All 128 FCS programs will be back in action this fall after only about 70 percent of them participated last season due to the pandemic.
Here are important dates to know with the 2021 FCS college football season (subject to change):
FCS Media Day Releases (preseason poll and team unless noted)
July 15 – Southland Conference (preseason team)
July 19 – Ohio Valley Conference
July 20 – Southwestern Athletic Conference
July 22 – Southland Conference (preseason poll)
July 26 – Big Sky Conference, Southern Conference
July 27 – AQ7 (ASUN-WAC Challenge), Big South Conference, CAA Football, Missouri Valley Football Conference, Patriot League, Pioneer Football League (preseason poll)
July 28 – Pioneer Football League (preseason team)
July 30 – Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Aug. 3 – Northeast Conference
Aug 16 – Ivy League
Stats Perform Preseason Honors
Aug. 2 – Preseason All-America Team
Aug. 4 – Walter Payton Award Watch List
Aug. 5 – Buck Buchanan Award Watch List
Aug. 9 – Preseason FCS Top 25
The Analyst FCS Conference Previews
Aug. 11 – Big Sky Conference
Aug. 12 – Southland Conference
Aug. 13 – Ohio Valley Conference
Aug. 16 – Southwestern Athletic Conference
Aug. 17 – Pioneer Football League
Aug. 18 – Missouri Valley Football Conference
Aug. 19 – Big South Conference
Aug. 20 – WAC-ASUN Challenge
Aug. 23 – Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Aug. 24 – Northeast Conference
Aug. 25 – Southern Conference
Aug. 26 – CAA Football
Aug. 27 – Patriot League
Aug. 30 – Ivy League
In-Season Dates
Aug. 28 – MEAC-SWAC Challenge (North Carolina Central vs. Alcorn State) and Week 0 openers
Sept. 1 – Montgomery Kickoff (Jacksonville State vs. UAB)
Sept. 2 – Traditional opening night of college football
Sept. 6 – First in-season Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and national players of the week
Nov. 21 – FCS playoff field (24 schools) announced
Nov. 27 – FCS playoff first round
Dec. 4 – FCS playoff second round and SWAC Championship Game
Dec. 7 – Top 3 voter-getters invited to Walter Payton Award announcement
Dec. 8 – Top 3 voter-getters invited to Buck Buchanan Award announcement
Dec. 10-11 – FCS playoff quarterfinals
Dec. 13 – Jerry Rice Award announcement
Dec. 14 – Eddie Robinson Award announcement
Dec. 15 – Doris Robinson Award announcement
Dec. 17-18 – FCS playoff semifinals
Dec. 18 – Celebration Bowl
Dec. 20 – Stats Perform All-America Team
Jan. 7 – Walter Payton and Buck Buchanan Award announcements
Jan. 8 – FCS Championship Game, Frisco, Texas
Jan. 10 – Final Stats Perform FCS Top 25