This article depicts the NCAA Men's Football Championship Subdivision Alignment History—specifically, all schools that have competed in the lower tier of NCAA Division I college football since Division I football was split into two subdivisions in 1978. This includes schools competing in:
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Teams in bold italics are now in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS); those in plain italics either play football in lower divisions or not at all. Teams followed by an asterisk (*) dropped football.
Dates reflect when a team began play in I-AA/FCS, not when it became eligible for postseason play.
As of the upcoming 2017 season, one team transitioning from FCS to FBS, Liberty, is classified as an FCS member. The school will become an FBS independent in 2018, with full FBS membership and bowl eligibility following in 2019. The other current transitional team, Coastal Carolina, joins Sun Belt Conference football in 2017 with full FBS membership and bowl eligibility following in 2018.
Idaho has announced that it will downgrade its football team from FBS to FCS, rejoining its all-sports home of the Big Sky Conference as a football member in 2018. In the same year, North Alabama will begin a transition from NCAA Division II. It will join the ASUN Conference for non-football sports at that time, with the football team playing as an FCS independent in 2018 before joining the Big South Conference in 2019.
School names reflect those in current use, not necessarily those used by a school when it competed in I-AA/FCS. Specifically, three schools were known by different names throughout their entire tenure in Division I-AA/FCS:
Alignments are current for the upcoming 2017 season.