888 US Colleges sponsor varsity Football teams:
| Football Division | # of Schools | Total Players | Average Roster | Scholarship Limit |
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| NCAA I - FBS * | 136 |  | 17,107 | 127 | 85 | ||
| NCAA I - FCS * | 127 | 14,531 | 115 | 63 | |||
| NCAA II | 163 | 19,864 | 120 | 36 | |||
| NCAA III | 242 | 26,036 | 108 | - | |||
| NAIA | 95 | 10,158 | 104 | 24 | |||
| CCCAA | 67 | 5,022 | 75 | - | |||
| NJCAA | 54 | 4,360 | 81 | 85 | |||
| Other | 4 | 222 | 55 | ||||
| Totals | 888 | 97,300 | 109 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NCAA Division I football has two subdivisions: a football bowl subdivision (FBS) and a football championship subdivision (FCS). NCAA II football is an equivalency sport which means awards can be split into partial scholarships, so a D2 team could award 72 players each a 1/2 scholarship and not exceed the limit of 36 per team. For more information see our page on scholarship limits.
* Effect of House v NCAA proposed NIL settlement on Football:
As part of the House v. NCAA proposed settlement, scholarship limits for Division I sports will be eliminated and roster limits will apply instead. Beginning in the 2025-26 season, NCAA I football teams (both FBS & FCS) would have a roster limit of 105 players, all of whom would be eligible for full scholarships. However, scholarship awards are discretionary, schools can elect to fully fund a sport, partially fund or provide no athletic scholarships.
Additionally, under the proposed settlement NCAA I schools will be allowed to share athletic revenues with their varsity athletes up to an initial cap of $ 20.5 million per year. The following table is an estimate of how 2025-26 revenue sharing would likely be allocated for the average NCAA I Power conference school:
| Revenue Sharing 2025-26 Power Conference Schools | Average $ per Team | Roster Limit | Average $ per Player | Revenue Sharing % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Football | 15,345,899 | 105 | 146,151 | 75.0% |
| Men's Basketball | 3,279,161 | 15 | 218,611 | 16.0% |
| All Other Sports | 1,874,940 | 460 | 4,076 | 9.0% |
| Totals | 20,500,000 | 100% |
Football and Men’s basketball account for over 90% of team specific revenues at most Power Conference schools, and athletes on these two teams will be the major beneficiaries under the revenue sharing model. These are averages per athlete. In actuality, a few players per team will receive substantially higher than the average, while many will get much less. For players who see little if any playing time, their revenue sharing will also likely be little or none.
These estimates are for schools in the four Power conferences. Revenue sharing allocations for other NCAA I Schools will significantly lower – see our page on NCAA revenue sharing for Football teams on our sister site NIL-NCAA.com for additional information.
US Colleges & Universities sponsoring Football teams:
Hover over individual states on the map below to see how many schools sponsor varsity football programs. The tables following the map have information on each sponsoring school and links to all 888 team sites. School listings are divided into 4 tables based on US regions: West, Midwest, Northeast & South:
Listing of all US Colleges & Universities sponsoring Football teams:
Football - Midwest Schools 2024-25
Football - Northeast Schools 2024-25
Football - Southern Schools 2024-25
Football - Western Schools 2024-25
Odds of a High School Football Player making a College Varsity Roster:
| College Football Odds 2022: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of US High School Football Players 2021-22 | | 1,023,908 | |
| Number of College Football Players (see table below) | 97,300 | ||
| % of US High School Football Players competing at any College Level | 9.5% | ||
| % of US High School Football Players Competing at NCAA I Schools | 3.1% | ||
| Odds of a US High School Football Player making any College Roster | 11:1 | ||
| Odds of a US High School Football Player making an NCAA I Roster | 33:1 | ||
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These are the odds of a random US high school football player making a college roster. Actual odds are likely better for most athletes motivated to play in college due to several factors: High school participation includes a large number of multi-sport athletes who typically play only one sport in college, many high school athletes do not intend to compete at the college level, and unfortunately, a significant portion of high school students – including athletes – do not go on to college. While nearly 70% of 2021 female high school graduates enrolled in college, only 55% of male graduates enrolled in either a 2-year or 4-year school, and as a result males currently represent only about 4 in 10 college students nationwide. See our page on the odds of competing in college for more information.
Do you have the skills to compete in College Football?
What level of athlete are coaches looking for and who are you competing with for a roster spot? A good way to get an idea is to look at the high-school bios of athletes currently on the roster of schools that interest you.
# of Colleges with Football teams by State:
| # of Schools with varsity football teams by State 2022-23 | Total | NCAA I - FBS | NCAA I - FCS | NCAA II | NCAA III | NAIA | NJCAA | CCCAA | Other | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | |||||||||||
| Alabama | 16 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Arkansas | 13 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Arizona | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| California | 88 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 67 | ||||
| Colorado | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |||||||
| Connecticut | 11 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ||||||
| District of Columbia | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| Delaware | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Florida | 21 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 2 | |||||
| Georgia | 20 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Hawaii | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Iowa | 29 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 3 | ||||
| Idaho | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| Illinois | 34 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 1 | ||||
| Indiana | 20 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 4 | |||||
| Kansas | 26 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 7 | ||||||
| Kentucky | 17 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | |||||
| Louisiana | 13 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Massachusetts | 28 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 19 | ||||||
| Maryland | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||
| Maine | 6 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Michigan | 26 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 4 | ||||||
| Minnesota | 29 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 6 | |||||
| Missouri | 21 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 6 | |||||
| Mississippi | 24 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 14 | |||||
| Montana | 7 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||
| North Carolina | 35 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| North Dakota | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Nebraska | 10 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | ||||||
| New Hampshire | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| New Jersey | 10 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | ||||||
| New Mexico | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||||||
| Nevada | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| New York | 37 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 19 | 5 | |||||
| Ohio | 40 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 21 | 1 | |||||
| Oklahoma | 14 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| Oregon | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | |||||
| Pennsylvania | 57 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 27 | 3 | |||||
| Rhode Island | 4 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||
| South Carolina | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | |||||||
| South Dakota | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | |||||||
| Tennessee | 18 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| Texas | 47 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 6 | ||||
| Utah | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |||||||
| Virginia | 26 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Vermont | 3 | 3 | |||||||||
| Washington | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| Wisconsin | 18 | 1 | 17 | ||||||||
| West Virginia | 14 | 2 | 11 | 1 | |||||||
| Wyoming | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Totals | 893 | 131 | 130 | 165 | 244 | 98 | 54 | 67 | 4 |
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