The playoffs began with four teams in 1978, then expanded to eight in 1981, twelve in 1982, and sixteen in 1986. The bracket went to five rounds with a field of twenty teams in 2010,[3] and to 24 teams in 2013.[4]
Years
Teams
Byes
1978–1980
4
1981
8
1982–1985
12
4
1986–2009
16
0
2010–2012
20
12
2013–
24
8
Since the 2010 season, the championship game has been played in January, three weeks after the semifinals.
An exception was the 2020 season, delayed until spring 2021 due to COVID-19; it had a reduced field of sixteen teams in the bracket, with the championship game in mid-May, eight days after the semifinals.
Twenty-eight former FCS schools have participated in the playoffs. Of these, 25 have moved up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), while the other three no longer sponsor football.
^According to conferences in football, not necessarily a team's primary conference.
^The Ivy League did not participate in the FCS playoffs prior to the 2025 season.
^The program was officially branded as "Sam Houston State" for almost all of its FCS tenure. The word "State" was dropped from the athletic branding, but not the university name, in 2020.
^The program was officially branded as "Connecticut" before 2013 (well after its move to FBS), though "UConn" was widely used informally before that time.
a Montana's competition in the 2011 Division I FCS Championship was vacated by action of the NCAA Committee on Infractions (record was 2–1).
b Northern Arizona's competition in the 1999 Division I-AA Championship was vacated by action of the NCAA Committee on Infractions (record was 0–1).
c Stephen F. Austin's competition in the 1989 Division I-AA Championship was vacated by action of the NCAA Committee on Infractions (record was 3–1).
d Tennessee State's competition in the 1981 and 1982 Division I-AA Championships was vacated by action of the NCAA Committee on Infractions (record was 1–2).
h During Troy's entire tenure in Division I-AA (1993–2001), its name was Troy State University. The school adopted its current name in 2005.
i The team was the Northeast Louisiana Indians during its entire tenure in Division I-AA (1982–1993). The school changed its name to the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 1999, and its nickname to Warhawks in 2006.
References
General
Jim Wright, ed. (August 1, 2009). "Championships". 2009 Division I Football Records Book(PDF). NCAA. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 20, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
