The 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was conducted 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.
Conference changes and new programs The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) and Western Athletic Conference, which had created the WAC-ASUN Challenge in 2021, merged their football leagues effective in 2023. The partnership was formally rebranded as the United Athletic Conference (UAC), a football-only league separate from the two conferences. The NCAA denied the UAC's request to be classified as a single-sport FCS football conference, but continued to recognize the organization as an extension of the WAC-ASUN Challenge. The Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference also merged their football leagues effective in 2023, but without attempting to create a new independent league, instead adopting the name Big South–OVC Football Association. Like the ASUN and WAC, both conferences were in danger of falling below the minimum six members required to remain an automatic qualifier (AQ) for the FCS postseason. The Colonial Athletic Association, along with its (technically-separate) FCS football league, adopted the name Coastal Athletic Association, a change that did not affect the CAA branding.
School 2022 conference 2023 conference Abilene Christian WAC-ASUN Challenge (WAC) UAC Austin Peay WAC-ASUN Challenge (ASUN) BryantBig South Big South–OVC Campbell CAA Central Arkansas WAC-ASUN Challenge (ASUN) UAC Charleston Southern Big South Big South–OVC Eastern Illinois Ohio Valley Eastern Kentucky WAC-ASUN Challenge (ASUN) UAC Gardner–Webb Big SouthBig South–OVC Jacksonville State ASUN (FCS) C-USA (FBS) Kennesaw State WAC-ASUN Challenge (ASUN) FCS Independent LindenwoodOhio ValleyBig South–OVC Murray State MVFC North Alabama WAC-ASUN Challenge (ASUN) UAC North Carolina A&T Big South CAA Robert Morris Big South–OVC Sam Houston State WAC (FCS) C-USA (FBS) Southeast Missouri StateOhio ValleyBig South–OVC Southern Utah WAC-ASUN Challenge (WAC) UAC Stephen F. Austin WAC-ASUN Challenge (WAC) Tarleton State WAC Tennessee State Ohio ValleyBig South–OVC Tennessee Tech Utah Tech WAC UAC UT MartinOhio ValleyBig South–OVC
Notable headlines October 4 – The NCAA announced several major changes to Division I football recruiting and governance rules: The window for athletes to enter the transfer portal was reduced. For FCS players, the portal now opens on the Monday after the selection of the playoff field, and stays open for 30 days. For players participating in the FCS playoffs or the Celebration Bowl, there will be an additional 5-day window after the players' final game. The limit on "initial counters"—i.e., players who are receiving athletically-related financial aid for the first time—was permanently eliminated. The previous FCS limit of 30 had been suspended due to COVID-19 impacts. The application fee for transitioning from FCS to FBS increased from $5,000 to $5 million, effective immediately. October 12 – Northwestern State junior safety Ronnie Caldwell died after being shot multiple times near the school's Natchitoches, Louisiana campus. Two weeks after the shooting, Northwestern State canceled the remainder of its season, and head coach Brad Laird resigned.
FCS team wins over FBS teams Italics denotes FBS teams.
Conference standings
Playoff qualifiers Automatic berths for conference champions ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidResult of last appearance Big Sky Conference Montana 27th 2022 Second round - (L - North Dakota State) Big South–OVC Gardner–Webb 2nd 2022 Second round - (L - William & Mary) CAA Football Villanova 15th 2021 Quarterfinal - (L - South Dakota State) Missouri Valley Football Conference South Dakota State 13th 2022 National champions (W - North Dakota State) Northeast Conference Duquesne 3rd 2018 Second round - (L - South Dakota State) Patriot League Lafayette 5th 2013 First round - (L - New Hampshire) Pioneer Football League Drake 1st None None Southern Conference Furman 20th 2022 Second round - (L - Incarnate Word) Southland Conference Nicholls 7th 2019 Second round - (L - North Dakota State) United Athletic Conference Austin Peay 2nd 2019 Quarterfinals - (L - Montana State)
At large qualifiers ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidResult of last appearance Big Sky Conference Idaho 13th 2022 First round (L - Southeastern Louisiana) Montana State 13th 2022 Semifinal (L - South Dakota State) Sacramento State 4th 2022 Quarterfinal (L - Incarnate Word) CAA Football Albany 3rd 2019 Second round (L - Montana State) Delaware 19th 2022 Second round (L - South Dakota State) Richmond 13th 2022 Second round (L - Sacramento State) Missouri Valley Football Conference North Dakota 5th 2022 First round (L - Weber State) North Dakota State 14th 2022 National Runner-up (L - South Dakota State) South Dakota 3rd 2021 First round (L - Southern Illinois) Southern Illinois 11th 2021 Second round (L - North Dakota State) Youngstown State 13th 2016 National Runner-up (L - James Madison) Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference North Carolina Central 1st None None Southern Conference Chattanooga 5th 2016 Second round (L - Sam Houston State) Mercer 1st None None
Abstentions Ivy League – Harvard, Yale Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Howard Southwestern Athletic Conference – Florida A&M
Postseason The FCS again featured a 24-team postseason bracket: 10 teams decided via automatic bids issued to conference champions, and 14 at-large bids (see above). The top eight teams were seeded and received a bye to the second round.
Bowl game DateTime (EST)GameSiteTelevisionTeamsAffiliationsResultsDec. 1612:00 p.m.Celebration BowlMercedes-Benz StadiumAtlanta, GeorgiaUSA: ABCCanada: TSN2Florida A&M (11–1)Howard (6–5)SWACMEACFlorida A&M 30Howard 26
NCAA Division I playoff bracket
Source:
Rankings
The top 25 from the Stats Perform and USA Today Coaches Polls.
Pre-season polls Stats PerformRankingTeam 1 South Dakota State (56) 2 North Dakota State 3 Montana State 4 William & Mary 5 Holy Cross 6 Furman 7 Incarnate Word 8 Idaho 9 Samford 10 Sacramento State 11 New Hampshire 12 Southeast Missouri State 13 Weber State 14 Montana 15 Southeastern Louisiana 16 UC Davis 17 North Dakota 18 Richmond 19 North Carolina Central 20 Mercer 21 Rhode Island 22 Delaware 23 Northern Iowa 24 Eastern Kentucky 25 Gardner–Webb USA Today CoachesRankingTeam 1 South Dakota State (24) 2 North Dakota State (1) 3 Montana State 4 William & Mary 5 Holy Cross 6 Furman 7 Incarnate Word 8 Sacramento State 9 Samford 10 Weber State 11 Southeast Missouri State 12 New Hampshire 13 Idaho 14 Montana 15 Southeastern Louisiana 16 Richmond 17 UC Davis 18 North Dakota 19 North Carolina Central 20 Northern Iowa 21 Delaware 22 Mercer 23 Rhode Island 24 Gardner–Webb 25 Florida A&M
Kickoff games The regular season began on Saturday, August 26 with three games in Week 0: FCS Kickoff (Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama): No. 20 Mercer 17, North Alabama 7 Albany 34, Fordham 13 MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Center Parc Stadium, Atlanta): Jackson State 37, South Carolina State 7
Regular season top 10 matchups Rankings reflect the Stats Perform Poll.
Week 2 No. 1 South Dakota State defeated No. 3 Montana State, 20–16 (Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, Brookings, SD) Week 4 No. 7 Idaho defeated No. 4 Sacramento State, 36–27 (Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID) No. 3 Montana State defeated No. 10 Weber State, 40–0 (Stewart Stadium, Ogden, UT) Week 7 No. 10 Montana defeated No. 3 Idaho, 23–21 (Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID) Week 8 No. 2 Montana State defeated No. 3 Sacramento State, 42–30 (Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA) No. 4 Furman defeated No. 8 Western Carolina, 29–17 (Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium, Cullowhee, NC) Week 9 No. 1 South Dakota State defeated No. 4 South Dakota, 37–3 (DakotaDome, Vermillion, SD) No. 9 Idaho defeated No. 2 Montana State, 24–21 (Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID) Week 10 No. 4 Montana defeated No. 7 Sacramento State, 34–7 (Washington–Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, MT) No. 9 South Dakota defeated No. 10 Southern Illinois, 14–7 (Saluki Stadium, Carbondale, IL) Week 11 No. 6 South Dakota defeated No. 10 North Dakota, 14–10 (DakotaDome, Vermillion, SD) Week 12 No. 3 Montana defeated No. 4 Montana State, 37–7 (Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, MT) No. 10 Villanova defeated No. 7 Delaware, 35–7 (Delaware Stadium, Newark, DE)
Upsets This section lists instances of unranked teams defeating ranked teams during the season.
Regular season During the regular season, 33 unranked teams defeated ranked teams.
September 2, 2023 Morgan State 17, No. 18 Richmond 10 September 9, 2023 Western Carolina 30, No. 8 Samford 7 September 16, 2023 Eastern Washington 40, No. 19 Southeastern Louisiana 29 September 23, 2023 Northern Arizona 28, No. 13 Montana 14 Eastern Kentucky 41, No. 16 Southeast Missouri State 38 Chattanooga 47, No. 20 Samford 24 Eastern Washington 27, No. 15 UC Davis 24 September 30, 2023 South Dakota 24, No. 2 North Dakota State 19 Elon 14, No. 5 William & Mary 6 Harvard 38, No. 6 Holy Cross 28 Towson 54, No. 14 New Hampshire 51 Albany 31, No. 16 Villanova 10 Northern Iowa 44, No. 23 Youngstown State 41 October 7, 2023 Northern Arizona 27, No. 13 Weber State 10 Youngstown State 31, No. 6 Southern Illinois 3 October 14, 2023 Idaho State 42, No. 21 Eastern Washington 41 UC Davis 17, No. 22 Weber State 16 New Hampshire 38, No. 24 Albany 31 October 21, 2023 Towson 34, No. 13 William & Mary 24 Princeton 21, No. 18 Harvard 14 Northern Iowa 27, No. 11 North Dakota 0 Lafayette 38, No. 15 Holy Cross 35 October 28, 2023 Mercer 45, No. 10 Western Carolina 38 Gardner–Webb 38, No. 14 UT Martin 34 Tarleton State 25, No, 18 Central Arkansas 23 Northern Arizona 38, No. 25 UC Davis 21 November 4, 2023 Elon 33, No. 5 Delaware 27 Colgate 37, No. 20 Lafayette 34 OT Nicholls 45, No. 8 Incarnate Word 32 November 11, 2023 Weber State 31, No. 4 Idaho 29 Howard 50, No. 7 North Carolina Central 20 Missouri State 35, No. 15 Northern Iowa 16 November 18, 2023 UC Davis 31, No. 8 Sacramento State 21 Samford 27, No. 19 UT Martin 17 Yale 23, No. 23 Harvard 18 Wofford 19, No. 2 Furman 13 VMI 27, No. 14 Western Carolina 24
Coaching changes Preseason and in-season This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2023, 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 2023, see 2022 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes. School Outgoing coach Date Reason Replacement Columbia Al Bagnoli August 4, 2023 Retired Mark Fabish (interim) Dartmouth Buddy Teevens September 19, 2023 Died Sammy McCorkle (named full time on October 19) Northwestern State Brad Laird October 26, 2023 Resigned Weston Glaser (interim) Southern Eric Dooley November 14, 2023 Fired Terrence Graves (named full time on December 12)
End of season This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.