2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season

2017 NCAA Division I FCS season
Regular season
Duration	August 26 – November 18
Payton Award	Jeremiah Briscoe, QB, Sam Houston State
Buchanan Award	, DE, Jacksonville State
Playoff
Duration	November 25 – December 16
Championship date	January 6, 2018
Championship site	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
Champion	North Dakota State
NCAA Division I FCS football seasons
«2016 2018»

The 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The FCS Championship Game was played on January 6, 2018, in Frisco, Texas. The North Dakota State Bison beat the James Madison Dukes, 17–13, to capture their sixth title in seven years.

Conference changes and new programs[]

Membership changes[]

School	Former conference	New conference
Coastal Carolina	FCS Independent	Sun Belt (FBS)

In addition, this was the final year for Campbell in the Pioneer Football League. In November 2016, the school announced that it would transition to scholarship football, and would add the sport to its existing membership in the Big South Conference in 2018.

This was the final season for Idaho as a football member of the Sun Belt Conference, and was also Idaho's final FBS season. Following the 2016 decision of the Sun Belt not to extend its football membership agreements with Idaho after their 2017 expiration, Idaho announced that it would downgrade to FCS football, adding the sport to its full but non-football membership in the Big Sky Conference. This is the first time in Division I that a school has voluntarily descended from FBS to FCS.

It was also the final season for Liberty in the Big South, and also potentially the final season for Hampton in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) football (see below).

Other headlines[]

Offseason[]

• January 26 – The Missouri Valley Football Conference announced that North Dakota would join the league in 2020. The school's other sports, except for men's ice hockey, will move from the Big Sky Conference to the non-football Summit League in 2018, but the football team will remain a Big Sky member until 2020.^[1][2]
• February 16 – Liberty announced plans to undergo the two-year transition period join the Division I FBS as a football independent, while remaining in the Big South Conference in all other sports.^[3] While normally against NCAA rules to transition to FBS without a conference invite, Liberty was granted a waiver.^[3] Liberty will join FBS in 2018, but will not become a full member and eligible for post-season play until 2019.
• April 14 – The NCAA Division I Council approved a suite of rule changes affecting the recruiting process. The changes most significant to FCS football were:^[4]
  • Effective with the 2017–18 school year, a national early signing period for high school players was to be introduced, at a time in December to be announced later.
  • Effective with the 2017–18 recruiting season, FCS programs no longer have any restriction on the number of new players that may be signed to letters of intent or financial aid agreements. Previously, FCS teams were limited to signing 30 new players per year.^[5]
• May 8 – The Collegiate Commissioners Association, which controls the letter of intent program, approved the recruiting changes approved last month by the Division I Council. The early signing period for high schoolers was fixed as the first three days of the midyear signing period for junior college players; in 2017, this window fell on December 20–22.^[6]

Season[]

• November 15 – The Big South Conference announced that Hampton would leave the MEAC and join the Big South effective with the 2017–18 school year. While Hampton will join the Big South in non-football sports at that time, it had not yet been determined whether Hampton football would begin Big South play in 2018 or 2019.^[7]
• November 20 – The Pioneer Football League and Presbyterian College jointly announced that the Presbyterian football team would immediately start a transition to non-scholarship football. PC football will leave the Big South after the 2019 season, play the 2020 season as an FCS independent, and join the Pioneer League in 2021.^[8]

Kickoff games[]

• Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff (aka Montgomery Kickoff Classic)
  • Jacksonville State defeated Chattanooga 27–13 at the Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama) on August 26.^[9]
• Other Week Zero games:
  • FBS opponent BYU defeated Portland State 20–6 at home on August 26.^[10]
  • Colgate traveled to Cal Poly August 26, coming away as 20–14 winners.^[11]
  • Florida A&M hosted Texas Southern on August 26, winning 29–7.^[12]

New stadiums[]

• East Tennessee State defeated Division II Limestone 31–10 in the opener for William B. Greene Jr. Stadium on September 2. The team had played its first two seasons since reinstating football at local high school venue Kermit Tipton Stadium.^[13]
• Abilene Christian opened Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium on September 16 with a 24–3 win over Houston Baptist, following 57 seasons at Shotwell Stadium.^[14]

FCS team wins over FBS teams[]

(FCS rankings from the STATS poll)

• August 31:
  • Tennessee State 17, Georgia State 10
• September 2:
  • Howard 43, UNLV 40
  • No. 1 James Madison 34, East Carolina 14
  • Liberty 48, Baylor 45
• September 9:
  • No. 12 New Hampshire 22, Georgia Southern 12
  • South Dakota 35, Bowling Green 27
• September 16:
  • Idaho State 30, Nevada 28
  • No. 25 North Carolina A&T 35, Charlotte 31
• September 23:
  • No. 19 Western Illinois 52, Coastal Carolina 10

Conference standings[]

2017 Big Sky Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 14 Southern Utah +^   7 – 1     9 – 3   No. 5 Weber State +^   7 – 1     11 – 3   Northern Arizona ^   6 – 2     7 – 5   No. 21 Eastern Washington   6 – 2     7 – 4   Sacramento State   6 – 2     7 – 4   Montana   5 – 3     7 – 4   Montana State   5 – 3     5 – 6   UC Davis   3 – 5     5 – 6   Idaho State   2 – 6     4 – 7   Northern Colorado   2 – 6     3 – 7   North Dakota   2 – 6     3 – 8   Cal Poly   1 – 7     1 – 10   Portland State   0 – 8     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2017 Big South Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 8 Kennesaw State $^   5 – 0     12 – 2   Monmouth ^   4 – 1     9 – 3   Charleston Southern   3 – 2     6 – 5   Liberty *   2 – 3     6 – 5   Presbyterian   1 – 4     4 – 7   Gardner–Webb   0 – 5     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * Liberty ineligible for postseason due to FBS transition Rankings from STATS Poll	2017 Colonial Athletic Association football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 James Madison $^   8 – 0     14 – 1   No. 11 Stony Brook ^   7 – 1     10 – 3   No. 20 Elon ^   6 – 2     8 – 4   No. 12 New Hampshire ^   5 – 3     9 – 5   Delaware   5 – 3     7 – 4   Richmond   4 – 4     6 – 5   Towson   3 – 5     5 – 6   Villanova   3 – 5     5 – 6   Maine   3 – 5     4 – 6   Albany   2 – 6     4 – 7   Rhode Island   2 – 6     3 – 8   William & Mary   0 – 8     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll
2017 Ivy League football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 24 Yale $   6 – 1     9 �� 1   Columbia   5 – 2     8 – 2   Dartmouth   5 – 2     8 – 2   Penn   4 – 3     6 – 4   Harvard   3 – 4     5 – 5   Cornell   3 – 4     3 – 7   Princeton   2 – 5     5 – 5   Brown   0 – 7     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion Rankings from STATS Poll	2017 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 7 North Carolina A&T $   8 – 0     12 – 0   Howard   6 – 2     7 – 4   Bethune–Cookman   6 – 2     7 – 4   North Carolina Central   5 – 3     7 – 4   Hampton   5 – 3     6 – 5   Norfolk State   4 – 4     4 – 7   Savannah State *   3 – 5     3 – 8   South Carolina State   2 – 6     3 – 7   Florida A&M *   2 – 6     3 – 8   Delaware State   2 – 6     2 – 9   Morgan State *   1 – 7     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion * Florida A&M, Morgan State and Savannah State ineligible for postseason due to APR violations Rankings from STATS Poll	2017 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 North Dakota State $^   7 – 1     14 – 1   No. 3 South Dakota State ^   6 – 2     11 – 3   No. 19 Northern Iowa ^   6 – 2     8 – 5   No. 13 Western Illinois ^   5 – 3     8 – 4   No. 15 South Dakota ^   4 – 4     8 – 5   Illinois State   4 – 4     6 – 5   Youngstown State   4 – 4     6 – 5   Southern Illinois   2 – 6     4 – 7   Missouri State   2 – 6     3 – 8   Indiana State   0 – 8     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll
2017 Northeast Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Central Connecticut $^   6 – 0     8 – 3   Duquesne   4 – 2     7 – 4   Bryant   4 – 2     6 – 5   Saint Francis (PA)   3 – 3     5 – 6   Sacred Heart   2 – 4     4 – 7   Wagner   2 – 4     4 – 7   Robert Morris   0 – 6     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant	2017 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 9 Jacksonville State $^   8 – 0     10 – 2   Austin Peay   7 – 1     8 – 4   Eastern Illinois   5 – 3     6 – 5   UT Martin   4 – 4     6 – 5   Eastern Kentucky   3 – 5     3 – 7   Southeast Missouri State   3 – 5     3 – 8   Tennessee State   2 – 5     6 – 5   Murray State   2 – 5     3 – 8   Tennessee Tech   1 – 7     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2017 Patriot League football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Colgate +   5 – 1     7 – 4   Lehigh +^   5 – 1     5 – 7   Holy Cross   3 – 3     4 – 7   Fordham   3 – 3     4 – 7   Lafayette   3 – 3     3 – 8   Bucknell   2 – 4     5 – 6   Georgetown   0 – 6     1 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant
2017 Pioneer Football League standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 23 San Diego $^   8 – 0     10 – 3   Drake   6 – 2     7 – 4   Jacksonville   5 – 3     7 – 4   Campbell   5 – 3     6 – 5   Valparaiso   5 – 3     6 – 5   Butler   4 – 4     6 – 5   Dayton   4 – 4     5 – 6   Marist   3 – 5     4 – 7   Morehead State   3 – 5     4 – 7   Stetson   1 – 7     2 – 9   Davidson   0 – 8     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2017 Southern Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 6 Wofford $^   7 – 1     10 – 3   No. 18 Samford ^   6 – 2     8 – 4   No. 19 Furman ^   6 – 2     8 – 5   Western Carolina   5 – 3     7 – 5   Mercer   4 – 4     5 – 6   The Citadel   3 – 5     5 – 6   Chattanooga   3 – 5     3 – 8   East Tennessee State   2 – 6     4 – 7   VMI   0 – 8     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll	2017 Southland Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 10 Central Arkansas $^   9 – 0     10 – 2   No. 4 Sam Houston State ^   8 – 1     12 – 2   No. 25 Nicholls State ^   7 – 2     8 – 4   No. 22 McNeese State   7 – 2     9 – 2   Southeastern Louisiana   6 – 3     6 – 5   Northwestern State   4 – 5     4 – 7   Stephen F. Austin   4 – 5     4 – 7   Abilene Christian   2 – 7     2 – 9   Incarnate Word   1 – 7     1 – 10   Lamar   1 – 8     2 – 9   Houston Baptist   0 – 9     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS poll
2017 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Alcorn State xy   5 – 2     7 – 5   Alabama State   4 – 3     5 – 6   Alabama A&M   3 – 4     4 – 7   Jackson State   3 – 4     3 – 8   Mississippi Valley State   1 – 6     2 – 9   West No. 16 Grambling State xy$   7 – 0     11 – 2   Southern*   5 – 2     7 – 4   Prairie View A&M   4 – 3     6 – 5   Texas Southern   2 – 5     2 – 9   Arkansas–Pine Bluff   1 – 6     2 – 9   Championship: Grambling State 40, Alcorn State 32 December 2, 2017 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant *Southern ineligible for postseason due to APR violations Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

Conference summaries[]

Championship games[]

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Offensive Player of the Year	Defensive Player of the Year	Coach of the Year
SWAC	Grambling State 11–1 (8–0)	Alcorn State 7–5 (5–2)	40–32	Devante Kincade (Grambling State)	De’Arius Christmas (Grambling State)	Broderick Fobbs (Grambling State)

Other conference winners[]

Note: Records are regular-season only, and do not include playoff games.

Conference	Champion	Record	Offensive Player of the Year	Defensive Player of the Year	Coach of the Year
Big Sky	Southern Utah Weber State	9–2 (7–1) 9–2 (7–1)	Keelan Doss (UC Davis)	Taron Johnson (Weber State)	Demario Warren (Southern Utah)
Big South	Kennesaw State	10–1 (5–0)	Chandler Burks (Kennesaw State)	Anthony Ellis (Charleston Southern)	Brian Bohannon (Kennesaw State)
CAA	James Madison	11–0 (8–0)	Kyle Lauletta (Richmond)	Andrew Ankrah (James Madison)	Curt Cignetti (Elon)
Ivy	Yale	9–1 (6–1)	Chad Kanoff (Princeton)	Matthew Oplinger (Yale)	Al Bagnoli (Columbia)
MEAC	North Carolina A&T	11–0 (8–0)	Lamar Raynard (North Carolina A&T)	Darius Leonard (South Carolina State)	Rod Broadway (North Carolina A&T)
MVFC	North Dakota State	10–1 (7–1)	Chris Streveler (South Dakota)	Brett Taylor (Western Illinois)	Chris Klieman (North Dakota State)
NEC	Central Connecticut	8–3 (6–0)	Tommy Stuart (Duquesne)	Tom Costigan (Bryant)	Peter Rossomando (Central Connecticut)
OVC	Jacksonville State	10–1 (8–0)	Roc Thomas (Jacksonville State)	Darius Jackson (Jacksonville State)	Will Healy (Austin Peay)
Patriot	Colgate Lehigh	7–4 (5–1) 5–6 (5–1)	Dom Bragalone (Lehigh)	Abdullah Anderson (Bucknell)	Dan Hunt (Colgate)
Pioneer	San Diego	9–2 (8–0)	Anthony Lawrence (San Diego)	Jonathan Petersen (San Diego)	Dave Cecchini (Valparaiso)
Southern	Wofford	9–2 (7–1)	Devlin Hodges (Samford)	Ahmad Gooden (Samford)	Clay Hendrix (Furman)
Southland	Central Arkansas	10–1 (9–0)	Hayden Hildebrand (Central Arkansas)	George Odum (Central Arkansas)	Steve Campbell (Central Arkansas)

Playoff qualifiers[]

Automatic berths for conference champions[]

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid	Result
Big Sky Conference	Southern Utah	3rd	2015	First Round (L – Sam Houston State)
Big South Conference	Kennesaw State	1st	–
Colonial Athletic Association	James Madison	14th	2016	National Champions (W – Youngstown State)
Missouri Valley Football Conference	North Dakota State	8th	2016	Semifinals (L – James Madison)
Northeast Conference	Central Connecticut	1st	–
Ohio Valley Conference	Jacksonville State	8th	2016	Second Round (L – Youngstown State)
Patriot League	Lehigh	11th	2016	First Round (L – New Hampshire)
Pioneer Football League	San Diego	3rd	2016	Second Round (L – North Dakota State)
Southern Conference	Wofford	8th	2016	Quarterfinals (L – Youngstown State)
Southland Conference	Central Arkansas	4th	2016	Second Round (L – Eastern Washington)

At large qualifiers[]

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid	Result
Big Sky Conference	Northern Arizona	6th	2013	First Round (L – South Dakota State)
	Weber State	6th	2016	First Round (L – Chattanooga)
Big South Conference	Monmouth	1st	–
Colonial Athletic Association	Elon	2nd	2009	First Round (L – Richmond)
	New Hampshire	16th	2016	Second Round (L – James Madison)
	Stony Brook	3rd	2012	Second Round (L – Montana State)
Missouri Valley Football Conference	Northern Iowa	19th	2015	Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State)
	South Dakota	1st	–
	South Dakota State	7th	2016	Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State)
	Western Illinois	11th	2015	Second Round (L – Illinois State)
Southern Conference	Furman	17th	2013	Second Round (L – North Dakota State)
	Samford	5th	2016	First Round (L – Youngstown State)
Southland Conference	Nicholls State	4th	2005	First Round (L – Furman)
	Sam Houston State	11th	2016	Quarterfinals (L – James Madison)

Abstentions[]

• Ivy League – Yale
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina A&T
• Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State

Postseason[]

NCAA Division I playoff bracket[]

	First round November 25 Campus sites ESPN3					Second round December 2 Campus sites ESPN3					Quarterfinals December 8 and 9 Campus sites ESPN2, ESPN3					Semifinals December 15 and 16 Campus sites ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3					National Championship January 6 12:00 pm Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas ESPN2
						1	James Madison*	26
	Stony Brook*		59				Stony Brook	7
	Lehigh		29								1	James Madison*	31
												Weber State	28
						8	Southern Utah*	13
	Weber State*		21				Weber State	30
	Western Illinois		19													1	James Madison*	51
																5	South Dakota State	16
						4	Central Arkansas*	15
	New Hampshire*		14				New Hampshire	21
	Central Connecticut		0									New Hampshire	14
											5	South Dakota State*	56
						5	South Dakota State*	37
	Northern Iowa*		46				Northern Iowa	22
	Monmouth		7																		1	James Madison	13
																					2	North Dakota State	17
						2	North Dakota State*	38
	Northern Arizona*		10				San Diego	3
	San Diego		41								2	North Dakota State*	42
											7	Wofford	10
						7	Wofford*	28
	Elon*		27				Furman	10
	Furman		28													2	North Dakota State*	55
																6	Sam Houston State	13
						3	Jacksonville State*	7
	Kennesaw State*		28				Kennesaw State	17
	Samford		17									Kennesaw State	27
											6	Sam Houston State*	34
						6	Sam Houston State*	54
	Nicholls State*		31				South Dakota	42
	South Dakota		38

* Home team   
 Winner
All times in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00)

Bowl games[]

Game	Date/TV	Location	Home team	Away team	Score	Offensive MVP	Defensive MVP
Celebration Bowl	December 16 ABC	Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, Georgia	North Carolina A&T	Grambling State	21–14	Marquell Cartwright (RB, North Carolina A&T)	Franklin McCain III (DB, North Carolina A&T)

Awards and honors[]

Walter Payton Award[]

• The Walter Payton Award is given to the year's most outstanding offensive player. Finalists:
  • Jeremiah Briscoe (QB), Sam Houston State
  • Keelan Doss (WR), UC Davis
  • Chris Streveler (QB), South Dakota

Buck Buchanan Award[]

• The Buck Buchanan Award is given to the year's most outstanding defensive player. Finalists:
  • Andrew Ankrah (DE), James Madison
  • (DE), Jacksonville State
  • Brett Taylor (LB), Western Illinois

Jerry Rice Award[]

• The Jerry Rice Award is given to the year's most outstanding freshman.
  • Winner: (LB), Kennesaw State

Coaches[]

• AFCA Coach of the Year: Brian Bohannon, Kennesaw State
• Eddie Robinson Award: Will Healy, Austin Peay

Coaching changes[]

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In-season[]

This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2017. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2017, see 2016 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Alabama State	Brian Jenkins	October 6	Fired	Donald Hill-Eley [a]
Holy Cross	Tom Gilmore	October 15	Fired	(interim)

End of season[]

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Alabama A&M	James Spady	November 19	Fired[15]	Connell Maynor
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	Monte Coleman	November 19	Resigned	Cedric Thomas
Central Arkansas	Steve Campbell	December 7	Hired as head coach by South Alabama	Nathan Brown
Davidson	Paul Nichols	November 27	Contract not renewed	Scott Abell
Delaware State	Kenny Carter	November 20	Fired	Rod Milstead
East Tennessee State	Carl Torbush	December 8	Retired	Randy Sanders
Florida A&M	Alex Wood	November 21	Contract not renewed	Willie Simmons
Fordham	Andrew Breiner	December 5	Hired as OC at Mississippi State	Joe Conlin
Hampton	Connell Maynor	November 20	Fired	Robert Prunty
Holy Cross		December 20	Permanent replacement	Bob Chesney
Incarnate Word	Larry Kennan	November 27	Fired	Eric Morris
Mississippi Valley State	Rick Comegy	November 20	Contract not renewed	Vincent Dancy
Montana	Bob Stitt	November 20	Contract not renewed[16]	Bobby Hauck
Morgan State	Fred Farrier	December 18	Fired	Ernest T. Jones (interim)
North Carolina A&T	Rod Broadway	January 8	Retired[17]	Sam Washington
North Carolina Central	Jerry Mack	December 8	Hired as OC at Rice	Granville Eastman (interim)
Northwestern State	Jay Thomas	December 2	Resigned	Brad Laird
Prairie View A&M	Willie Simmons	December 8	Hired as head coach by Florida A&M	Eric Dooley
Robert Morris	John Banaszak	November 19	Retired	Bernard Clark
Southeastern Louisiana	Ron Roberts	January 19	Hired as DC by Louisiana	Frank Scelfo
Tennessee Tech	Marcus Satterfield	November 19	Fired[18]	Dewayne Alexander
Western Illinois	Charlie Fisher	January 4	Hired as WR coach by Arizona State	Jared Elliott
Wofford	Mike Ayers	December 13	Retired	Josh Conklin

See also[]

• 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings
• 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2017 NCAA Division II football season
• 2017 NCAA Division III football season
• 2017 NAIA football season

References[]