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
StadiumCramton Bowl (2017–present)
LocationMontgomery, Alabama
Previous stadiumsCampus sites (2014–2016)
Operated2014–present
Sponsors
Guardian Credit Union (2017–present)
2020 matchup
Central Arkansas 24, Austin Peay 17

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, which saw Central Arkansas defeat Austin Peay, was the first since ESPN took ownership of the event that did not feature an Alabama school.[7]

Game results
DateWinning teamLosing teamVenueAttendance
August 23, 2014No. 1 Eastern Washington Eagles56No. 17 Sam Houston State Bearkats35Roos Field (Cheney, WA)10,310[8]
August 29, 2015No. 13 Montana Grizzlies38No. 1 North Dakota State Bison35Washington–Grizzly Stadium (Missoula, MT)26,472[9]
August 27, 2016No. 1 North Dakota State Bison24No. 7 Charleston Southern Buccaneers17Fargodome (Fargo, ND)18,881[10]
August 26, 2017No. 6 Jacksonville State Gamecocks27No. 12 Chattanooga Mocs13Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, AL)12,952[11]
August 25, 2018No. 14 North Carolina A&T Aggies20No. 6 Jacksonville State Gamecocks1713,500[12]
August 24, 2019Youngstown State Penguins45Samford Bulldogs2212,560[13]
August 29, 2020No. 11 Central Arkansas Bears24No. 13 Austin Peay Governors172,000[14]

Rankings are from the STATS FCS Poll.

Records

By team
RankTeamAppsRecordWin %PFPA
1 Central Arkansas11–01.0002417
Eastern Washington11–01.0005635
Montana11–01.0003835
North Carolina A&T11–01.0002017
Youngstown State11–01.0004522
6 Jacksonville State21–1.5004433
North Dakota State21–1.5005955
8 Austin Peay10–1.0001724
Charleston Southern10–1.0001724
Chattanooga10–1.0001327
Sam Houston State10–1.0003556
Samford10–1.0002245

By conference
RankConferenceAppsRecordWin %PFPA
1 Big Sky22–01.0009470
MEAC11–01.0002017
3 MVFC32–1.66710477
4 Southland21–1.5005973
5 Ohio Valley31–2.3336157
6 Big South10–1.0001724
Southern20–2.0003572

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.
  14. "Austin Peay vs. Central Arkansas - Game Summary - August 29, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
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