FCS Kickoff

The FCS Kickoff is an annual college football game played on the Saturday before the opening weekend of the college football season. The game showcases teams from the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). For the game's first three editions, it was played at campus sites; since 2017, the game has been played at a neutral site, the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The game is televised nationally by ESPN, and for sponsorship reasons is officially the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff.

FCS Kickoff
Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff
Stadium	Cramton Bowl (2017–present)
Location	Montgomery, Alabama
Previous stadiums	Campus sites (2014–2016)
Operated	2014–present
Sponsors
Guardian Credit Union (2017–present)
2019 matchup
Youngstown State 45, Samford 22

History

In February 2013, ESPN announced that the 2014 college football season would begin at its earliest point in 11 years with the creation of the "FCS Kickoff", an annual game which would showcase two top-level teams from the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. ESPN stated that during meetings with FCS conference commissioners there was an interest in creating a "tentpole type" event around FCS football[1] and to showcase the quality and depth of FCS football to a national audience.[2]

Under current NCAA rules, FCS teams are not allowed to play their first regular-season game until the Thursday preceding Labor Day. However, an exception to this rule has been carved out for nationally televised events (on either over-the-air or cable networks); teams may participate in such an event against an out-of-conference opponent on the Saturday or Sunday preceding the standard season start date. No more than one team from a conference can participate in such an event in a given season, and no team can appear in such a game in three consecutive seasons.[3]

The 2017 edition marked several changes for the event. First, ESPN took ownership of the event through its ESPN Events division. The event was moved to a neutral site (the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama); received a name sponsorship by Guardian Credit Union, a small Montgomery-based credit union; was co-branded as the Montgomery Kickoff Classic; and also took on Alabama FCS member Jacksonville State University as a partner for the 2017 and 2018 editions. As such, JSU participated in both editions of the event.[4][5] With Jacksonville State barred from a third consecutive FCS Kickoff appearance by NCAA rule, ESPN chose another Alabama program, Samford, as the de facto home team for the 2019 edition.[6]

The 2020 edition, pitting Austin Peay and Central Arkansas, will be the first since ESPN took ownership of the event that will not feature an Alabama school.[7]

Game results

Date	Winning team		Losing team		Venue	Attendance
August 23, 2014	No. 1 Eastern Washington Eagles	56	No. 17 Sam Houston State Bearkats	35	Roos Field (Cheney, WA)	10,310[8]
August 29, 2015	No. 13 Montana Grizzlies	38	No. 1 North Dakota State Bison	35	Washington–Grizzly Stadium (Missoula, MT)	26,472[9]
August 27, 2016	No. 1 North Dakota State Bison	24	No. 7 Charleston Southern Buccaneers	17	Fargodome (Fargo, ND)	18,881[10]
August 26, 2017	No. 6 Jacksonville State Gamecocks	27	No. 12 Chattanooga Mocs	13	Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, AL)	12,952[11]
August 25, 2018	No. 14 North Carolina A&T Aggies	20	No. 6 Jacksonville State Gamecocks	17		13,500[12]
August 24, 2019	Youngstown State Penguins	45	Samford Bulldogs	22		12,560[13]
August 29, 2020	Austin Peay vs. Central Arkansas

Rankings are from the STATS FCS Poll.

Records

By team

Rank	Team	Apps	Record	Win %	PF	PA
1	Eastern Washington	1	1–0	1.000	56	35
	Montana	1	1–0	1.000	38	35
	North Carolina A&T	1	1–0	1.000	20	17
	Youngstown State	1	1–0	1.000	45	22
5	Jacksonville State	2	1–1	.500	44	33
	North Dakota State	2	1–1	.500	59	55
7	Charleston Southern	1	0–1	.000	17	24
	Chattanooga	1	0–1	.000	13	27
	Sam Houston State	1	0–1	.000	35	56
	Samford	1	0–1	.000	22	45

By conference

Rank	Conference	Apps	Record	Win %	PF	PA
1	Big Sky	2	2–0	1.000	94	70
	MEAC	1	1–0	1.000	20	17
3	MVFC	3	2–1	.667	104	77
4	Ohio Valley	2	1–1	.500	44	33
5	Big South	1	0–1	.000	17	24
	Southland	1	0–1	.000	35	56
	Southern	2	0–2	.000	35	72

References

1. "ESPN to give college football season an early start in 2014". usatoday.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
2. "College football season to kick off with FCS battle between Sam Houston State and Eastern Washington on August 23". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
3. "Bylaw 17.10.3.2: First Contest, Exception—Nationally Televised Contest—Championship Subdivision" (PDF). 2018–19 NCAA Division I Manual. NCAA. July 2018. p. 272. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
4. Rankin, Duane; Stevens, Matthew (October 12, 2016). "ESPN announces Montgomery Kickoff Classic for 2017". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
5. "Guardian Credit Union Joins FCS Kickoff as Title Sponsor" (Press release). ESPN. March 21, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
6. Haley, Craig (September 25, 2018). "Samford, Youngstown State to meet in 2019 FCS Kickoff". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
7. "Austin Peay Football to Open 2020 at Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. January 29, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
8. "Sam Houston State Bearkats vs. Eastern Washington Eagles Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
9. "North Dakota State Bison vs. Montana Grizzlies Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
10. "Charleston Southern Buccaneers vs. North Dakota State Bison Box Score". ESPN.com. August 27, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
11. "Chattanooga Mocs vs. Jacksonville State Gamecocks Box Score". ESPN.com. August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
12. "North Carolina A&T Aggies vs. Jacksonville State Gamecocks Box Score". ESPN.com. August 25, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
13. "Youngstown State Penguins vs. Samford Bulldogs Box Score". ESPN.com. August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.