Anthony Amoroso, MD, has practiced emergency medicine post-residency for 15 years. In his free time, Dr. Anthony Amoroso enjoys watching college football.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) classifies all member institutions’ athletic programs into three divisions, the highest of which is Division I. When a Division I school has a football program, the NCAA categorizes that program as either Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A, or Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA.
Football Bowl Subdivision, or FBS, is the highest level of college football. Teams in this division play 12 regular season games and a weekend-long conference championship. In general, FCS teams only play 11 games in the regular season as well as a 24-team playoff sponsored by the NCAA. An FBS team is also eligible to play in the four-team College Football Playoff, which is played after the regular season independently of the NCAA.
FBS teams have a higher scholarship allowance as well. An FBS team can hand out 85 full scholarships. An FCS team has an allotment of 63 scholarships or fewer, depending on the conference, and can divide these among as many as 85 players.
To qualify as an FBS team, a school must draw an average of 15,000 attendees per home game. The school must meet this benchmark at least once per rolling two-year term. FCS schools do not have attendance requirements, but the average for an FCS home game in 2014 was calculated at less than 8,000 attendees.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) classifies all member institutions’ athletic programs into three divisions, the highest of which is Division I. When a Division I school has a football program, the NCAA categorizes that program as either Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A, or Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA.
Football Bowl Subdivision, or FBS, is the highest level of college football. Teams in this division play 12 regular season games and a weekend-long conference championship. In general, FCS teams only play 11 games in the regular season as well as a 24-team playoff sponsored by the NCAA. An FBS team is also eligible to play in the four-team College Football Playoff, which is played after the regular season independently of the NCAA.
FBS teams have a higher scholarship allowance as well. An FBS team can hand out 85 full scholarships. An FCS team has an allotment of 63 scholarships or fewer, depending on the conference, and can divide these among as many as 85 players.
To qualify as an FBS team, a school must draw an average of 15,000 attendees per home game. The school must meet this benchmark at least once per rolling two-year term. FCS schools do not have attendance requirements, but the average for an FCS home game in 2014 was calculated at less than 8,000 attendees.
