The 2022 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 27 and ended on November 19. The postseason began on November 26, and ended on January 8, 2023, with the 2023 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. South Dakota State defeated defending champion North Dakota State, 45-21, to win the title.
Conference changes and new programs The ASUN Conference and Western Athletic Conference renewed their football alliance for the 2022 season, after each suffered key losses of members starting FBS transitions (Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State), rendering them ineligible for a playoff automatic qualifier (AQ) as separate leagues. Eight alliance members (three WAC, five ASUN) competed for a single AQ in the FCS playoffs. After announcing a move to the Western Athletic Conference for the 2022 season in a November 2021 press conference, Incarnate Word reversed course in June 2022, just days before it was to officially join the WAC, and recommitted to the Southland Conference. At the same time, Lamar returned to the Southland after just one season in the WAC (and WAC–ASUN Challenge). School 2021 conference 2022 conference Austin Peay Ohio Valley WAC–ASUN Challenge (ASUN) Bryant NEC Big South Hampton Big South CAA Jacksonville State WAC–ASUN Challenge (ASUN) ASUN Hampton Big South CAA James Madison CAA (FCS) Sun Belt (FBS) Kennesaw State Big South WAC–ASUN Challenge (ASUN) Lamar WAC–ASUN Challenge (WAC) Southland Lindenwood GLVC (D-II) Ohio Valley (FCS) Monmouth Big South CAA North Alabama WAC–ASUN Challenge (ASUN) Sam Houston State WAC–ASUN Challenge (WAC) WAC Southern Utah Big Sky WAC–ASUN Challenge (WAC) Stonehill Northeast-10 (D-II) NEC (FCS) Texas A&M–Commerce Lone Star (D-II) Southland (FCS)
Notable headlines August 31 – The Division I Board of Directors adopted a series of changes to transfer rules. Transfer windows were adopted for all Division I sports. Student-athletes who wish to be immediately eligible at their next school must enter the NCAA transfer portal within the designated period(s) for their sport. For FCS football, two windows were established: a 45-day window starting the day after postseason selections are made, and a spring window from May 1–15. Accommodations will be made for participants in the FCS championship game. Student-athletes who experience head coaching changes, or those whose athletic aid is reduced, canceled, or not renewed, may transfer outside designated windows without penalty. Transferring student-athletes will be guaranteed their financial aid at their next school through graduation. September 21 – Houston Baptist University announced a name change to Houston Christian University, effective immediately. December 9 – In the highest-scoring game in FCS playoff history, Incarnate Word defeated previously unbeaten Sacramento State 66–63. UIW quarterback Lindsey Scott Jr. threw four touchdown passes to bring his season total to 59, surpassing the previous FCS record of 57 held by Jeremiah Briscoe of Sam Houston in 2016. Scott ended the season with 60, having thrown one TD pass in UIW's 35–32 semifinal loss to North Dakota State.
FCS team wins over FBS teams Italics denotes FBS teams.
Conference standings
Playoff qualifiers Automatic berths for conference champions ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidResult of last appearanceBig Sky Conference Sacramento State 3rd 2021 Second Round (L - South Dakota State)Big South Conference Gardner–Webb 1st None NoneColonial Athletic Association William & Mary 11th 2015 Second Round (L - Richmond)Missouri Valley Football Conference South Dakota State 12th 2021 Semifinals (L – Montana State)Northeast Conference Saint Francis (PA) 2nd 2016 First Round (L – Villanova)Ohio Valley Conference Southeast Missouri State 4th 2019 First Round (L - Illinois State)Patriot League Holy Cross 5th 2021 Second Round (L – Villanova)Pioneer Football League Davidson 3rd 2021 First Round (L – Kennesaw State)Southern Conference Samford 6th 2017 First Round (L – Kennesaw State)Southland Conference Southeastern Louisiana 5th 2021 Second Round (L – James Madison)ASUN Conference-Western Athletic Conference Eastern Kentucky 22nd 2014 First Round (L - Indiana State)
At large qualifiers ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidResult of last appearance Big Sky Conference Montana State 12th 2021 Championship Game (L - North Dakota State) Weber State 10th 2020 First Round (L - Southern Illinois) Idaho 12th 1995 First Round (L - McNeese State) Montana 26th 2021 Quarterfinals (L - James Madison) Colonial Athletic Association New Hampshire 17th 2017 Quarterfinals (L - South Dakota State) Elon 4th 2018 First Round (L - Wofford) Richmond 12th 2016 Quarterfinals (L - Eastern Washington) Delaware 18th 2020 Semifinals (L - South Dakota State) Missouri Valley Football Conference North Dakota State 13th 2021 National champions (W - Montana State) North Dakota 4th 2020 Quarterfinals (L - James Madison) Patriot League Fordham 6th 2015 First Round (L - Chattanooga) Southern Conference Furman 19th 2019 First Round (L - Austin Peay) Southland Conference Incarnate Word 3rd 2021 Second Round (L - Sam Houston State)
Abstentions Ivy League – Yale Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina Central Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State
Postseason The FCS again featured a 24-team postseason bracket: 11 teams decided via automatic bids issued to conference champions, and 13 at-large bids; the top eight teams were seeded.
Bowl game DateTime (EST)GameSiteTelevisionParticipantsAffiliationsResultsDec. 1712:00 p.m.Celebration BowlMercedes-Benz StadiumAtlanta, GeorgiaABCNorth Carolina Central Eagles (9–2)Jackson State Tigers (12–0)MEACSWAC
NCAA Division I playoff bracket
Rankings
The top 25 from the STATS and USA Today Coaches Polls.
Pre-season polls STATSRankingTeam 1 North Dakota State (52) 2 South Dakota State (2) 3 Montana 4 Montana State 5 Missouri State 6 Villanova 7 Sacramento State 8 Kennesaw State 9 Southern Illinois 10 Stephen F. Austin 11 East Tennessee State 12 Chattanooga 13 Eastern Washington 14 Incarnate Word 15 Jackson State 16 Holy Cross 17 Southeastern Louisiana 18 UT Martin 19 Delaware 20 Weber State 21 Northern Iowa 22 Rhode Island 23 Mercer 24 Richmond 25 UC Davis USA Today CoachesRankingTeam 1 North Dakota State (24) 2 Montana 3 South Dakota State (1) 4 Montana State 5 Villanova 6 Kennesaw State 7 Sacramento State 8 Missouri State 9 Southern Illinois 10 Stephen F. Austin 11 East Tennessee State 12 Eastern Washington 13 Chattanooga 14 Incarnate Word 15 UT Martin 16 Southeastern Louisiana 17 Jackson State 18 Holy Cross 19 Delaware 20 Weber State 21 Northern Iowa 22 UC Davis 23 Mercer 24 Rhode Island т Richmond т
Final rankings RankStats PerformCoaches' Poll 1 South Dakota State (14–1) (54) South Dakota State (14–1) (26) 2 North Dakota State (12–3) North Dakota State (12–3) 3 Incarnate Word (12–2) Incarnate Word (12–2) 4 Montana State (12–2) Sacramento State (12–1) 5 Sacramento State (12–1) Montana State (12–2) 6 Holy Cross (12–1) Holy Cross (12–1) 7 Samford (11–2) Samford (11–2) 8 William & Mary (11–2) William & Mary (11–2) 9 Weber State (10–3) Weber State (10–3) 10 Furman (10–3) Furman (10–3) 11 Richmond (9–4) Jackson State (12–1) 12 Southeastern Louisiana (9–4) Richmond (9–4) 13 New Hampshire (9–4) Southeast Missouri State (9–3) 14 Montana (8–5) Montana (8–5) 15 Southeast Missouri State (9–3) New Hampshire (9–4) 16 Jackson State (12–1) Fordham (9–3) 17 Elon (8–4) North Carolina Central (10–2) 18 Idaho (7–5) Elon (8–4) 19 Delaware (8–5) Southeastern Louisiana (9–4) 20 North Dakota (7–5) St. Thomas (MN) 21 North Carolina Central (10–2) Mercer (7–4) 22 Fordham (9–3) Idaho (7–5) 23 Chattanooga (7–4) Florida A&M (9–2) 24 Mercer (7–4) Delaware (8–5) т Chattanooga (7–4) т 25 UC Davis (6–5)
Kickoff games The regular season began on Saturday, August 27 with seven games in Week 0: FCS Kickoff (Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama): Jacksonville State 42, No. 10 Stephen F. Austin 17 MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Center Parc Stadium, Atlanta): Alabama State 23, Howard 13 Florida State 47 (FBS), Duquesne 7 North Carolina 56 (FBS), Florida A&M 24 Western Kentucky 38, Austin Peay 27 UNLV 52 (FBS), Idaho State 21 No. 23 Mercer 63, Morehead State 13
Regular season top 10 matchups Rankings reflect the STATS Poll. Week 4 No. 2т South Dakota State defeated No. 6 Missouri State, 28–14 (Robert W. Plaster Stadium, Springfield, MO) Week 7 No. 2 South Dakota State defeated No. 1 North Dakota State, 23–21 (Fargodome, Fargo, ND) Week 8 No. 2 Sacramento State defeated No. 7 Montana, 31–24 OT (Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA) No. 3 Montana State defeated No. 5 Weber State, 43–38 (Bobcat Stadium, Bozeman, MT) Week 10 No. 2 Sacramento State defeated No. 5 Weber State, 33–30 (Stewart Stadium, Ogden, UT)
Upsets This section lists instances of unranked teams defeating ranked teams during the season.
During the regular season, 13 unranked teams defeated a ranked team.
August 27, 2022 Jacksonville State 42, No. 10 Stephen F. Austin 17 (FCS Kickoff) September 1 Samford 27, No. 8 Kennesaw State 17 September 10 The Citadel 20, No. 9 East Tennessee State 17 Southeast Missouri State 34, No. 17 Southern Illinois 31 North Dakota 29, No. 24 Northern Iowa 27 September 17 North Carolina Central 45, No. 25 New Hampshire 27 Furman 27, No. 18 East Tennessee State 14 September 24 Monmouth 49, No. 9 Villanova 42 Elon 35, No. 14 William & Mary 31 Austin Peay 31, No. 16 Eastern Kentucky 20 Southeastern Louisiana 41, No. 4т Incarnate Word 35 October 1 North Dakota 48, No. 7 Missouri State 31 Central Arkansas 49, No. 22 Austin Peay 20 October 8 Texas A&M–Commerce 31, No 19. Southeastern Louisiana 28 October 15 Idaho 30, No. 2 Montana 23 Sam Houston State 25, No. 23 Eastern Kentucky 17 October 22 South Dakota 27, No. 14 Southern Illinois 24 October 29 Elon 27, No. 12 Delaware 7 Eastern Kentucky 28, No. 15 Southeast Missouri State 23 Northern Iowa 37, No. 20 Southern Illinois 36 Jacksonville State 40, No. 25 Austin Peay 16 November 5 Kennesaw State 44, No. 15 UT Martin 27 November 12 UC Davis 44, No. 15 Idaho 26 Yale 24, No. 24 Princeton 20 November 19 Western Carolina 32, No. 15 Chattanooga 29 Villanova 29, No. 20 Delaware 26
Coaching changes Preseason and in-season This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2022, 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 2022, see 2021 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.
School Outgoing coach Date Reason Replacement Wofford October 6, 2022 Resigned (effective immediately) (named full time on December 1) Arkansas–Pine Bluff October 20, 2022 Fired (interim) North Alabama October 30, 2022 Fired (interim)
End of season This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.