The Dakotas dominated the 2022 season with North Dakota State making its 10th title game appearance in 12 seasons but it was a different Dakota team that came out on top.
2022 FCS Over FBS Victories (8)
- William & Mary @ Charlotte, 41-24
- Delaware @ Navy, 14-7
- Eastern Kentucky @ Bowling Green, 59-57 (7 OT)
- Incarnate Word @ Nevada, 55-41
- Holy Cross @ Buffalo, 37-31
- Weber State @ Utah State, 35-7
- Southern Illinois @ Northwestern, 31-24
- Sacramento State @ Colorado State, 41-10
Playoff Bracket, Notes, and National Champion
The FCS Playoff format did not change in 2022 with the 24-team format in effect. The top 8 teams were seeded and received a first-round bye while campus sites were used through the semifinal round. Frisco, Texas was the site of the FCS National Championship for the 13th straight season. The title game was held on Sunday, January 8, 2023.
The home team is listed on the bottom of each matchup in the bracket below while an asterisk (*) denotes the number of overtime periods played if a game went to overtime. South Dakota State (14-1 Overall, 8-0 Missouri Valley Football Conference) won its first national championship in style. The Jackrabbits went to North Dakota State’s (12-3 Overall, 7-1 MVFC) home away from home in Frisco and handily dispatched the Bison with a 45-21 victory. The lone blemish for SDSU in 2022 was the opening season loss at Iowa by a score of 7-3 in which they did not allow a touchdown.
Conference Changes
2022 saw the ASUN play its first season of football and they were also part of the ASUN-WAC challenge for the second year in a row. There were no other major conference changes for 2022.
Team Changes
The FCS continued to be a sea of change in 2022 with numerous teams changing conferences. Austin Peay (OVC), Kennesaw State (Big South), and North Alabama (Big South) all joined the ASUN in 2022.
Bryant (NEC) joined the Big South Conference while the duo of Hampton and Monmouth left the Big South to become members of the CAA. The CAA also lost James Madison, which moved up to the FBS to join the Sun Belt Conference. The NEC added Division II member Stonehill from the Northeast-10 Conference.
Texas A&M-Commerce also left the Division II ranks (Lone Star) to join the Southland while Lamar returned to the Southland after 1 season in the WAC. Incarnate Word was slated to join the WAC in 2022 but ultimately decided against that and remained in the Southland in 2022. The WAC added Southern Utah from the Big Sky Conference. Dixie State changed its name to Utah Tech University effective with the 2022-23 academic year.
One final Division II team made the move up to the FCS and that was Lindenwood. They left the GLVC to join the Ohio Valley Conference.
| Team | Old Conference | New Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Austin Peay | Ohio Valley (FCS) | ASUN (FCS) |
| Bryant | Northeast Conference (FCS) | Big South (FCS) |
| Hampton | Big South (FCS) | CAA (FCS) |
| James Madison | CAA (FCS) | Sun Belt (FBS) |
| Kennesaw State | Big South (FCS) | ASUN (FCS) |
| Lamar | WAC (FCS) | Southland (FCS) |
| Lindenwood | GLVC (Division II) | Ohio Valley (FCS) |
| Monmouth | Big South (FCS) | CAA (FCS) |
| North Alabama | Big South (FCS) | ASUN (FCS) |
| Southern Utah | Big Sky (FCS) | WAC (FCS) |
| Stonehill | Northeast-10 (Division II) | Northeast Conference (FCS) |
| Texas A&M-Commerce | Lone Star (Division II) | Southland (FCS) |
| WAC (FCS) | WAC (FCS) |
2021 Season ———————————————————————————————————————————————————- 2023 Season