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.
All FCS teams were allowed to schedule 12 regular season games in the 2019 season. A standard provision of NCAA bylaws allows for 12 regular season games during years having 14 Saturdays in the period starting with the Labor Day (first Monday in September) weekend and ending with the last Saturday of November. This next occurred in 2024.
Conference changes and new programs School 2018 conference 2019 conference Hampton FCS independent Big South LIU+ NE-10 (D-II) NEC (FCS) Merrimack North Alabama FCS Independent Big South Savannah State MEAC (FCS) SIAC (D-II) + Following the 2018–19 academic year, Long Island University merged the athletic programs of its two campuses—the Division I non-football LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and Division II football-sponsoring LIU Post Pioneers—into a single Division I program rebranded as the LIU Sharks. The Sharks inherited LIU Brooklyn's membership in the Northeast Conference, with the former Post football team joining the NEC alongside most of LIU's other sports.
Kickoff game
FCS team wins over FBS teams Italics denotes FBS teams.
Conference standings
Playoff qualifiers Champions of the following 10 conferences automatically received playoff bids:
Big Sky (Weber State) Big South (Monmouth) Colonial Athletic Association (James Madison) Missouri Valley Football Conference (North Dakota State) Northeast Conference (Central Connecticut)
Ohio Valley Conference (Austin Peay) Patriot League (Holy Cross) Pioneer Football League (San Diego) Southern Conference (Wofford) Southland Conference (Nicholls)
Abstentions Ivy League – Yale and Dartmouth (co-champions) Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina A&T Southwestern Athletic Conference – Alcorn State
Postseason A 24-team single-elimination tournament bracket culminated in the 2020 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game. Teams were announced in a selection show on November 24, with the top eight teams seeded and receiving first-round byes.
Bowl game
NCAA Division I playoff bracket
Source:
Coaching changes Preseason and in-season This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2019. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2019, see 2018 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.
SchoolOutgoing coachDateReasonReplacement Howard Ron Prince November 6 Placed on administrative leaveAaron Kelton (interim) Prince was placed on administrative leave by the university, "after allegations of verbal abuse and intimidation of players."
End of season SchoolOutgoing coachDateReasonReplacement Gardner–Webb Carroll McCray November 24 Fired Tre Lamb Mercer Bobby Lamb November 24 Fired Drew Cronic Murray State Mitch Stewart November 24 Reassigned within athletic department Dean Hood Northern Colorado Earnest Collins Jr. November 24 Fired Ed McCaffrey Eastern Kentucky Mark Elder November 25 Contract not renewed Walt Wells Lamar Mike Schultz November 25 Fired Blane Morgan Cal Poly Tim Walsh November 25 Retired Beau Baldwin Jacksonville Ian Shields December 3 Program discontinued None Wagner Jason Houghtaling December 6 Fired Tom Masella Howard Ron Prince December 6 Resigned Larry Scott Missouri State Dave Steckel January 9 Fired Bobby Petrino McNeese State Sterlin Gilbert January 12 Became OC at Syracuse Frank Wilson Youngstown State Bo Pelini January 27 Became DC at LSU Doug Phillips Arkansas Pine-Bluff Cedric Thomas February 17 Became DB coach at Southern Miss Doc Gamble
Attendances
Top 30 teams by average home attendance:
# Team Home games Total attendance Average attendance 1 Jackson State Tigers 5 168,808 33,762 2 Montana Grizzlies 7 157,812 22,545 3 James Madison Dukes 9 162,974 18,108 4 Alabama State Hornets 5 88,997 17,799 5 North Dakota State Bison 9 156,962 17,440 6 Montana State Bobcats 8 138,246 17,281 7 Southern Jaguars 4 67,826 16,957 8 North Carolina A&T Aggies 5 84,633 16,927 9 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 7 117,800 16,829 10 Florida A&M Rattlers 6 99,223 16,537 11 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 7 99,926 14,275 12 Alcorn State Braves 7 92,373 13,196 13 Yale Bulldogs 6 72,796 12,133 14 Youngstown State Penguins 7 84,150 12,021 15 Norfolk State Spartans 5 56,480 11,296 16 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 8 87,764 10,971 17 Sacramento State Hornets 7 76,651 10,950 18 McNeese Cowboys 6 65,266 10,878 19 Harvard Crimson 5 54,060 10,812 20 Grambling State Tigers 3 31,188 10,396 21 South Carolina State Bulldogs 6 62,035 10,339 22 New Hampshire Wildcats 5 50,527 10,105 23 UC Davis Aggies 5 47,502 9,500 24 Mercer Bears 6 56,437 9,406 25 The Citadel Bulldogs 6 56,066 9,344 26 Illinois State Redbirds 6 55,454 9,242 27 Texas Southern Tigers 4 36,814 9,204 28 Western Carolina Catamounts 6 52,814 8,802 29 Tennessee State Tigers 6 52,723 8,787 30 William & Mary Tribe 6 51,730 8,622
Source:
See also 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season 2019 NCAA Division II football season 2019 NCAA Division III football season 2019 NAIA football season
Notes
References