2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season

2018 NCAA Division I FCS season
Regular season
Duration August 25, 2018 – November 2018
Playoff
Duration November 2018 – December 2018
Championship date January 2019
Championship site Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
Division I FCS football season
 

The 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, will be organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The 2018 National Championship game will be played in January 2019 in Frisco, Texas.

Conference changes and new programs

Membership changes

SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference
Campbell Fighting CamelsPioneerBig South
Hampton PiratesMEACFCS Independent
Idaho VandalsSun Belt (FBS)Big Sky
Liberty FlamesBig SouthFBS Independent
North Alabama LionsGulf South (D–II)FCS Independent
North Dakota Fighting HawksBig SkyFCS Independent [lower-alpha 1]
  1. ↑ North Dakota will officially join the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020, and will be classified as an FCS independent for 2018 and 2019. However, to accommodate pre-existing game contracts, it will still play its Big Sky Conference schedule and conference games will still count for their opponents.

Other headlines

Offseason

  • June 13 – Major changes to redshirt rules in Division I football (both FBS and FCS) took effect from this season forward after having been approved by the NCAA Division I Council. Players can now participate in as many as four games in a given season while still retaining redshirt status. The only exception to this new rule is that players who enroll at a school in midyear and participate in postseason competition that takes place during or before their first academic term at that school will lose a full year of athletic eligibility.[2]

Season

  • September 10 – The Northeast Conference (NEC) announced that Merrimack College would start a transition from the NCAA Division II Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) and join the NEC effective July 1, 2019. Merrimack's football team is expected to immediately start playing a full NEC schedule, but will not be eligible for the FCS playoffs until becoming a full D-I member in 2023.[3]
  • October 3 – Long Island University announced that it would merge its two current athletic programs—the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds, full but non-football members of the NEC, and LIU Post Pioneers, a Division II program that is a full member of the non-football East Coast Conference and an NE-10 football member—effective with the 2019–20 school year. The new program will compete under the LIU name with a new nickname. The Post football team will become the LIU football team, playing in the NEC, but without playoff eligibility until 2023.[4]

Pre-season international exhibitions

Date Name Location NCAA team Hosting Team Score
May 26, 2018 Drake-China Ambassadors Bowl UIBE, Beijing, China Drake China All-Stars
(AFLC, CAFL, & CBL)		 77–0

Kickoff games

One kickoff game was played during "Week Zero" on August 25:

FCS team wins over FBS teams

(FCS rankings from the STATS poll, FBS rankings from the AP poll.)

Hurricane Florence

All times Eastern

Several games on the east coast have been rescheduled, cancelled, or moved due to Hurricane Florence:

Sources:[5][6][7]

Conference standings

2018 Big Sky football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 4 Eastern Washington  3 –0     5 –1  
Idaho State  3 –0     4 –1  
No. 14 UC Davis  2 –0     4 –1  
No. 22 Montana  2 –1     4 –2  
Northern Arizona  2 –1     3 –3  
Montana State  1 –1     3 –2  
No. 13 Weber State  1 –1     3 –2  
Idaho  1 –2     2 –3  
Cal Poly  1 –2     2 –4  
Portland State  1 –2     2 –4  
Sacramento State  0 –2     2 –3  
Southern Utah  0 –2     0 –5  
Northern Colorado  0 –3     0 –6  
  • *Although North Dakota is classified as an independent, games against them still count as Big Sky conference games.
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 Big South football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 3 Kennesaw State  1 –0     5 –1  
Campbell  0 –0     5 –1  
Monmouth  0 –0     3 –2  
Charleston Southern  0 –0     1 –3  
Gardner–Webb  0 –0     1 –5  
Presbyterian  0 –1     2 –2  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 CAA football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 17 Towson  2 –0     4 –1  
No. 16 Rhode Island  2 –1     4 –2  
No. 5 Elon  2 –0     4 –1  
No. 21 Maine  3 –0     4 –2  
No. 6 James Madison  2 –1     4 –2  
No. 19 Stony Brook  2 –1     4 –2  
Delaware  1 –1     3 –2  
William & Mary  1 –1     2 –3  
Albany  0 –2     2 –3  
New Hampshire  0 –2     1 –4  
Villanova  0 –3     3 –3  
Richmond  0 –3     2 –4  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 Ivy League football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Dartmouth  2 –0     4 –0  
No. 25 Princeton  1 –0     4 –0  
Yale  1 –1     2 –2  
Cornell  1 –1     2 –2  
Harvard  1 –1     2 –2  
Penn  0 –1     3 –1  
Columbia  0 –1     3 –1  
Brown  0 –1     1 –3  
  • The Ivy League does not participate in the FCS Playoffs
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 MEAC football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Florida A&M  3 –0     4 –2  
No. 10 North Carolina A&T  2 –0     5 –1  
Norfolk State  1 –1     3 –2  
Bethune–Cookman  1 –1     3 –3  
North Carolina Central  1 –1     2 –3  
Howard  1 –1     1 –3  
South Carolina State  1 –1     1 –4  
Morgan State  0 –1     1 –4  
Savannah State  0 –2     1 –4  
Delaware State  0 –2     0 –5  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 MVFC football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 1 North Dakota State  2 –0     5 –0  
No. 24 South Dakota  2 –0     3 –2  
No. 12 Illinois State  1 –1     4 –1  
No. 2 South Dakota State  1 –1     3 –1  
Missouri State  1 –1     3 –2  
Northern Iowa  1 –1     2 –3  
Western Illinois  1 –1     2 –3  
Youngstown State  1 –1     2 –3  
Indiana State  0 –2     2 –3  
Southern Illinois  0 –2     1 –4  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 NEC football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Bryant  2 –0     4 –1  
Sacred Heart  1 –0     3 –2  
Central Connecticut  1 –0     3 –3  
Saint Francis (PA)  0 –0     2 –3  
Duquesne  0 –1     3 –3  
Wagner  0 –1     1 –5  
Robert Morris  0 –2     1 –4  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 OVC football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 8 Jacksonville State  3 –0     4 –1  
Murray State  2 –0     2 –3  
Southeast Missouri State  1 –1     3 –2  
Eastern Kentucky  1 –1     2 –3  
Tennessee State  1 –1     2 –2  
UT Martin  1 –1     1 –4  
Austin Peay  1 –2     3 –3  
Eastern Illinois  1 –2     1 –5  
Tennessee Tech  0 –3     0 –6  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 Patriot League football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 20 Colgate  3 –0     5 –0  
Georgetown  1 –0     2 –4  
Bucknell  1 –1     1 –5  
Lehigh  0 –0     1 –4  
Lafayette  0 –1     1 –4  
Fordham  0 –1     0 –5  
Holy Cross  0 –2     1 –5  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 Pioneer Football League standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Drake  2 –0     3 –1  
San Diego  2 –0     3 –2  
Dayton  2 –1     3 –3  
Davidson  2 –1     5 –1  
Stetson  1 –1     3 –1  
Butler  1 –1     3 –2  
Marist  1 –1     1 –4  
Jacksonville  0 –2     1 –3  
Morehead State  0 –2     1 –4  
Valparaiso  0 –2     0 –5  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 Southern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 23 East Tennessee State  4 –0     6 –1  
No. 6 Wofford  3 –1     4 –2  
Mercer  2 –1     3 –3  
Furman  2 –1     2 –3  
Chattanooga  3 –2     5 –2  
Samford  2 –2     3 –4  
Western Carolina  1 –3     3 –3  
The Citadel  1 –3     1 –4  
VMI  0 –5     0 –6  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 Southland Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 6 McNeese State  4 –0     5 –1  
No. 15 Central Arkansas  3 –1     4 –2  
No. 14 Sam Houston State  3 –1     4 –2  
Incarnate Word  3 –1     3 –3  
No. 20 Nicholls  3 –2     4 –3  
Southeastern Louisiana  3 –2     3 –4  
Abilene Christian  2 –3     3 –4  
Northwestern State  1 –3     2 –4  
Lamar  1 –3     2 –4  
Stephen F. Austin  1 –4     1 –5  
Houston Baptist  0 –4     1 –5  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 SWAC football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
Alcorn State  2 –0     4 –1  
Alabama A&M  1 –1     2 –3  
Jackson State  0 –1     1 –2  
Alabama State  0 –1     1 –3  
Mississippi Valley State  0 –1     0 –3  
West Division
Prairie View A&M  2 –0     3 –3  
Southern  1 –1     2 –3  
Grambling State  1 –1     1 –3  
Texas Southern  0 –0     1 –3  
Arkansas–Pine Bluff  0 –1     1 –4  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll
2018 NCAA Division I FCS independents football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
North Dakota*   –     3 –2  
North Alabama   –     3 –3  
Hampton   –     2 –3  
  • *North Dakota ineligible for Big Sky title due to transition to the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

Conference summaries

Other conference winners

Note: Records are regular-season only, and do not include playoff games.

Playoff qualifiers

Postseason

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season

This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2018. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2018, see 2017 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

School Outgoing coach Date Reason Replacement
Stephen F. Austin Clint Conque August 6 Resigned Jeff Byrd (interim)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Haley, Craig (March 14, 2018). "5 College Football Teams Changing FCS Affiliations in 2018". athlonsports.com. Athlon Sports & Life. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  2. ↑ "DI football to offer more participation opportunities" (Press release). NCAA. June 13, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Merrimack College Accepts Invitation to Join the Northeast Conference" (Press release). Northeast Conference. September 10, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Long Island University Announces Unification Into One LIU Division I Program" (Press release). LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds. October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  5. ↑ Adelson, Andrea. "UNC, NC State, Va. Tech called due to Florence". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Football Cancels Game against Stetson". GoBlueHose.com. Presbyterian College. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  7. ↑ "NCAAF College Football Scores - FCS Week 3". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
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