2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season
The 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level. The season began on August 23, 2014, and concluded with the 2015 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game played on January 10, 2015, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
Notable changes
Under a standard provision of NCAA rules, all FCS programs were allowed to play 12 regular-season 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.Conference changes and new programs
Several teams changed conferences from the 2013 season, with all moves officially taking effect on July 1, 2014.| School | 2013 Conference | 2014 Conference |
| Abilene Christian | Independent | Southland |
| Appalachian State | SoCon | Sun Belt |
| Elon | SoCon | CAA |
| Georgia Southern | SoCon | Sun Belt |
| Houston Baptist | Independent | Southland |
| Incarnate Word | Independent | Southland |
| Mercer | Pioneer | SoCon |
| Monmouth | Independent | Big South |
| Old Dominion | Independent | C-USA |
| VMI | Big South | SoCon |
Other headlines
- May 14 – The NCAA announces its Academic Progress Rate sanctions for the 2014–15 school year. A total of 36 programs in 11 sports are declared ineligible for postseason play due to failure to meet the required APR benchmark, including the following seven FCS teams:
- * Alabama State
- * Arkansas–Pine Bluff
- * Florida A&M
- * Mississippi Valley State
- * Prairie View A&M
- * Saint Francis
- * Savannah State
- * In addition to the above teams, the entire athletic program at Southern, including the football team, is ineligible for postseason play due to failure to supply usable academic data to the NCAA.
FCS team wins over FBS teams
- August 30:
- * #22 Bethune-Cookman 14, Florida International 12
- * #2 North Dakota State 34, Iowa State 14
- September 6:
- * Eastern Kentucky 17, Miami 10
- September 13:
- * Abilene Christian 38, Troy 35
- * Indiana State 27, Ball State 20—The Victory Bell Game
- September 20:
- * Northwestern State 30, Louisiana Tech 27
- September 27:
- * Yale 49, Army 43 OT
- October 11:
- * Liberty 55, Appalachian State 48 OT
FCS results by conference against FBS opponents
Conference standings
Conference summaries
Championship games
Other conference winners
Note: Records are regular-season only, and do not include playoff games.| Conference | Champion | Record | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Coach of the Year |
| Big Sky | Eastern Washington | 10–2 | Vernon Adams | Zack Wagenmann | Mike Kramer |
| Big South | Coastal Carolina Liberty | 11–1 8–4 | Alex Ross | Quinn Backus | Joe Moglia Harold Nichols |
| CAA | New Hampshire | 10–1 | John Robertson | Mike Reilly | Sean McDonnell |
| Ivy | Harvard | 10–0 | Tyler Varga | Zack Hodges Mike Zeuli | Tim Murphy |
| MEAC | Bethune-Cookman Morgan State North Carolina A&T North Carolina Central South Carolina State | 9–3 7–5 9–3 7–5 8–4 | Tarik Cohen Greg McGhee | Javon Hargrave | Lee Hull |
| MVFC | Illinois State North Dakota State | 10–1 11–1 | Marshaun Coprich | Kyle Emanuel | Brock Spack |
| NEC | Sacred Heart Wagner | 9–2 7–4 | Khairi Dickson | Jeff Covitz | Mark Nofri |
| OVC | Jacksonville State | 10–1 | Dy'Shawn Mobley | Devaunte Sigler | John Grass |
| Patriot | Fordham | 10–2 | Mike Nebrich | Evan Byers | Joe Susan |
| Pioneer | San Diego | 9–1 | Connor Kacsor | Donald Payne | Dale Lindsey |
| Southern | Chattanooga | 9–3 | Jacob Huesman | Davis Tull | Russ Huesman |
| Southland | Sam Houston State Southeastern Louisiana | 8–4 9–3 | Bryan Bennett Gus Johnson | Jonathan Woodard | Clint Conque |
Playoff qualifiers
Automatic berths for conference champions
At large qualifiers
Abstentions
- Ivy League – Harvard
- Southwestern Athletic Conference – Alcorn State
Postseason
NCAA FCS Playoff bracket
Winner
All times in Eastern Standard Time
Bowl games
Coaching changes
Preseason and in-season
This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2014. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2014, see 2013 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.| School | Outgoing coach | Date | Reason | Replacement |
| Nicholls State | Charlie Stubbs | September 14 | Resigned | Steve Axman |
| Florida A&M | Earl Holmes | October 29 | Fired | Corey Fuller |