Division 1 football. The best of the best. The cream of the crop. About a million players play high school football in the United States, only around 15,000 play FBS football and 13,000 play FCS football. This goes to show that not everyone is a division 1 player, and that is ok. Division I is not for the weak of heart and a lot will be expected of you athletically and academically wherever you go.
The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), is the second highest level of college football in the nation (Wiki). There are 128 FCS teams in 14 conferences across the entire nation (Wiki). Originally known as Division I-AA, the FCS was created in January of 1978 (Wiki).
The majority of teams in the FCS have the option to compete for the FCS Championship, a tournament where 24 teams selected by the FCS Playoff Selection Committee compete in a bracket style tournament where the top 8 teams get a first round bye. The FCS Championship has recently been dominated by North Dakota and South Dakota State who are both members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Here is a complete list of FCS football conferences, their locations, and how many member schools they have:
Big Sky Conference
12 members
West Coast (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington)
Big South Conference
4 members
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia
CAA Football
15 members
Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina
Ivy League
8 members
Northeast
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
6 members
Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic
Missouri Valley Football Conference
12 members
Midwestern United States
Northeast Conference
8 members
Northeast
Ohio Valley Conference
6 members
Midwestern and Southeastern United States
Patriot League
7 members
Northeast
Pioneer Football League
11 members
All over the place
Southern Conference
9 members
South
Southland Conference
6 members
Texas and Louisiana
Southwestern Athletic Conference
12 members
Southeast
United Athletic Conference
9 members
South + Utah
Almost all FCS Division I schools, except the Ivy League, can hand out athletic scholarships. However, FCS scholarships are harder to come by compared to FBS due to FCS programs typically having smaller budgets. FCS programs can hand out a max of 63 scholarships, however, that number will vary from school to school depending on their athletic budgets.
The FCS contains some of the best football competition in the world. Hundreds of FCS players aspire to play in the NFL and treat their college football experience as a job. Actually, playing football at the FCS level should be treated as a full time job in terms of hours and concentration. Players playing at the FCS level should expect to practice with the team year-round with minimal times to visit home on break. Teams will typically have full padded practices in the spring before beginning summer workouts. FCS will also contain much more travel, with teams traveling further to play and compete. Division I is the least balanced version of college football where student-athletes will feel more like athlete-students as they deal with the pressures of competing at the highest level while trying to balance school work. This all goes to say that division I is not for the weak of heart. Although division I comes with a lot of glitz and glamor, it does not come without the work, and you should be prepared to center your life around football for the next four years.
Conference Highlights
Patriot League:
The Patriot League is a division I FCS conference located in the Northeast United States composed of elite private institutions. Only half of the core conference schools play football (7 members) but the Patriot League is a standout in academic and athletic competition. Patriot League teams have a rigorous schedule, with winner workouts, spring practice, summer workouts/practice, and in season practice on top of year round position meetings. Patriot League teams have the option to give out athletic scholarships, which sets them apart from other conferences in the Northeast area (Ivy League). The Patriot League can offer up to 60 scholarships. Here is a list of the Patriot League schools:
Bucknell University (#30 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
Colgate University (#21 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
College of the Holy Cross (#27 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
Lafayette College (#30 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
Lehigh University (#47 in National Universities)
Georgetown University (#22 in National Universities)
Fordham University (#89 in National Universities)
Via US News Report
Ivy League:
The Patriot League is a division I FCS conference located in the Northeast United States composed of the most elite private institutions in the country. The conference comprises 8 colleges and universities with some of the most rich academic history in the nation. Multiple things set the Ivy League apart from the rest of FCS. Although schools like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale used to dominate the championships of the early 20th century, the Ivy League does not compete in the FCS championship playoffs. The Ivy League also does not offer athletic scholarships. Another aspect of Ivy League football is the academics. Players must not only be at the top of their class for athletics, but also academics. If a coach expresses interest he/she will most likely want to see your high school transcript before moving forward in recruiting.
Brown University (#9 in National Universities)
Columbia University (#12 in National Universities)
Cornell University (#12 in National Universities)
Dartmouth College (#18 in National Universities)
Harvard University (#3 in National Universities)
Princeton University (#1 in National Universities)
University of Pennsylvania (#6 in National Universities)
Yale University (#5 in National Universities)
Via US News Report