In 1978, a vote passed to subdivide Division I football into I-A and I-AA. In 2006, the names of the subdivisions were renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Football Championship Subdivision.
The FBS allows 85 full scholarships. The FCS has 63 full scholarships that can be split between 85 players.
The 22 extra scholarships are a huge advantage, yet there have been a ton of FCS wins over FBS opponents. These are the FCS programs that have the most wins:
NOTE: While the two DI subdivisions have played each other since the split in 1978, these numbers only go back to 1990. The reason being there was a lot of reclassifying down from I-A to I-AA in the 1980s. The history of wins can be read here.
12
Youngstown State
9
Northwestern State
North Dakota State
8
Northern Iowa
Eastern Washington
7
Western Illinois
6
Montana
New Hampshire
The Citadel
Jacksonville State
5
*Appalachian State
Cal Poly
Eastern Illinois
Richmond
*Now an FBS program
4
*Boise State
*Florida Atlantic
Illinois State
McNeese State
Portland State
James Madison
*Liberty
Villanova
Nicholls
*Now an FBS program
3
*UCF
William & Mary
*Troy State
Delaware
Sam Houston State
Indiana State
North Carolina A&T
UC Davis
Maine
Central Arkansas
Southern Illinois
*Now an FBS program
