List of NCAA Division I FCS playoff appearances by team

The list of current Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) schools that have participated in the playoffs leading to the NCAA Division I Football Championship stands at 92. Known as Division I-AA from 1978 through 2005, it was renamed FCS prior to the 2006 season.

Field
The playoffs began with four teams in 1978, then expanded to eight in 1981, twelve in 1982, and sixteen in 1986. The bracket went to five rounds with a field of twenty teams in 2010, and to 24 teams in 2013.


 * {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"

!Years !! Teams !! Byes
 * 1978–1980 || 4 || style="background:#DCDCDC;" rowspan=2|
 * 1981 || 8
 * 1982–1985 || 12 || 4
 * 1986–2009 || 16 || 0
 * 2010–2012 || 20 || 12
 * 2013– || 24 || 8
 * }
 * Since the 2010 season, the championship game has been played in January, three weeks after the semifinals.
 * An exception was the 2020 season, delayed until spring 2021 due to COVID-19; it had a reduced field of sixteen teams in the bracket, with the championship game in mid-May, eight days after the semifinals.
 * 2010–2012 || 20 || 12
 * 2013– || 24 || 8
 * }
 * Since the 2010 season, the championship game has been played in January, three weeks after the semifinals.
 * An exception was the 2020 season, delayed until spring 2021 due to COVID-19; it had a reduced field of sixteen teams in the bracket, with the championship game in mid-May, eight days after the semifinals.
 * An exception was the 2020 season, delayed until spring 2021 due to COVID-19; it had a reduced field of sixteen teams in the bracket, with the championship game in mid-May, eight days after the semifinals.

Current FCS members

 * Teams in bold participated in the 2023 fall postseason.

No appearances
Conference alignments are current for the upcoming 2024 season.
 * Big Sky Conference (1) – Northern Colorado
 * Big South–OVC Football Association (1) – Lindenwood (eligible in 2026)
 * CAA Football (2) – Bryant, Campbell
 * Independents (1) – Merrimack
 * Northeast Conference (3) – LIU, Mercyhurst, Stonehill (Mercyhurst eligible in 2028; Stonehill in 2026)
 * Patriot League (2) – Bucknell, Georgetown
 * Pioneer Football League (6) – Marist, Morehead State, Presbyterian, St. Thomas (MN), Stetson, Valparaiso (St. Thomas eligible in 2026)
 * Southland Conference (2) – Houston Christian, Texas A&M–Commerce (eligible in 2026)
 * Southwestern Athletic Conference (6) – Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Arkansas–Pine Bluff, Prairie View A&M, Southern, Texas Southern
 * United Athletic Conference (5) – Abilene Christian, North Alabama, Tarleton, Utah Tech, West Georgia (eligible in 2028)

† Ivy League teams do not participate in any postseason in football, citing academic concerns.


 * The Big South–OVC Football Association began play in 2023 as a de facto merger of the football leagues of the Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference.
 * CAA Football is technically separate from the all-sports Coastal Athletic Association, although both leagues share the same administration.
 * The United Athletic Conference began play in 2023 as a merger of the football leagues of the Atlantic Sun Conference and Western Athletic Conference.

Former FCS members
Twenty-eight former FCS schools have participated in the playoffs. Of these, 25 have moved up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), while the other three no longer sponsor football.