The one-time spring FCS season has made it to the playoffs with the quarterfinals happening this weekend. The regular season began Feb. 13 and concluded April 17 for playoff-playing conferences. There were three more games on the calendar for the SWAC on April 24, but all three games were canceled due to COVID protocols.
It ended a bumpy regular season filled with cancellations, postponements, and opt-outs. But the FCS started and will finish by crowning a national champion, which was the ultimate goal. And the big-picture numbers suggest that while the season was messy, it also wasn’t a disaster.
Here are some numbers from the spring FCS regular season:
240
Regular-season games played.
45
Games canceled due to COVID and not made up.
57
Total number of games canceled/postponed due to COVID.
12
Postponed games that were rescheduled and played.
11
11 of the 13 conferences played this spring. The Ivy League did not and the MEAC had three of its nine teams play games (Delaware State, Howard, and South Carolina State).
92, 35
92 teams took part in the spring season while 35 decided not to play.
8
Teams opted out in the middle of the season.
Teams that decided not to play any make-up games or schedule new opponents in the last two weeks due to cancellations (COVID reasoning or opponents opting out) do not count as an opt-out. For example, Maine’s last two games were canceled due to New Hampshire opting out and Rhode Island dealing with COVID issues. Maine decided not to schedule any new games and ended its season. That does not count as an opt-out.
8-27
The combined record of the 8 teams that opted out. Only Chattanooga had a winning record at 3-2.
19
Games were canceled due to midseason opt-outs.
64
Total games canceled due to COVID or opt-outs.
21%
Percentage of regular-season games canceled.
79%
Percentage of regular-season games played.
14, 13, 11
The CAA had the most games canceled with 14. The MVFC had 13 and the SWAC had 11.
0, 1
The Southland had 0 games canceled while the OVC had 1.
11, 13, 15, 11
Number of games postponed or canceled due to COVID/opt-outs in the last four full weeks of the regular season (March 27, April 3, April 10, April 17).
