The list of current Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) schools that have participated in the playoffs leading to the NCAA Division I Football Championship stands at 92.
Known as Division I-AA from 1978 through 2005, it was renamed FCS prior to the 2006 season.
[1][2] The playoffs began with four teams in 1978, then expanded to eight in 1981, twelve in 1982, and sixteen in 1986.
* – The OVC–Big South Football Association began play in 2023 as a de facto merger of the football leagues of the Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference.
† – CAA Football is technically separate from the all-sports Coastal Athletic Association, although both leagues share the same administration.