Why Do We Love the FCS?

Whether you’re rooting for your alma mater, miss college football the way it was, or just enjoy watching a good offensive scheme, we’re glad you’re here to enjoy the untapped potential the FCS has to offer a fan of college football.

Here’s seven reasons why we love the FCS:

Photo Credit: Montana Athletics (GoGriz.com)

1. Every Team Gets a Chance to Compete for a National Championship

Close your eyes and imagine late August when football season is finally here. The warm air, the smell of the grill at a tailgate, the sound of the marching band. Now imagine your team suffers a Week 0 or Week 1 non-conference loss. In some cases, your team probably has no chance to recover and compete for a national title. Even if your team goes undefeated and wins their conference championship, they still might not get an invite based on where they are ranked. How does that make any sense? Looking at you FBS.

One of the beautiful elements of the FCS is that at the beginning of the year every team has a chance to win a national title. All your team must do is win its conference to be one of 11 teams to earn an automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. If not, be one of the 13 at-large teams based on your strength of schedule and record. Even the MEAC and SWAC champions have a chance to compete for an HBCU title. At the beginning of the season, all 13 FCS conferences put their teams in a position to hoist a trophy at the end of the year and that makes FCS football special.

2. Purest form of Division I College Football

When people say they played a sport in college, they’ll most likely refer to themselves as a “DI athlete” and last time we checked the FCS is still a member of Division I football in the NCAA. As a matter of fact, some people still might refer to the FCS as the purest form of college football. Even though there is NIL money involved, most schools can’t give what the G5 schools give – certainly not what the P5 gives. Guys just want to compete and play for a school that took a chance on them. Sure, they may transfer to make more money or have a better opportunity, but the FCS doesn’t have that corporate feel like the FBS has these days. That might change, but for now, we’re going to enjoy the FCS for how it is.

3. Culture of Conferences

How do you have the oldest colleges in the United States, teams that don’t offer football scholarships, and Historical Black Colleges and Universities all in the FCS and not feel like there’s more culture than other NCAA Division I subdivision. All FCS conferences are loaded with identities that often go unnoticed at other levels. When you’re at a Jackson State vs Southern game, go to the restroom and get your popcorn at the 2-minute timeout before halftime because you won’t want to miss the energy and performance at the break. It’s not just about winning games for the FCS leagues, it’s about showcasing heritage and a shared culture experience that goes far beyond the field.

Photo Credit: Southern University

4. Regional Rivalries

The FBS now has more coast-to-coast conferences that a fun conference regional rivalry rarely exists. That’s not the case in the FCS. The Brawl of the Wild. The Game. The Florida Classic. These are a few of the many regional rivalries that make the FCS great. There’s so much history, regional pride, and passionate fanbases that it’s hard to not feel the energy when you’re around it. The atmospheres can be intense, even without massive stadiums.

5. Underdog Appeal

2007 was known as “Year of the Upset” in college football and the FCS kicked down the door when Appalachian State stunned the world going into the Big House and taking down No. 5 Michigan in one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports. How do you not get chills going back and watching that final play? The FCS will always be the underdogs, but we live for the upsets and Cinderella Stories, which is what makes sports so fun. When you’re watching March Madness, you don’t hope it’s a chalky tournament. You want chaos. Chaos lives in the FCS and some programs even cause chaos when playing FBS teams.

6. Accessibility and Authenticity

Does attending football games sometimes feel like you have to take out a bank loan with ticket prices? At the FCS level, you can get all-access tickets at most games for the price of nosebleed seats at FBS games. Who doesn’t love that kind of access to a Division I athletic event? Plus, the fans feel more connected to players and programs. Universities often want to grow the attendance at football games and one way to do that is to have that community-oriented, family feel at games. When a kid knows a player and that player gives them a high five, that student-athlete and program has made a fan for life. That's what it's all about.

7. Style of Play

4 and 5 star prospects commit to Power 5 programs, but that still doesn’t mean there aren’t good enough athletes that go to FCS programs. You often see more creative offenses, trick plays, and less rigid systems due to coaches that lean on scheme, player development, and adaptability to find an edge. You’ve got it all in the FCS. You’ve got run-heavy programs that want to control the clock and rely on defense, but you’ve also got teams that will air it out and hang 40 on a defense. QBs are often dual-threat dudes, which makes for must-see TV. Defenses like to disrupt timing with blitz packages and aggressive fronts. The teams that make a run deep into December are the ones that are disciplined, well-coached, and understand the scheme.