2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season

The 2016 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 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was played on January 7, 2017, in Frisco, Texas. The James Madison Dukes defeated the Youngstown State Penguins, 28–14, to capture their second national championship in team history.

2016 NCAA Division I FCS season
Regular season
Number of teams	125
Duration	August 26 – December 3
Payton Award	Sam Houston State quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe
Buchanan Award	Northern Iowa defensive end Karter Schult
Playoff
Duration	November 26 – December 17
Championship date	January 7, 2017
Championship site	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
Champion	James Madison
NCAA Division I FCS football seasons
«2015 2017»

Conference changes and new programs

School	2015 conference	2016 conference
Coastal Carolina	Big South	FCS independent
East Tennessee State	FCS independent	SoCon

Notable headlines

• April 20 – The NCAA banned five schools from the 2016 postseason for failure to meet Academic Progress Rate criteria: Florida A&M, Howard, Morgan State, Savannah State, and Southern.
• April 28 – Following the March 1 announcement by the Sun Belt Conference that it would not renew its football-only membership agreements with Idaho and New Mexico State when they expire at the end of the 2017 season, Idaho announced that it would return to FCS football in its all-sports league, the Big Sky Conference, in 2018. The Vandals thus became the first team ever to voluntarily drop from FBS to FCS.
• September 17 – East Tennessee State and Western Carolina played on a temporary fieldturf surface installed on the infield of the Bristol Motor Speedway. The same NASCAR racetrack hosted a game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech one week earlier.
• November 19 – Joe Thomas Sr., a 55-year-old walk-on at South Carolina State, appeared for one play in the first quarter of the Bulldogs' season finale against Savannah State, rushing for 3 yards. Although the NCAA does not keep statistics on player ages, the father of Green Bay Packers linebacker Joe Thomas Jr. is believed to be the oldest player ever to take the field in a Division I game.

FCS team wins over FBS teams

Italics denotes FBS teams.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 2	Albany	Buffalo	University at Buffalo Stadium • Amherst, New York	22–16	18,657
September 3	No. 14 Eastern Washington	Washington State	Martin Stadium • Pullman, Washington	45–42	32,952
September 3	No. 5 Northern Iowa	Iowa State	Jack Trice Stadium • Ames, Iowa	25–20	60,629
September 3	No. 4 Richmond	Virginia	Scott Stadium • Charlottesville, Virginia	37–20	49,270
September 10	Eastern Illinois	Miami (OH)	Yager Stadium • Oxford, Ohio	21–17	17,369
September 10	No. 10 Illinois State	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, Illinois	9–7	30,635
September 10	No. 23 North Carolina A&T	Kent State	Dix Stadium • Kent, Ohio	39–36 4OT	13,540
September 17	No. 1 North Dakota State	No. 13 (FBS) Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, Iowa	23–21	70,585
September 24	Central Arkansas	Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, Arkansas	28–23	28,012
September 24	No. 13 Western Illinois	Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, Illinois	28–23	15,496
#Rankings from STATS poll released prior to the game.

Conference standings

2016 Big Sky Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 4 Eastern Washington +^   8 – 0     12 – 2   No. 12 North Dakota +^   8 – 0     9 – 3   No. 25 Weber State ^   6 – 2     7 – 5   No. 24 Cal Poly ^   5 – 3     7 – 5   Southern Utah   5 – 3     6 – 5   Northern Colorado   4 – 4     6 – 5   Northern Arizona   4 – 4     5 – 6   Montana   3 – 5     6 – 5   Montana State   2 – 6     4 – 7   Portland State   2 – 6     3 – 8   UC Davis   2 – 6     3 – 8   Sacramento State   2 – 6     2 – 9   Idaho State   1 – 7     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2016 Big South Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 15 Charleston Southern +^   4 – 1     7 – 4   Liberty +   4 – 1     6 – 5   Kennesaw State   3 – 2     8 – 3   Gardner–Webb   3 – 2     5 – 6   Presbyterian   1 – 4     2 – 9   Monmouth   0 – 5     4 – 7   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2016 Colonial Athletic Association football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 James Madison $^   8 – 0     14 – 1   No. 11 Villanova ^   6 – 2     9 – 4   No. 17 New Hampshire ^   6 – 2     8 – 5   No. 8 Richmond ^   5 – 3     10 – 4   Maine   5 – 3     6 – 5   Albany   4 – 4     7 – 4   Stony Brook   4 – 4     5 – 6   William & Mary   3 – 5     5 – 6   Towson   3 – 5     4 – 7   Delaware   2 – 6     4 – 7   Elon   1 – 7     2 – 9   Rhode Island   1 – 7     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll
2016 Ivy League football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Princeton +   6 – 1     8 – 2   Penn +   6 – 1     7 – 3   Harvard   5 – 2     7 – 3   Brown   3 – 4     4 – 6   Yale   3 – 4     3 – 7   Cornell   2 – 5     4 – 6   Columbia   2 – 5     3 – 7   Dartmouth   1 – 6     4 – 6   + – Conference co-champions	2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 22 North Carolina Central $   8 – 0     9 – 3   No. 20 North Carolina A&T ^   7 – 1     9 – 3   Hampton   5 – 3     5 – 6   South Carolina State   5 – 3     5 – 6   Bethune–Cookman   4 – 4     4 – 6   Florida A&M *   4 – 4     4 – 7   Norfolk State   3 – 5     4 – 7   Savannah State *   3 – 5     3 – 7   Morgan State *   3 – 5     3 – 8   Howard *   2 – 6     2 – 9   Delaware State   0 – 8     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * Florida A&M, Howard, Morgan State, and Savannah State ineligible for postseason due to APR violations Rankings from STATS Poll	2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 3 North Dakota State +^   7 – 1     12 – 2   No. 6 South Dakota State +^   7 – 1     9 – 4   No. 2 Youngstown State ^   6 – 2     12 – 4   Illinois State ^   4 – 4     6 – 6   Northern Iowa   4 – 4     5 – 6   Western Illinois   3 – 5     6 – 5   South Dakota   3 – 5     4 – 7   Indiana State   2 – 6     4 – 7   Missouri State   2 – 6     4 – 7   Southern Illinois   2 – 6     4 – 7   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll
2016 Northeast Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Duquesne +   5 – 1     8 – 3   Saint Francis (PA) +^   5 – 1     7 – 5   Wagner   4 – 2     6 – 5   Bryant   4 – 2     5 – 6   Sacred Heart   1 – 5     6 – 5   Central Connecticut   1 – 5     2 – 9   Robert Morris   1 – 5     2 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant	2016 Ohio Valley Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 6 Jacksonville State $^   7 – 0     10 – 2   UT Martin   6 – 2     7 – 5   Tennessee Tech   5 – 3     5 – 6   Tennessee State   4 – 3     7 – 4   Eastern Illinois   4 – 4     6 – 5   Murray State   4 – 4     4 – 7   SE Missouri State   3 – 5     3 – 8   Eastern Kentucky   2 – 6     3 – 8   Austin Peay   0 – 8     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2016 Patriot League football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 21 Lehigh $^   6 – 0     9 – 3   Fordham   5 – 1     8 – 3   Colgate   4 – 2     5 – 5   Bucknell   3 – 3     4 – 7   Holy Cross   2 – 4     4 – 7   Lafayette   1 – 5     2 – 9   Georgetown   0 – 6     3 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll
2016 Pioneer Football League standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 19 San Diego $^   8 – 0     10 – 2   Dayton   7 – 1     9 – 2   Drake   6 – 2     7 – 4   Marist   5 – 3     5 – 6   Jacksonville   4 – 3     5 – 5   Campbell   3 – 4     5 – 5   Morehead State   3 – 5     4 – 7   Valparaiso   3 – 5     4 – 7   Butler   2 – 6     4 – 7   Stetson   2 – 6     4 – 7   Davidson   0 – 8     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2016 Southern Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 10 The Citadel $^   8 – 0     10 – 2   No. 9 Wofford ^   6 – 2     10 – 4   No. 13 Chattanooga ^   6 – 2     9 – 4   No. 23 Samford ^   5 – 3     7 – 5   Mercer   4 – 4     6 – 5   Furman   3 – 5     3 – 8   East Tennessee State   2 – 6     5 – 6   Western Carolina   1 – 7     2 – 9   VMI   1 – 7     3 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2016 Southland Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 5 Sam Houston State $^   9 – 0     12 – 1   No. 14 Central Arkansas ^   8 – 1     10 – 3   SE Louisiana   7 – 2     7 – 4   McNeese State   5 – 4     6 – 5   Nicholls State   5 – 4     5 – 6   Stephen F. Austin   4 – 5     5 – 6   Houston Baptist   3 – 5     4 – 7   Incarnate Word *   3 – 6     3 – 8   Lamar   3 – 6     3 – 8   Abilene Christian *   2 – 7     2 – 9   Northwestern State   0 – 9     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * – ineligible for FCS playoffs due to transition from NCAA Division II Rankings from STATS poll
2016 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Alcorn State xy   5 – 4     5 – 6   Alabama A&M   4 – 5     4 – 7   Alabama State   3 – 6     4 – 7   Jackson State   3 – 6     3 – 8   Mississippi Valley State   1 – 8     1 – 10   West Division No. 16 Grambling State xy$   9 – 0     12 – 1   Southern *   8 – 1     8 – 3   Prairie View A&M   7 – 2     7 – 4   Texas Southern   4 – 5     4 – 7   Arkansas–Pine Bluff   1 – 8     1 – 10   Championship: Grambling State 27, Alcorn State 20 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant * – ineligible for postseason due to APR violations Rankings from STATS Poll	2016 NCAA Division I FCS independents football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 18 Coastal Carolina   –     10 – 2   Coastal Carolina ineligible for FCS playoffs as part of FBS transition Rankings from STATS 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 (9–0)	Alcorn State 5–6 (5–4)	27–20	Devante Kincade (Grambling State)	Tiger Donovan McCray (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	Eastern Washington North Dakota	10–1 (8–0) 9–2 (8–0)	Gage Gubrud (Eastern Washington) Cooper Kupp (Eastern Washington)	Cole Reyes (North Dakota)	Bubba Schweigert (North Dakota)
Big South	Charleston Southern Liberty	7–3 (4–1) 6–5 (4–1)	Tyrell Maxwell (Gardner–Webb)	Anthony Ellis (Charleston Southern)	Jamey Chadwell (Charleston Southern)
CAA	James Madison	10–1 (8–0)	Bryan Schor (James Madison)	Tanoh Kpassagnon (Villanova)	Mike Houston (James Madison)
Ivy	Penn Princeton	7–3 (6–1) 8–2 (6–1)	John Lovett (Princeton)	Folarin Orimolade (Dartmouth)	Bob Surace (Princeton)
MEAC	North Carolina Central	9–2 (8–0)	Tarik Cohen (North Carolina A&T)	Shaquille Leonard (South Carolina State)	Jerry Mack (North Carolina Central)
MVFC	North Dakota State South Dakota State	10–1 (7–1) 8–3 (7–1)	Taryn Christion (South Dakota State)	Karter Schult (Northern Iowa)	John Stiegelmeier (South Dakota State)
NEC	Duquesne Saint Francis (PA)	8–3 (5–1) 7–4 (5–1)	Kamron Lewis (Saint Francis)	Christian Kuntz (Duquesne)	Chris Villarrial (Saint Francis)
OVC	Jacksonville State	10–1 (7–0)	Eli Jenkins (Jacksonville State)	Darius Jackson (Jacksonville State)	John Grass (Jacksonville State)
Patriot	Lehigh	9–2 (6–0)	Nick Shafnisky (Lehigh)	Pat Afriyie (Colgate)	Andy Coen (Lehigh)
Pioneer	San Diego	9–1 (8–0)	Jonah Hodges (San Diego)	Donald Payne (Stetson)	Dale Lindsey (San Diego)
Southern	The Citadel	10–1 (8–0)	Devlin Hodges (Samford)	Keionta Davis (Chattanooga)	Brent Thompson (The Citadel)
Southland	Sam Houston State	11–0 (9–0)	Overall: Jeremiah Briscoe (Sam Houston State) Offensive: Yedidiah Louis (Sam Houston State)	P. J. Hall (Sam Houston State)	K. C. Keeler (Sam Houston State)

Playoff qualifiers

Automatic berths for conference champions

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid	Result
Big Sky Conference	Eastern Washington	12th	2014	Quarterfinals (L – Illinois State)
Big South Conference	Charleston Southern	2nd	2015	Quarterfinals (L – Jacksonville State)
Colonial Athletic Association	James Madison	13th	2015	National Champions (W – Youngstown State)
Missouri Valley Football Conference	South Dakota State	6th	2015	First Round (L – Montana)
Northeast Conference	Saint Francis (PA)	1st	–	–
Ohio Valley Conference	Jacksonville State	7th	2015	Championship Game (L – North Dakota State)
Patriot League	Lehigh	10th	2011	Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State)
Pioneer Football League	San Diego	2nd	2014	First Round (L – Montana)
Southern Conference	The Citadel	5th	2015	Second Round (L – Charleston Southern)
Southland Conference	Sam Houston State	10th	2015	Semifinals (L – Jacksonville State)

At large qualifiers

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid	Result
Big Sky Conference	Cal Poly	4th	2012	Second Round (L – Sam Houston State)
	North Dakota	1st	–	–
	Weber State	5th	2009	First Round (L – William & Mary)
Big South Conference	None
Colonial Athletic Association	New Hampshire	15th	2015	First Round (L – Colgate)
	Richmond	11th	2015	Semifinals (L – North Dakota State)
	Villanova	11th	2014	Quarterfinals (L – Sam Houston State)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	North Carolina A&T	5th	2003	First Round (L – Wofford)
Missouri Valley Football Conference	Illinois State	7th	2015	Quarterfinals (L – Richmond)
	North Dakota State	7th	2015	Semifinals (L - James Madison)
	Youngstown State	14th	2006	Semifinals (L – Appalachian State)
Northeast Conference	None
Ohio Valley Conference	None
Patriot League	None
Pioneer Football League	None
Southern Conference	Chattanooga	4th	2015	Second Round (L – Jacksonville State)
	Samford	6th	2013	First Round (L – Jacksonville State)
	Wofford	6th	2012	Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State)
Southland Conference	Central Arkansas	3rd	2012	Second Round (L – Georgia Southern)
Southwestern Athletic Conference	None

Abstentions

• Ivy League – Princeton
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina Central
• Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State

Postseason

Bowl game

Game	Date/TV	Location	Winning Team	Losing Team	Score	Offensive MVP	Defensive MVP
Celebration Bowl	December 17 ABC	Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia	Grambling State 12–1 (9–0)	North Carolina Central 9–3 (8–0)	10–9	Martez Carter (RB, Grambling State)	Jameel Jackson (DB, Grambling State)

NCAA Division I playoff bracket

	First round November 26 Campus sites ESPN3					Second round December 3 Campus sites ESPN3					Quarterfinals December 9 and 10 Campus sites ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3					Semifinals December 16 and 17 Campus sites ESPN2, ESPNU					National Championship January 7 12:00 pm Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas ESPN2
						1	North Dakota State*	45
	Cal Poly*		21				San Diego	7
	San Diego		35								1	North Dakota State*	36
											8	South Dakota State	10
						8	South Dakota State*	10
	Villanova*		31				Villanova	7
	Saint Francis (PA)		21													1	North Dakota State*	17
																4	James Madison	27
						4	James Madison*	55
	New Hampshire*		64				New Hampshire	22
	Lehigh		21								4	James Madison*	65
											5	Sam Houston State	7
						5	Sam Houston State*	41
	Chattanooga*		45				Chattanooga	36
	Weber State		14																		4	James Madison	28
																						Youngstown State	14
						2	Eastern Washington*	31
	Central Arkansas*		31				Central Arkansas	14
	Illinois State		24								2	Eastern Washington*	38
												Richmond	0
						7	North Dakota*	24
	Richmond*		39				Richmond	27
	North Carolina A&T		10													2	Eastern Washington*	38
																	Youngstown State	40
						3	Jacksonville State*	24
	Youngstown State*		38				Youngstown State	40
	Samford		24									Youngstown State*	30
												Wofford	23
						6	The Citadel*	3
	Wofford*		15				Wofford	17
	Charleston Southern		14

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

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
  • Gage Gubrud (QB), Eastern Washington
  • Cooper Kupp (WR), Eastern Washington

Buck Buchanan Award

• The Buck Buchanan Award is given to the year's most outstanding defensive player. Finalists:
  • Dylan Cole (LB), Missouri State
  • P. J. Hall (DE), Sam Houston State
  • Karter Schult (DE), Northern Iowa

Jerry Rice Award

• The Jerry Rice Award is given to the year's most outstanding freshman.
  • Winner: A. J. Hines (RB), Duquesne

Coaches

• AFCA Coach of the Year: Mike Houston, James Madison
• Eddie Robinson Award: K. C. Keeler, Sam Houston State

Updated stadiums

• South Dakota State debuted Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (capacity 19,340).
• New Hampshire debuted a major renovation of the renamed Wildcat Stadium, expanded to just over 11,000 from the previous capacity of 6,500.
• William & Mary also debuted a major renovation and expansion to its Zable Stadium, which the saw the addition of an upper deck and an increase in capacity to 12,259.
• Prairie View A&M opened its new Panther Stadium (capacity 15,000).

Coaching changes

In-season

This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2016. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2016, see 2015 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Delaware	Dave Brock	October 16	Fired	Dennis Dottin-Carter (interim)

End of season

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Abilene Christian	Ken Collums	November 20	Fired	Mark Ribaudo (interim)
Howard	Gary Harrell	November 20	Contract was not renewed	Mike London
Presbyterian	Harold Nichols	November 20	Resigned	Tommy Spangler
UC Davis	Ron Gould	November 20	Fired	Dan Hawkins
Lamar	Ray Woodard	November 21	Fired	Mike Schultz
Bryant	Marty Fine	November 30	Resigned	James Perry
Lafayette	Frank Tavani	December 1	Fired	John Garrett
Furman	Bruce Fowler	December 2	Resigned	Clay Hendrix
Villanova	Andy Talley	December 3	Retired	Mark Ferrante
Delaware	Dennis Dottin-Carter (interim)	December 13	Permanent replacement	Danny Rocco
Richmond	Danny Rocco	December 13	Hired by Delaware	Russ Huesman
Chattanooga	Russ Huesman	December 14	Hired by Richmond	Tom Arth
Indiana State	Mike Sanford	December 16	Resigned	Curt Mallory
Abilene Christian	Mark Ribaudo (interim)	December 18	Permanent replacement	Adam Dorrel
Eastern Washington	Beau Baldwin	January 16	Hired as OC at California	Aaron Best

Rule changes

The following rule changes were recommended by the NCAA Football Rules Committee for the 2022 season:

• When players are disqualified for a targeting call in the second half or in overtime (which requires a carryover penalty of sitting out the first half of the next scheduled game), an appeals process will be available to allow the National Coordinator of Officials (currently Steve Shaw) to review tapes of the targeting penalty for consideration of not requiring the player to sit out the first half of the following game.
• Injury timeouts awarded due to "deceptive actions" during a game will also be able to reviewed by the National Coordinator of Officials to determine what sanctions, if any, against teams who use this tactic, enforced at the conference or school level.
• Blocking below the waist will only be permitted inside the tackle box by linemen and stationary backs. Blocks below the waist outside of the tackle box are not allowed.
• Defensive holding will remain a 10-yard penalty but will always carry an automatic first down.
• Codifying the rule change made shortly after the 2021 ACC Championship Game, ball carriers who simulate a feet-first slide will be declared down at that spot.
• Uniform rules would require the sock/leg covering to go from the shoe to the bottom of the pants, similar to the NFL rule.

Attendances

The top 10 NCAA Division I FCS football teams by average home attendance in 2016:

#	College football team	Average attendance
1	Montana Grizzlies	25,377
2	James Madison Dukes	19,844
3	Florida A&M Rattlers	19,710
4	Jackson State Tigers	19,660
5	North Dakota State Bison	18,556
6	Montana State Bobcats	17,907
7	Jacksonville State Gamecocks	17,576
8	Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens	16,478
9	Liberty Flames	16,377
10	Grambling State Tigers	16,355

See also

• 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings
• 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2016 NCAA Division II football season
• 2016 NCAA Division III football season
• 2016 NAIA football season