2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season

American college football season

The 2013 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 season began on August 29, 2013, and concluded with the 2014 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on January 4, 2014, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. North Dakota State won its third consecutive title, defeating Towson, 35–7.

Notable changes

For 2013, the FCS playoffs expanded for the first time since 2010. The Pioneer Football League joined the conferences receiving an automatic bid into the FCS playoffs, which increased to 24 teams.

Under a standard provision of NCAA rules, all FCS programs were allowed to play 12 regular-season games (not counting conference title games) in 2013, and also in 2014. In years when the period starting with the Thursday before Labor Day and ending with the final Saturday in November contains 14 Saturdays, FCS programs may play 12 games instead of the regular 11. After 2014, the next season in which 12-game seasons are allowed will be 2019.^[1]

FCS team wins over FBS teams

(FCS rankings from the Sports Network poll; FBS rankings from the AP Poll)

August 29: Southern Utah 22, South Alabama 21
August 29: No. 11 Towson 33, Connecticut 18
August 30: No. 1 North Dakota State 24, Kansas State 21
August 30: Samford 31, Georgia State 21
August 31: No. 21 Eastern Illinois 40, San Diego State 19
August 31: No. 4 Eastern Washington 49, No. 25 Oregon State 46 (NOTE: this is the third time an FCS team has beat an FBS team that was ranked in the AP poll, after James Madison's victory over No. 13 Virginia Tech in 2010 and Appalachian State's upset of No. 5 Michigan in 2007).
August 31: McNeese State 53, South Florida 21
August 31: No. 17 Northern Iowa 28, Iowa State 20
September 7: Chattanooga 42, Georgia State 14
September 7: Maine 24, Massachusetts 14
September 7: Nicholls State 27, Western Michigan 23
September 14: No. 23 Bethune-Cookman 34, Florida International 13
September 14: Fordham 30, Temple 29
September 21: Jacksonville State 32, Georgia State 26 ^OT
November 9: Old Dominion 59, Idaho 38
November 23: Georgia Southern 26, Florida 20

Conference changes and new programs

Conference standings

Conference summaries

Championship games

Other conference winners

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

Playoff qualifiers

Automatic berths for conference champions

• Big Sky Conference – Eastern Washington
• Big South Conference – Coastal Carolina
• Colonial Athletic Association – Maine
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Bethune-Cookman
• Missouri Valley Football Conference – North Dakota State
• Northeast Conference – Sacred Heart
• Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Illinois
• Patriot League – Lafayette
• Pioneer Football League - Butler
• Southern Conference – Furman
• Southland Conference – Southeastern Louisiana

At large qualifiers

• Big Sky Conference - Montana, Northern Arizona, Southern Utah
• Big South Conference - None
• Colonial Athletic Association - New Hampshire, Towson
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference - South Carolina State
• Missouri Valley Football Conference - South Dakota State
• Northeast Conference - None
• Ohio Valley Conference - Jacksonville State, Tennessee State
• Patriot League - Fordham
• Pioneer Football League - None
• Southern Conference - Samford
• Southland Conference - McNeese State, Sam Houston State

Abstentions

• Ivy League – Princeton
• Southwestern Athletic Conference – Southern

Postseason

After three seasons with a playoff field of twenty teams, the FCS bracket was expanded to 24 this postseason, with the eight seeded teams receiving first-round byes.

NCAA Division I playoff bracket

* Home team

New, expanded, renovated, and temporary stadiums

• Albany made its CAA debut in Bob Ford Field, a new 8,500-seat on-campus stadium. University Field, which Albany had used for both football and track since 1970, is now solely a track venue.
• Charlotte made its football debut in Jerry Richardson Stadium, a new on-campus facility. Its initial capacity is 15,300, but it can be expanded to 25,000 with temporary seating. The stadium design allows future expansion to 40,000.
• Mercer plays at the Moye Complex, a new on-campus venue with a capacity of 10,200.
• Stetson plays at the already-existing Spec Martin Stadium, an off-campus stadium owned by Stetson's home city of DeLand, Florida. The stadium holds 6,000.

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season

This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2013. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2013, see 2012 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

End of season

NFL draft selections

Listed below are all FCS players selected in the 2014 NFL Draft

See also

• College football portal

• 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings

References

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