2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season

The 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season, the 2010 season of college football for teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), began in September 2010 and concluded with the 2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on January 7, 2011. In the title game, Eastern Washington defeated Delaware, 20–19, to claim their first Division I national title in any team sport.

2010 NCAA Division I FCS season
Regular season
Number of teams	124
Duration	September – November
Payton Award	Jeremy Moses, Stephen F. Austin
Buchanan Award	J. C. Sherritt, Eastern Washington
Playoff
Duration	November 27 – December 18
Championship date	January 7, 2011
Championship site	Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas
Champion	Eastern Washington
NCAA Division I FCS football seasons
«2009 2011»

For the first time since 1997, the final game was played at a new location—Pizza Hut Park in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas.^[1] Every title game since 1997 had been held at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but the NCAA opened the hosting rights for the 2010–2012 championship games for bids during the 2009 season, as the hosting contract between the NCAA and the Chattanooga organizers was set to expire. In addition to Frisco and Chattanooga, three other cities submitted bids:^[2]

• Little Rock, Arkansas — War Memorial Stadium
• Missoula, Montana — Washington–Grizzly Stadium
• Spokane, Washington — Joe Albi Stadium

The field of bidders was eventually cut to Chattanooga and Frisco, with Frisco being announced as the winner on February 26, 2010.^[1]

The January finish to the season was the result of an expanded playoff schedule. The championship tournament expanded from 16 teams to 20, with the Big South and Northeast Conference earning automatic bids for the first time. Eight teams played first-round games, with the remaining participants receiving byes into the second round. The playoffs began at their normal time on Thanksgiving weekend, specifically on November 27. According to early reports, the championship game would be played sometime between December 29 and January 7,^[3] with the latter date ultimately chosen.

Conference changes and new programs

School	2009 conference	2010 conference
Georgia State	New program	FCS Independent
Hofstra	CAA	Dropped program[4]
Lamar	Revived program	FCS Independent
North Carolina Central	FCS Independent	MEAC
Northeastern	CAA	Dropped program[5]
Savannah State	FCS independent	MEAC
Winston-Salem State		CIAA (D-II)

FCS team wins over FBS teams

September 4 – Jacksonville State 49, Ole Miss 48 ^2OT
September 4 – North Dakota State 6, Kansas 3
September 11 – James Madison 21, No. 13 Virginia Tech 16 (NOTE: This was only the second win by an FCS school over a ranked FBS team, after Appalachian State's historic win over Michigan in 2007).^[6]
September 11 – Gardner–Webb 38, Akron 37 ^OT
September 11 – Liberty 27, Ball State 23
September 11 – South Dakota 41, Minnesota 38
October 2 – UC Davis 14, San Jose State 13

Conference standings

2010 Big Sky Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 Eastern Washington +^   7 – 1     13 – 2   No. 11 Montana State +^   7 – 1     9 – 3   No. 20 Montana   5 – 3     7 – 4   Weber State   5 – 3     6 – 5   Sacramento State   5 – 3     6 – 5   Northern Arizona   4 – 4     6 – 5   Northern Colorado   2 – 6     3 – 8   Portland State   1 – 7     2 – 9   Idaho State   0 – 8     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2010 Big South Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 21 Liberty +   5 – 1     8 – 3   Stony Brook +   5 – 1     6 – 5   Coastal Carolina +^   5 – 1     6 – 6   Gardner–Webb   2 – 4     4 – 7   VMI   2 – 4     3 – 8   Charleston Southern   1 – 5     3 – 8   Presbyterian   1 – 5     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2010 Colonial Athletic Association football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 Delaware +^   6 – 2     12 – 3   No. 10 William & Mary +^   6 – 2     8 – 4   No. 3 Villanova ^   5 – 3     9 – 5   No. 7 New Hampshire ^   5 – 3     8 – 5   UMass   4 – 4     6 – 5   Richmond   4 – 4     6 – 5   Rhode Island   4 – 4     5 – 6   James Madison   3 – 5     6 – 5   Maine   3 – 5     4 – 7   Towson   0 – 8     1 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2010 Great West Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Southern Utah $   4 – 0     6 – 5   UC Davis   3 – 1     6 – 5   No. 24 Cal Poly   2 – 2     7 – 4   South Dakota   1 – 3     4 – 7   North Dakota   0 – 4     3 – 8   $ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2010 Ivy League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 18 Penn $   7 – 0     9 – 1   Harvard   5 – 2     7 – 3   Yale   5 – 2     7 – 3   Brown   5 – 2     6 – 4   Dartmouth   3 – 4     6 – 4   Columbia   2 – 5     4 – 6   Cornell   1 – 6     2 – 8   Princeton   0 – 7     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2010 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 15 Bethune–Cookman +^   7 – 1     10 – 2   No. 16 South Carolina State +^   7 – 1     9 – 3   Florida A&M +   7 – 1     8 – 3   Hampton   5 – 3     6 – 5   Norfolk State   4 – 4     6 – 5   Morgan State   3 – 5     4 – 7   Delaware State   2 – 6     3 – 8   North Carolina A&T   1 – 7     1 – 10   Howard   0 – 8     1 – 10   North Carolina Central *   0 – 0     3 – 8   Savannah State *   0 – 0     1 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant * Not eligible for conference championship Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2010 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 19 Northern Iowa $^   6 – 2     7 – 5   No. 17 Western Illinois ^   5 – 3     8 – 5   No. 9 North Dakota State ^   4 – 4     9 – 5   Indiana State   4 – 4     6 – 5   Illinois State   4 – 4     6 – 5   South Dakota State   4 – 4     5 – 6   Missouri State   4 – 4     5 – 6   Southern Illinois   4 – 4     5 – 6   Youngstown State   1 – 7     3 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2010 Northeast Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Robert Morris +^   7 – 1     8 – 3   Central Connecticut State +   7 – 1     8 – 3   Duquesne   5 – 3     7 – 4   Bryant   4 – 4     7 – 4   Albany   4 – 4     6 – 5   Wagner   3 – 5     5 – 6   Monmouth   3 – 5     3 – 8   Sacred Heart   2 – 6     4 – 7   Saint Francis (PA)   1 – 7     1 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant	2010 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 13 Southeast Missouri State $^   7 – 1     9 – 3   No. 12 Jacksonville State ^   6 – 2     9 – 3   Eastern Kentucky   5 – 2     6 – 5   Murray State   5 – 3     6 – 5   UT Martin   5 – 3     6 – 5   Tennessee Tech   4 – 4     5 – 6   Eastern Illinois   2 – 6     2 – 9   Austin Peay   1 – 7     2 – 9   Tennessee State   0 – 7     3 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2010 Patriot League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 14 Lehigh $^   5 – 0     10 – 3   Colgate   3 – 2     7 – 4   Holy Cross   3 – 2     6 – 5   Georgetown   2 – 3     4 – 7   Lafayette   1 – 4     2 – 9   Bucknell   1 – 4     1 – 10   Fordham   0 – 0     5 – 6   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2010 Pioneer Football League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 22 Jacksonville +   8 – 0     10 – 1   No. 25 Dayton +   8 – 0     10 – 1   Drake   6 – 2     7 – 4   San Diego   5 – 3     5 – 6   Morehead State   4 – 4     5 – 6   Davidson   3 – 5     3 – 8   Butler   2 – 6     4 – 7   Marist   2 – 6     3 – 8   Campbell   2 – 6     3 – 8   Valparaiso   0 – 8     0 – 11   + – Conference co-champions Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2010 Southern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 4 Appalachian State +^   7 – 1     10 – 3   No. 6 Wofford +^   7 – 1     10 – 3   No. 5 Georgia Southern ^   5 – 3     10 – 5   Chattanooga   5 – 3     6 – 5   Elon   5 – 3     6 – 5   Furman   3 – 5     5 – 6   Samford   2 – 6     4 – 7   The Citadel   1 – 7     3 – 8   Western Carolina   1 – 7     2 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network Poll
2010 Southland Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 8 Stephen F. Austin $^   6 – 1     9 – 3   McNeese State   5 – 2     6 – 5   Central Arkansas   4 – 3     7 – 4   Sam Houston State   4 – 3     6 – 5   Northwestern State   4 – 3     5 – 6   Nicholls State   3 – 4     4 – 7   Texas State   1 – 6     4 – 7   Southeastern Louisiana   1 – 6     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2010 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Alabama State xy   6 – 3     7 – 5   Jackson State x   6 – 3     8 – 3   Alcorn State   4 – 5     5 – 6   Alabama A&M   2 – 7     3 – 8   Mississippi Valley State   0 – 9     0 – 10   West Division Texas Southern xy$   8 – 1     9 – 3   No. 23 Grambling State x   8 – 1     9 – 2   Prairie View A&M   6 – 3     7 – 4   Arkansas–Pine Bluff   4 – 5     5 – 6   Southern   1 – 8     2 – 9   Championship: Texas Southern 11, Alabama State 6 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from The Sports Network Poll	2010 NCAA Division I FCS independents football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Old Dominion   –     8 – 3   Georgia State   –     6 – 5   Lamar   –     5 – 6

Playoff qualifiers

Automatic berths for conference champions

• Big Sky Conference – Montana State
• Big South Conference – Coastal Carolina
• Colonial Athletic Association – William & Mary
• Missouri Valley Football Conference – Northern Iowa
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Bethune–Cookman
• Northeast Conference – Robert Morris
• Ohio Valley Conference – Southeast Missouri State
• Patriot League – Lehigh
• Southern Conference – Appalachian State
• Southland Conference – Stephen F. Austin

At large qualifiers

• Big Sky Conference – Eastern Washington
• Colonial Athletic Association – Delaware
• Colonial Athletic Association – New Hampshire
• Colonial Athletic Association – Villanova
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State
• Missouri Valley Football Conference – North Dakota State
• Missouri Valley Football Conference – Western Illinois
• Ohio Valley Conference – Jacksonville State
• Southern Conference – Georgia Southern
• Southern Conference – Wofford

No teams from the conferences that do not have automatic bids—currently the Great West Conference and Pioneer Football League—received bids. In order for a team from a conference without an automatic bid to be eligible for the playoffs, it must have a minimum of seven Division I wins, with at least two against teams in automatic bid conferences. The team in question also must be ranked an average of 16 or better in the national rankings.^{[citation needed]}

Abstentions

• Ivy League – Pennsylvania
• Southwestern Athletic Conference – Texas Southern

(Overall Record, Conference Record)

Postseason

After 24 seasons with a playoff field of sixteen teams, the FCS bracket was expanded to twenty this postseason, with the five seeded teams and seven others receiving first-round byes. The championship game was moved to January, three weeks after the mid-December semifinals.

The FCS playoff field was twenty for three seasons, then expanded to 24 in 2013.

NCAA Division I playoff bracket

	First Round November 27 Campus sites					Second Round December 4 Campus sites					Quarterfinals December 10 and 11 Campus sites					Semifinals December 17 and 18 Campus sites					National Championship Game January 7 Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas
							Western Illinois	14
	Western Illinois		17			1	Appalachian State*	42
	Coastal Carolina*		10								1	Appalachian State*	24
												Villanova	42
						Villanova		54
						Stephen F. Austin*		24
																	Villanova	31
																5	Eastern Washington*	41
							North Dakota State	42
	Robert Morris		17			4	Montana State*	17
	North Dakota State*		43									North Dakota State	31
											5	Eastern Washington*	38
							SE Missouri State	17
						5	Eastern Washington*	37
																					5	Eastern Washington	20
																					3	Delaware	19
							Georgia Southern	31
	South Carolina State		16			2	William & Mary*	15
	Georgia Southern*		41								Georgia Southern		23
											Wofford*		20
						Wofford		17
						Jacksonville State*		14
																	Georgia Southern	10
																3	Delaware*	27
							Lehigh	20
	Lehigh		14			3	Delaware*	42
	Northern Iowa*		7								3	Delaware*	16
												New Hampshire	3
						New Hampshire		45
						Bethune–Cookman*		20

* Home team

SWAC Championship Game

Main article: SWAC Championship Game

Date	Location	Venue	West Div. Champion	East Div. Champion	Result
December 11[7]	Birmingham, Alabama	Legion Field	Texas Southern	Alabama State	TSU 11 – ASU 6

Global Kilimanjaro Bowl

Main article: 2011 Kilimanjaro Bowl

On September 1, 2010, Drake University announced it would participate in the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl, the first American football game played on the continent of Africa. The game featured the Drake Bulldogs versus Mexican All-Star team CONADEIP. Due to the seasonal difference in Africa, the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl was played on May 21, 2011.^[8]

Date	Location	Venue	Mexican Team	USA Team	Result
May 21, 2011	Arusha, Tanzania	Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium	CONADEIP Stars	Drake Bulldogs	Drake 17 – CONADEIP 7

Final poll standings

Standings are from The Sports Network final poll. Rank Team Record 1 Eastern Washington Eagles 13–2 2 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 12–3 3 Villanova Wildcats 9–5 4 Appalachian State Mountaineers 10–3 5 Georgia Southern Eagles 10–5 6 Wofford Terriers 10–3 7 New Hampshire Wildcats 8–5 8 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 9–3 9 North Dakota State Bison 9–5 10 William & Mary Tribe 8–4 11 Montana State Bobcats 9–3 12 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 9–3 13 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 9–3 14 Lehigh Mountain Hawks 10–3 15 Bethune–Cookman Wildcats 10–2 16 South Carolina State Bulldogs 9–3 17 Western Illinois Leathernecks 8–5 18 Penn Quakers 9–1 19 Northern Iowa Panthers 7–5 20 Montana Grizzlies 7–4 21 Liberty Flames 8–3 22 Jacksonville Dolphins 10–1 23 Grambling State Tigers 9–2 24 Cal Poly Mustangs 7–4 25 Dayton Flyers 10–1

Standings are from the FCS Coaches final poll. Rank Team Record 1 Eastern Washington Eagles 13–2 2 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 12–3 3 Villanova Wildcats 9–5 4 Appalachian State Mountaineers 10–3 5 Wofford Terriers 10–3 6 Georgia Southern Eagles 10–5 7 New Hampshire Wildcats 8–5 8 William & Mary Tribe 8–4 9 North Dakota State Bison 9–5 10 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 9–3 11 Montana State Bobcats 9–3 12 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 9–3 13 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 9–3 14 Lehigh Mountain Hawks 10–3 15 Bethune–Cookman Wildcats 10–2 16 Penn Quakers 9–1 17 South Carolina State Bulldogs 9–3 18 Northern Iowa Panthers 7–5 19 Liberty Flames 8–3 20 Western Illinois Leathernecks 8–5 21 Montana Grizzlies 7–4 22 Jacksonville Dolphins 10–1 23 Cal Poly Mustangs 7–4 24 Grambling State Tigers 9–2 25 Dayton Flyers 10–1