The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, and in football, in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
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.
The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. From 1947 to 1976, it sponsored competition in many sports, but was a football-only league from mid-1976 until its dissolution in 1996. It is essentially the ancestor of today's CAA Football, the legally separate football league operated by the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), and the continuation of the New England Conference, though all three leagues were founded under different charters and are considered separate conferences by the NCAA. Also, CAA Football does not recognize the New England Conference as one of its predecessors, though it does recognize the Yankee Conference as such. 2024 marked a return of The Yankee Conference when in August of 2024 it was announced that Merrimack College and Sacred Heart University would play for The Yankee Conference Championship presented by LEONA.
The Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. It is the only Division II collegiate ice hockey conference in the United States.
NCAA Division I independent schools are four-year institutions that compete in college athletics at the NCAA Division I level, but do not belong to an established athletic conference for a particular sport. These schools may however still compete as members of an athletic conference in other sports. A school may also be fully independent, and not belong to any athletic conference for any sport at all. The reason for independent status varies among institutions, but it is frequently because the school's primary athletic conference does not sponsor a particular sport.
This article depicts the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Alignment History—specifically, all schools that have competed in the lower tier of NCAA Division I college football since Division I football was split into two subdivisions in 1978. This includes schools competing in:
The UMass Minutemen football team represents the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The Minutemen compete as an FBS independent. Since 1965, their home games have been played at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium on the university's campus in Hadley, Massachusetts.
The Wofford Terriers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Wofford College located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). Wofford's first football team was fielded in 1889. The team plays its home games at the 13,000 seat Gibbs Stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Josh Conklin is the current head coach for the Terriers.
The Sacred Heart Pioneers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Sacred Heart University located in Fairfield, Connecticut. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level and is one of two NCAA Division I FCS independent schools. The school's first football team was fielded in 1991. The 2001 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team compiled a perfect 11–0 record and won the school's first conference championship. The team plays its home games at the 3,334-seat Campus Field.
The Southern Utah Thunderbirds football program is a college football team that represents Southern Utah University (SUU). With a history dating back to 1963, SUU currently competes in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision as a member of the United Athletic Conference.
The Incarnate Word Cardinals football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) located in San Antonio, Texas. The program began in 2009 and originally competed in NCAA Division II as members of the Lone Star Conference. In 2013, the school moved to Division I. For the 2013 season, UIW competed as a member of the Southland Conference for all sports except football. Football competed with an 11-game schedule as an Independent. UIW began playing Southland football in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at the 6,000 seat Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium.
The Merrimack Warriors are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Merrimack College, located in North Andover, Massachusetts, in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sporting competitions. All of the Warrior athletic teams compete at the Division I level. Men's and women's ice hockey compete in the Hockey East conference and football competes as an FCS Independent, while the remaining teams are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
The Stonehill Skyhawks football team represents Stonehill College in football. Stonehill is a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC). Prior to 2005, Stonehill's athletics teams were known as the Chieftains.
The Central Connecticut Blue Devils football program is the intercollegiate football team for Central Connecticut State University located in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Northeast Conference. Central Connecticut State's first football team was fielded in 1935. The team plays its home games at the 5,500 seat Arute Field in New Britain, Connecticut. The Blue Devils are coached by Adam Lechtenberg.
The 2019 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 FCS Championship Game was played on January 11, 2020, in Frisco, Texas. Defending champion North Dakota State completed the regular season undefeated, then won their eighth championship in nine seasons, defeating James Madison, 28-20, for the title.
The 2019 Merrimack Warriors football team represented Merrimack College in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by seventh-year head coach Dan Curran and played their home games at Duane Stadium. They were first year members of the Northeast Conference.
The 2019–20 Merrimack Warriors men's basketball team represented Merrimack College during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Warriors were led by fourth-year head coach Joe Gallo, and played their home games at Hammel Court in North Andover, Massachusetts as first-year members of the Northeast Conference (NEC).
The 2020–21 Merrimack Warriors men's basketball team represented Merrimack College in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Warriors, led by fifth-year head coach Joe Gallo, played their home games at Hammel Court in North Andover, Massachusetts as second-year members of the Northeast Conference (NEC).
