FCS Changes for the 2024 Season
The 2024 FCS season is a few months away from kickoff and there are numerous changes to go along with it. As we have done with the 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons, below is a list of all the changes for the 2024 season and beyond. There’s a summarized list at the end of the article if you prefer not to get knee-deep in the weeds. Let’s begin by looking at which schools are moving in, out, or within the FCS for the 2024 season. Please note, that this article is subject to change given the current realignment cycle and the NCAA’s ongoing legal battles.
Schools Shuffling Around in 2024
One team is leaving the FCS in 2024: Kennesaw State has joined Conference USA after spending the 2023 season as an FCS independent. The Owls programs began in 2015 and they made 4 FCS Playoff appearances in short order. KSU was previously a member of the ASUN.
Speaking of the ASUN, they added West Georgia as a full member from the Division II Gulf South Conference. The ASUN football teams are under the United Athletic Conference banner alongside the football programs from the Western Athletic Conference. West Georgia will play in the UAC but is ineligible for the FCS Playoffs until the 2028 season as part of the four-year reclassification process from Division II to Division I.
Mercyhurst University is also making the D-II to D-I transition. The Lakers will leave the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to join the Northeast Conference beginning with the 2024-24 academic year. Mercyhurst will not be eligible for the FCS Playoffs until the 2028 season. The NEC is also bringing back Robert Morris as a football-only member with the Colonials leaving the Big South-OVC Football Association to help offset the losses of Merrimack and Sacred Heart to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Merrimack and Sacred Heart will play as FCS independents in 2024 but a football home for 2025 and beyond has not been revealed yet.
There are a few additional moves between FCS conferences to note. Bryant is joining the Coastal Athletic Association in 2024 after previously being part of the Big South-OVC Football Association. Western Illinois is joining the Big South-OVC Football Association following nearly three decades in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and its predecessor, the Gateway Conference. Also moving in 2024 is Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks left the Southland Conference to join the WAC in 2021 but after three seasons in the WAC and United Athletic Conference, SFA is returning to the Southland.
It was a busy offseason for coaching changes at the FCS level with 31 new head coaches being brought in by FCS programs, including West Georgia’s hiring of Joel Taylor as they prepare to move up to the FCS. A full list of the coaching carousel with accompanying articles for each change can be found here.
The NCAA released its Academic Progress Rates (APR) in early June 2024 and it was not good news for every program. Seven FCS programs – Alabama A&M, Bethune-Cookman, Mississippi Valley State, Missouri State, Tennessee State, Utah Tech, and Western Illinois – will have a 4-hour practice reduction as a result of unsatisfactory APR scores. While the NCAA is not currently implementing postseason penalties, that may change in the future as the COVID-19 impact becomes less of a factor in the NCAA’s view.
Patriot League Allows Maximum Scholarships to be Offered
The Patriot League will begin allowing its members to offer the maximum of 63 scholarships effective with the 2024 season. The change is buried within the Patriot League’s Bylaws at the top of page 37 and was decided by the Patriot League’s Council in December 2022. It is a small change as the Patriot League had already increased its scholarship limit to 60 by the mid-2010s. Interestingly, the Patriot League removed the 90-player maximum in 2023-24 as noted on page 103.
