As of the 2024 season, Merrimack and Sacred Heart will be competing as independents, as their primary conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, does not sponsor football. They were previously members of the Northeast Conference which does sponsor the sport. Merrimack and Sacred Heart are confirmed to play as FCS independents in 2024.
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 large budgets, more elaborate facilities and more athletic scholarships than Division II and Division III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
The Western Illinois Leathernecks are the teams and athletes that represent Western Illinois University, located in Macomb, Illinois, in NCAA Division I sports. The school is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. Its football team is a member of the Division I FCS OVC–Big South Football Association.
The Bryant Bulldogs football program represents Bryant University in college football. As of the upcoming 2024 season, the Bulldogs will be members of CAA Football, an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) league operated by, but legally separate from, the multi-sports Coastal Athletic Association. Bryant had played the 2023 season in the Big South–OVC Football Association formed in that season as a football-only alliance, also operating at the FCS level, between the Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference. The team has played its home games at Beirne Stadium in Smithfield, Rhode Island, which opened in 1999 as Bulldog Stadium and received its current name in 2016.
The Eastern Kentucky Colonels football program represents Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in college football, competing at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as a member of the United Athletic Conference (UAC). The school has traditionally had much success on the football field, having won 21 OVC conference titles and two Division I FCS National Championships in 1979 and 1982, and reaching the finals in 1980 and 1981. Much of the success came during the long tenure of head coach Roy Kidd from 1964 to 2002. In 1990, Eastern honored Kidd by naming the school's football stadium Roy Kidd Stadium. Eastern Kentucky's football team was able to secure 31 consecutive winning seasons before finally posting a losing season record in 2009.
The Eastern Kentucky Colonels are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), located in Richmond, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the ASUN Conference since the 2021–22 academic year. Its football team competes in the United Athletic Conference (UAC), which starts play in 2023 as a football-only merger of the ASUN and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The Colonels previously competed in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) from 1948–49 to 2020–21.
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 (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the FCS level comprises 129 teams in 13 conferences as of the 2024 season. The FCS designation is relevant only for football; members of the subdivision compete in NCAA Division I in all other sports.
The Holy Cross Crusaders football team is the collegiate American football program of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Patriot League, an NCAA Division I conference that participates in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The team plays its home games at Fitton Field on the college campus.
The 2013 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 season began on August 29, 2013, and concluded with the 2014 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on January 4, 2014, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. North Dakota State won its third consecutive title, defeating Towson, 35–7.
The Austin Peay Governors are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Austin Peay State University, located in Clarksville, Tennessee, United States. The Governors athletic program is a member of the NCAA Division I Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) for all sports except football, in which it competes in the United Athletic Conference (UAC). The latter conference started play in the 2023 season as a football-only merger between two conferences in the second tier of Division I football, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)—the ASUN and the Western Athletic Conference. Before the 2022–23 school year, the Governors were members of another FCS league, the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).
The UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros is a collegiate athletic program that represents the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). The Vaqueros inherited the NCAA Division I status of the Texas–Pan American Broncs and were full members of the Western Athletic Conference through the 2023–24 school year In March 2024, it was reported that the Vaqueros would leave the WAC for the Southland Conference, beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.
Beginning in the 2021–22 academic year, extensive changes occurred in NCAA conference membership, primarily at the Division I level.
The 2023 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 began on August 26 and ended in November. The postseason began in November and ended on January 7, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. South Dakota State repeated as champions, defeating Montana, 23–3.
The 2024 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 began on August 24 and ended in November. The postseason began in November and, aside from any scheduled all-star games, ended on January 6, 2025 with the 2025 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
