NCAA Division I FCS independent schools
US institutions whose football programs are not part of a conference
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions in the United States whose football programs are not members of a football conference. This means that FCS independents are not required to schedule each other for competition as conference schools do.
| |
| Association | NCAA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1978 |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division I |
| Subdivision | FCS |
| No. of teams | 2 (1 in 2027) |
| Website | ncaa.com/independents |
As of the upcoming 2026 season, two FCS programs will compete as independents:
- Merrimack has competed as an independent since 2024, when they left the football-sponsoring Northeast Conference (now officially known as NEC) to join the Metro Conference, which does not sponsor football.[1]
- Chicago State, a full NEC member, will play its first season of varsity football in 2026 as an FCS independent, before joining NEC football in 2027.[2]
Current FCS independents
| Institution | Location | Founded | First | Joined | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Colors | Primary conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago State University | Chicago, Illinois | 1867 | 2026 | Public | 2,620 | Cougars | NEC | ||
| Merrimack College | North Andover, Massachusetts | 1947 | 1996 | 2024 | Private (Augustinian) |
5,505 | Warriors | Metro | |
Former FCS independents
The following is a complete list of teams that have been Division I-AA/FCS Independents since the formation of Division I-AA in 1978. The "Current Conference" column indicates affiliations for the 2026 college football season. The years listed in this table are football seasons; since football is a fall sport, this means that the final season of independent status, or membership in a given conference, is the calendar year before a conference change took effect.
Teams in italics are current FBS members; this includes second-year transitional schools that are counted as FBS for scheduling purposes but not bowl game eligibility. Because James Madison met FBS scheduling requirements in its first season in the Sun Belt Conference in 2022 (specifically five home games against FBS opposition), it was allowed to skip the first year of the normal two-year process.
See also
Notes
- The "United Athletic Conference" name has been used by two separate entities. The first is a football-only alliance between the all-sports Atlantic Sun Conference and Western Athletic Conference that operated in the 2023–2025 seasons, with full WAC members Abilene Christian and Tarleton State competing.[3] The second is the all-sports conference that operated from 1962–2026 as the Western Athletic Conference, which adopted the United Athletic Conference name in July 2026. Both Abilene Christian and Tarleton State remain members of the all-sports UAC.
- Arkansas State has been a full Sun Belt member since 1991, but the conference did not sponsor football until 2001.
- Austin Peay only departed OVC football; it remained a full but non-football member before returning to OVC football in 2007.
- As part of the 2026 reorganization of the alliance between the Atlantic Sun and Western Athletic Conferences that led to the latter's 2026 rebranding as the United Athletic Conference, the five legacy ASUN members with scholarship-granting FCS programs, all of which had competed in the football-only United Athletic Conference from 2023–2025, moved to the all-sports UAC for 2026 and beyond.
- The conference now known as the Patriot League began in 1986 as the football-only Colonial League. It adopted its current name in 1990, when it became an all-sports conference.
- Buffalo became a full member of the MAC in 1998, but was not a football member until 1999.
- The Great West Conference began in 2004 as the Great West Football Conference. It became an all-sports conference in 2008.
- Coastal Carolina joined the Sun Belt Conference as a full but non-football member in 2016, and joined Sun Belt football in 2017.
- Delaware had been a full member of the Coastal Athletic Association from 2001 to 2024 (when that conference was known as the Colonial Athletic Association). However, the CAA did not sponsor football until 2007, when it effectively took over the football league previously sponsored by the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), establishing the separate entity of CAA Football to govern that sport.
- CAA Football is the direct successor of both the Yankee Conference and A-10 football conference. The football-only Yankee Conference was absorbed by the A-10 after the 1996 season. After the 2006 season, the A-10 dropped football after all of its football members joined the newly formed CAA Football. The Yankee Conference's automatic bid to the I-AA/FCS playoffs passed in succession to the A-10 and CAA Football.
- Delaware begun its transition to FBS in 2024 and joined Conference USA in 2025.
- ETSU resurrected its football program, dormant since the end of the 2003 season, in 2015, playing that season as an independent before joining Southern Conference football in 2016.
- ETSU, which had previously been a Southern Conference member from 1978 to 2005, rejoined the SoCon in 2014, initially as a non-football member.
- Florida A&M was a member of the MEAC in 1986 & 1987, but games played did not count as conference games.
- Florida A&M was a member of the MEAC in 2004, but games played did not count as conference games
- Known before 2022 as Houston Baptist.
- The MVFC did not adopt its current name until 2008. Before then, it was known as the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (1982–1993) and Gateway Football Conference (1993–2008).
- Liberty became a full member of the Big South in 1991, remaining a member until joining the non-football ASUN Conference in 2018, but the Big South did not sponsor football until 2002.
- Liberty began a transition to FBS in the 2017 season, and became a full FBS member in 2019.
- South Alabama has been a Sun Belt member from the conference's creation in 1976. However, the Sun Belt did not sponsor football until 2001. South Alabama did not start a football program until 2009, and did not play Sun Belt football until 2012.
- The original Big East Conference split into the football-sponsoring American Athletic Conference, since renamed the American Conference, and a new non-football Big East Conference in 2013. South Florida remained with the FBS schools in the American.
- Southeastern Louisiana dropped football after the 1985 season.
- Towson was a CAA member at the conference's formation in 1979, but left in 1981; after having been a member of four other conferences, it rejoined the CAA in 2001. However, the CAA did not sponsor football until 2007, when it effectively took over the football league previously sponsored by the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), establishing the separate entity of CAA Football to govern that sport.
- Troy joined the Sun Belt for football in 2004, and became an all-sports member in 2005.
- Known before 2022 as Dixie State.
