The 2026 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, is 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 will end in November. The postseason will begin in November and end in January 2027 with the 2027 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Notable headlines January 23 – The NCAA approved a rule change to allow teams to add commercial logos from sponsorships on uniforms, equipment and apparel. Teams may add two logos, each up to four inches in size, to uniforms, with one additional logo on equipment, for regular season games. April 8 – Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported that the NCAA was considering a new athletic eligibility framework. Under the proposal, NCAA athletes would have five full years of eligibility, starting on their 19th birthday or high school graduation, whichever is sooner. No redshirting would be allowed, even for medical reasons. Existing eligibility waivers for military service, religious missions, or (for women) maternity leave, would not be affected. June 5 – The NCAA Division I Cabinet slightly modified the age-based eligibility proposal, addressing concerns raised by the men's basketball and men's ice hockey communities, as well as the service academies. Under the new proposal, expected to be voted on by the end of June, athletes' eligibility clocks would start upon their full-time college enrollment or the start of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever is sooner. June 18 – The Ohio Valley Conference announced its football teams would return to competing under the OVC name and branding, following three years of competing under the OVC–Big South Football Association. Charleston Southern and Gardner–Webb would continue playing in the league as OVC affiliate members. June 23 – The Division I Cabinet unanimously approved the age-based eligibility proposal as modified earlier that month, officially taking effect with the end of the Cabinet's meeting the next day. Students enrolling full-time in college for the first time in 2026, plus those who had remaining eligibility under previous rules at the end of 2025–26, can use whichever model is most advantageous to them. Those who exhausted their eligibility under previous rules in 2025–26 will not receive any additional eligibility, even if they initially enrolled in 2022–23 (giving them four years of eligibility). June 24 – On the same day the new age-based eligibility model took effect, a group of 15 college basketball players, all of whom graduated from high school in 2022 and exhausted their eligibility under the previous rules in 2025–26, filed suit in Hamilton County, Ohio challenging the application of the new model to their high school cohort. Other suits on similar grounds were expected to be filed in other states. July 31 – Rulings in two separate court cases undercut the NCAA's planned "five for five" eligibility model as applied to 2022 high school graduates. First, a Tennessee state court judge granted a temporary injunction that allowed 19 basketball players in that class an extra season of eligibility. Several hours later, a federal judge in Colorado issued a preliminary injunction that applied to all members of the high school class of 2022 who had exhausted athletic eligibility, regardless of sport, and also provided those individuals an extra season of eligibility. The NCAA was expected to appeal.
Conference changes and new programs NB: This list does not include members of the OVC–Big South Football Association that continue to play football in the Ohio Valley Conference, or members of the football-only United Athletic Conference that continue to play football in the all-sports UAC.
School 2025 conference 2026 conference Chicago State New program Independent North Dakota State MVFC Mountain West (FBS) Sacramento State Big Sky MAC (FBS) Sacred Heart Independent CAA Football Saint Francis NEC PAC (Division III) Southern Utah UAC Big Sky Tennessee Tech OVC–Big South SoCon Utah Tech UAC Big Sky Villanova CAA Football Patriot League William & Mary CAA Football Patriot League West Florida GSC (Division II) UAC
Kickoff games The regular season started on Saturday, August 29 in Week 0:
Regular season top 10 matchups
Upsets
Regular season This section lists unranked teams defeating STATS poll-ranked teams during the season.
FCS teams wins over FBS teams Italics denotes FBS teams.
Non-DI team wins over FCS teams Italics denotes non-DI teams.
Conference standings
Playoff qualifiers
Postseason
Coaching changes Preseason and in-season This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2026, 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 2026, see 2025 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.
School Outgoing coach Date Reason Replacement Gardner–Webb Kris McCullough September 2, 2026 Fired Pete Bennett (interim)
End of season This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.
School Outgoing coach Date Reason Replacement Previous position
See also 2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season 2026 NCAA Division II football season 2026 NCAA Division III football season 2026 NAIA football season 2026 U Sports football season
References