under a standard provision of ncaa rules, all fcs programs were allowed to play 12 regular-season games (not counting conference title games) in 2014. in years when the period starting with the thursday before labor day and ending with the final saturday in november contains 14 saturdays, fcs programs may play 12 games instead of the regular 11. after this season, the next season in which 12-game seasons are allowed will be 2019.