FCS Kickoff

The FCS Kickoff is an annual college football game played on the Saturday before the opening weekend of the college football season. The game showcases teams from the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). For the game's first three editions, it was played at campus sites; since 2017, the game has been played at a neutral site, the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The game is televised nationally by ESPN, and for sponsorship reasons is officially the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff.

FCS Kickoff
Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff
StadiumCramton Bowl (2017–present)
LocationMontgomery, Alabama
Previous stadiumsCampus sites (2014–2016)
Operated2014–present
Sponsors
Guardian Credit Union (2017–present)
2023 matchup
No. 20 Mercer Bears 17, North Alabama 7

History

In February 2013, ESPN announced that the 2014 college football season would begin at its earliest point in 11 years with the creation of the "FCS Kickoff", an annual game which would showcase two top-level teams from the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. ESPN stated that during meetings with FCS conference commissioners there was an interest in creating a "tentpole type" event around FCS football[1] and to showcase the quality and depth of FCS football to a national audience.[2]

Under current NCAA rules, FCS teams are not allowed to play their first regular-season game until the Thursday preceding Labor Day. However, an exception to this rule has been carved out for nationally televised events (on either over-the-air or cable networks); teams may participate in such an event against an out-of-conference opponent on the Saturday or Sunday preceding the standard season start date. No more than one team from a conference can participate in such an event in a given season, and no team can appear in such a game in three consecutive seasons.[3]

The 2017 edition marked several changes for the event. First, ESPN took ownership of the event through its ESPN Events division. The event was moved to a neutral site (the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama); received a name sponsorship by Guardian Credit Union, a small Montgomery-based credit union; was co-branded as the Montgomery Kickoff Classic; and also took on Alabama FCS member Jacksonville State University as a partner for the 2017 and 2018 editions. As such, JSU participated in both editions of the event.[4][5] With Jacksonville State barred from a third consecutive FCS Kickoff appearance by NCAA rule, ESPN chose another Alabama program, Samford, as the de facto home team for the 2019 edition.[6]

The 2020 edition, which saw Central Arkansas defeat Austin Peay, was the first since ESPN took ownership of the event that did not feature an Alabama school.[7]

Game results
Season Date Winning team Losing team Venue Attendance
2014August 23 No. 1 Eastern Washington56No. 17 Sam Houston State35Roos Field (Cheney, WA)10,310[8]
2015August 29 No. 13 Montana38No. 1 North Dakota State35Washington–Grizzly Stadium (Missoula, MT)26,472[9]
2016August 27No. 1 North Dakota State24No. 7 Charleston Southern17Fargodome (Fargo, ND)18,881[10]
2017August 26No. 6 Jacksonville State27No. 12 Chattanooga13Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, AL)12,952[11]
2018August 25No. 14 North Carolina A&T20No. 6 Jacksonville State1713,500[12]
2019August 24Youngstown State45Samford2212,560[13]
2020August 29No. 11 Central Arkansas24No. 13 Austin Peay172,000[14]
2022August 27Jacksonville State42No. 10 Stephen F. Austin175,235 
2023August 26No. 20 Mercer17North Alabama75,566[15]

Rankings are from the STATS FCS Poll.


Records

By team
RankTeamAppsRecordWin %PFPA
1 Central Arkansas11–01.0002417
Eastern Washington11–01.0005635
Mercer11–01.000177
Montana11–01.0003835
North Carolina A&T11–01.0002017
Youngstown State11–01.0004522
7 Jacksonville State[lower-alpha 1]32–1.6678650
8 North Dakota State21–1.5005955
9 Austin Peay10–1.0001724
Charleston Southern10–1.0001724
Chattanooga10–1.0001327
North Alabama10–1.000717
Sam Houston[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]10–1.0003556
Samford10–1.0002245
Stephen F. Austin10–1.0001742
  1. Now playing in Division I FBS.
  2. Sam Houston dropped "State" from its athletic branding in 2020.

By conference
RankConferenceAppsRecordWin %PFPA
1 Big Sky22–01.0009470
ASUN11–01.0004217
MEAC11–01.0002017
4 MVFC32–1.66710477
5 Southland21–1.5005973
6 Ohio Valley31–2.3336157
Southern31–2.3335279
7 Big South10–1.0001724
UAC10–1.000717
WAC10–1.0001742

References
  1. "ESPN to give college football season an early start in 2014". usatoday.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  2. "College football season to kick off with FCS battle between Sam Houston State and Eastern Washington on August 23". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  3. "Bylaw 17.10.3.2: First Contest, Exception—Nationally Televised Contest—Championship Subdivision" (PDF). 2018–19 NCAA Division I Manual. NCAA. July 2018. p. 272. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  4. Rankin, Duane; Stevens, Matthew (October 12, 2016). "ESPN announces Montgomery Kickoff Classic for 2017". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  5. "Guardian Credit Union Joins FCS Kickoff as Title Sponsor" (Press release). ESPN. March 21, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  6. Haley, Craig (September 25, 2018). "Samford, Youngstown State to meet in 2019 FCS Kickoff". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  7. "Austin Peay Football to Open 2020 at Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. January 29, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  8. "Sam Houston State Bearkats vs. Eastern Washington Eagles Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  9. "North Dakota State Bison vs. Montana Grizzlies Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  10. "Charleston Southern Buccaneers vs. North Dakota State Bison Box Score". ESPN.com. August 27, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  11. "Chattanooga Mocs vs. Jacksonville State Gamecocks Box Score". ESPN.com. August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  12. "North Carolina A&T Aggies vs. Jacksonville State Gamecocks Box Score". ESPN.com. August 25, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  13. "Youngstown State Penguins vs. Samford Bulldogs Box Score". ESPN.com. August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  14. "Austin Peay vs. Central Arkansas - Game Summary - August 29, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  15. "Gamecase: FCS Kickoff". ESPN.com. August 26, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
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