You might have heard about the different divisions in American football for college sports, but the question is how they are organised and why there are different divisions and what division of American football is best suited for different types of student-athletes.
In this article, we will look at different NCAA divisions in American football. So, you will get a better idea of NCAA Division…which can help you to participate in Intercollegiate Athletics, and you will know which Division is best suited for you according to your interests and abilities.
What is the NCAA?
NCAA stands for National Collegiate Athletic Association. It’s the governing body for athletes at the intercollegiate level. There are more than 1200 colleges and universities who are members of the NCAA. NCAA Divisions helps to separate the level of competition and the resources of the athletic department at different schools.
NCAA divided their member’s institutions into three divisions:
- Division I:- It offers the highest level of competition and has the biggest budgets.
- Division Il:- It offers a lower budget when compared to Division I
- Division Ill:- It has the lowest level of competition in the NCAA and has the smallest athletic budgets.
For American football, Division I is subdivided into FBS (Football Bowl subdivision schools) and FCS (football championship subdivision schools). FBS schools tend to have higher budgets as the conferences that they participate in tend to have TV contract deals setup.
Further details of NCAA Divisions
Division I
- It has the largest student bodies.
- It also has the largest athletic budgets.
- Most athletic scholarships.
- It includes all the major sports conferences which are SEC, Big 10, Pac-12 and ACC.
Rules for Division I schools by NCAA
- They have to ensure competitive balance and gender equality.
- They have to sponsor at least six men and eight women for sports.
- Each playing season like Fall, Winter and spring are to be represented by each gender.
Division Il
- Over 300 schools are part of Division Il football.
- It also offers an athletic scholarship, but the number of scholarships is fewer than Division I.
- Schools and athletic departments budgets are lower in Division Il than in Division I.
- In Division I athletes travel nationally whereas in division ll they travel regionally.
- Division Il schools are Northern Michigan University, UCSD, University of West Florida, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Valdosta State University.
NCAA rules for Division ll football schools
- Schools in Division Il should sponsor at least five men and five women or four for men and six for women.
- Each season represented by each gender
- Two teams playing sports for each gender.
- In this division, attendance is not required for football.
Division lll
- It is the largest of all NCAA Divisions covering 444 institutions, and more than 170,000 athletes are included in this division.
- In this division, there are no athletic scholarships but there are many athletes who are on some form of academic or need to be based aid.
- There are shorter practice hours and less travelling is required for games.
NCAA rules for Division Ill
- They should maintain gender equity.
- They have to sponsor at least five men for sports and five women with two sports teams playing for each gender.
- Each season of sport is represented by each gender.
Have you determined where you would like to play your collegiate football at the defensive back position? Sign up online for on of my free services, to help you better prepare for playing at the next level, regardless of what division you aspire to play.
