2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season
The 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, is organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The regular season began on August 26 and will end in November. The postseason will begin in November, and, aside from any all-star games that are scheduled, will end on January 6, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Conference changes and new programs

Membership changes for 2023

In addition to the listed membership changes, on February 22, 2022, the Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) announced that they would merge their football leagues effective in 2023. The merged entity was later unveiled as the Big South–OVC Football Association. On December 20, 2022, the ASUN Conference and Western Athletic Conference (WAC), which had entered into a football-only partnership in 2021, announced that they would fully merge their football leagues effective in 2023. The new conference, known as the United Athletic Conference (UAC), features ASUN members Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, and North Alabama, plus WAC members Abilene Christian, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton, and Utah Tech. The new football conference is playing a six-game conference schedule in 2023; it planned to start round-robin play in 2024, but that became less likely with the 2024 addition of West Georgia. On May 12, 2023, the OVC announced that Western Illinois would become a full member of the conference in 2023, with football playing the 2023 season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference before joining the Big South–OVC alliance in 2024. Rule changes

Other headlines
 July 20 – The Colonial Athletic Association, operator of the technically separate FCS conference branded as CAA Football, announced that effective immediately the league would be rebranded as the Coastal Athletic Association. The multi-sports CAA, which had its roots in the ECAC South basketball conference of the early 1980s, had been known as the Colonial Athletic Association from its first season as a multi-sports conference in 1985–86 through 2022–23. Accordingly, the "Colonial" name was applied to the football conference once the multi-sports CAA took over the former Atlantic 10 football conference in the 2007 season. The CAA changed its name (but intentionally kept its well-known shorthand, "CAA") to accommodate future membership expansion outside of the Thirteen Colonies. Specific to football, however, it will be officially recognized as the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference but continue to be referred to as the CAA Football Conference. The Colonial Athletic Association's football records are recognized as part of the Coastal's history. August 10 – CAA Football announced that Bryant would join from the Big South–OVC in 2024. This is a football-only move; Bryant will remain a member of the non-football America East Conference. September 9 — The ASUN announced that West Georgia would start a transition from Division II in 2024 as that conference's newest member, with the football team joining the UAC at the same time. October 4 – The NCAA announced several major changes to Division I football recruiting and governance rules:
 The window for athletes to enter the transfer portal was reduced. For FCS players, the portal now opens on the Monday after the selection of the playoff field, and stays open for 30 days. For players participating in the FCS playoffs or the Celebration Bowl, there will be an additional 5-day window after the players' final game. The limit on "initial counters"—i.e., players who are receiving athletically-related financial aid for the first time—has been permanently eliminated. The previous FCS limit of 30 had been suspended due to COVID-19 impacts. The application fee for transitioning from FCS to FBS increased from $5,000 to $5 million, effective immediately. October 12 – Northwestern State junior safety Ronnie Caldwell died after being shot multiple times near the school's Natchitoches, Louisiana campus. October 26 – Northwestern State canceled the remainder of its season, and head coach Brad Laird resigned. Kickoff games

"Week Zero"
The regular season began on Saturday, August 26 with three games in Week 0. FCS Kickoff (Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama): No. 20 Mercer 17,  North Alabama 7
 Albany 34, Fordham 13
 MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Center Parc Stadium, Atlanta): Jackson State 37, South Carolina State 7

FCS team wins over FBS teams
September 9, 2023
Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 11
Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 16, 2023
Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23

Non-DI team wins over FCS teams
September 2, 2023:
Bowie State  22, Delaware State 11
Virginia State  33, Norfolk State 24
Central State (OH)  24, Mississippi Valley State 21

September 8, 2023:
Barton  33, Davidson 31

September 9, 2023:
Colorado Mesa  28, San Diego 21 OT
Miles  21, Alabama State 17
Indiana Wesleyan  24, Valparaiso 22
Northwestern (IA)  27, Drake 24 OT

September 16, 2023:
Delta State  35, Mississippi Valley State 7

Upsets
This section lists instances of unranked teams defeating ranked teams during the season. Regular season
During the regular season, 22 unranked teams have defeated ranked teams. September 2, 2023
 Morgan State 17, No. 18 Richmond 10
 September 9, 2023
 Western Carolina 30, No. 8 Samford 7
 September 16, 2023
 Eastern Washington 40, No. 19 Southeastern Louisiana 29
 September 23, 2023
 Northern Arizona 28, No. 13 Montana 14
 Eastern Kentucky 41, No. 16 Southeast Missouri State 38
 Chattanooga 47, No. 20 Samford 24
 Eastern Washington 27, No. 15 UC Davis 24
 September 30, 2023
 South Dakota 24, No. 2 North Dakota State 19
 Elon 14, No. 5 William & Mary 6
 Harvard 38, No. 6 Holy Cross 28
 Towson 54, No. 14 New Hampshire 51
 Albany 31, No. 16 Villanova 10
 Northern Iowa 44, No. 23 Youngstown State 41
 October 7, 2023
 Northern Arizona 27, No. 13 Weber State 10
 Youngstown State 31, No. 6 Southern Illinois 3
 October 14, 2023
 Idaho State 42, No. 21 Eastern Washington 41
 UC Davis 17, No. 22 Weber State 16
 October 
 New Hampshire 38, No. 24 Albany 31
 October 21, 2023
 Towson 34, No. 13 William & Mary 24
 Princeton 21, No. 18 Harvard 14
 Northern Iowa 27, No. 11 North Dakota 0
 Lafayette 38, No. 15 Holy Cross 35
 October 28, 2023
 Mercer 45, No. 10 Western Carolina 38
 Gardner-Webb 38, No. 14 UT Martin 34
 Tarleton State 25, No, 18 Central Arkansas 23
 Northern Arizona 38, No. 25 UC Davis 21

Top 10 matchups
Rankings reflect the Stats Perform Poll. Regular season
Week 2
 No. 1 South Dakota State defeated No. 3 Montana State, 20–16 (Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, Brookings, SD)
Week 4
 No. 7 Idaho defeated No. 4 Sacramento State, 36–27 (Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID)
 No. 3 Montana State defeated No. 10 Weber State, 40–0 (Stewart Stadium, Ogden, UT)
Week 7 
No. 10 Montana Defeated No. 3 Idaho, 23–21 (Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID)
Week 8
 No. 2 Montana State defeated No. 3 Sacramento State, 42–30 (Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA)
 No. 4 Furman defeated No. 8 Western Carolina, 29–17 (Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium, Cullowhee, NC)
Week 9
No. 1 South Dakota State defeated No. 4 South Dakota, 37–3 (DakotaDome, Vermillion, SD)
No. 9 Idaho defeated No. 2 Montana State, 24–21 (Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID)
Week 10
No. 7 Sacramento State at No. 4 Montana (Washington–Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, MT)
No. 9 South Dakota at No. 10 Southern Illinois (Saluki Stadium, Carbondale, IL)

Playoffs

Rankings

The top 25 from the Stats Perform and USA Today Coaches Polls. Pre-season polls

Conference standings

Postseason

Conference summaries

Teams

Automatic bids

Abstentions

At-large bids

Bracket

Bowl game

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season
This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2023, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled games but before its playoff games. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2023, see 2022 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes. End of season
This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season. See also
 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season
 2023 NCAA Division II football season
 2023 NCAA Division III football season
 2023 NAIA football season

References