With the wealth of games on most every Saturday in the fall, many fans wonder just how many D1 college football teams there are. This isn’t the simplest question, but here’s what you need to know.
The quick answer is there are 131 D1 FBS teams, but this doesn’t capture all of “D1”. This FBS “subdivision” of D1 is the topmost tier which competes for bowls and a spot in the College Football Playoff. There is a lower division called “FCS” that plays their own championship tournament. You can find out more about that here!
The next stipulation is that while there are currently 131 FBS teams, this is constantly changing with conference realignment and independent teams dropping down. In fact, 3 additional teams are slated to join FBS in the coming years already – Sam Houston State and Jacksonville State in 2023, and then Kennesaw State in 2024. These teams will be playing FBS teams as they transition but are not fully fledged members of D1 FBS until then.
If you include FCS in your total, the number of D1 teams actually jumps up to 261 (as there are 130 FCS teams) – but note, 2 of those FCS teams are the ones moving up to FBS soon.
While this all makes the number of D1 teams ever-changing and a bit confusing, that’s half the fun of CFB! Who doesn’t love conference realignment?
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