List of NCAA Division I schools that have never sponsored football

This is a list of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I schools that have never sponsored gridiron football as a varsity sport.

Sprint football, a weight-restricted variant of the sport, has never been overseen by any major national college sports governing body. Schools that have only fielded sprint football teams are considered "non-football" by the NCAA.

Name Location Nickname Primary conference Type Enrollment (total) Founded
Bellarmine University[a] Louisville, Kentucky Bellarmine Knights Atlantic Sun Conference private, Catholic 3,750 1950
Belmont University Nashville, Tennessee Belmont Bruins Missouri Valley Conference private, liberal arts 7,244 1890
Binghamton University Vestal, New York[b] Binghamton Bearcats America East Conference public 16,098 1946
California State University, Bakersfield Bakersfield, California Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners Big West Conference public 8,720 1965
Chicago State University Chicago, Illinois Chicago State Cougars Independent public 7,131 1867
Cleveland State University Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland State Vikings Horizon League public 17,204 1923
Coppin State University Baltimore, Maryland Coppin State Eagles Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference public 2,348 1900
Fairleigh Dickinson University Teaneck, New Jersey Fairleigh Dickinson Knights Northeast Conference private 11,000 1942
Florida Gulf Coast University Lee County, Florida[c] Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Atlantic Sun Conference public 14,673 1991
George Mason University George Mason, Virginia[d] George Mason Patriots Atlantic 10 Conference public 33,917 1957
Grand Canyon University Phoenix, Arizona Grand Canyon Antelopes Western Athletic Conference[e] private 25,300 (on campus)/103,100 1949
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay Phoenix Horizon League public 6,700 1965
Indiana University Indianapolis[f] Indianapolis, Indiana IU Indy Jaguars Horizon League public 30,461 1969
University of Missouri–Kansas City Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City Roos Summit League public 15,746 1933
Le Moyne College[g] DeWitt, New York[h] Le Moyne Dolphins Northeast Conference private, Catholic 3,409 1946
Lipscomb University Nashville, Tennessee Lipscomb Bisons Atlantic Sun Conference private, Churches of Christ 4,580 1891
University of Arkansas at Little Rock[i] Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock Trojans Ohio Valley Conference public 13,176 1927
Longwood University Farmville, Virginia Longwood Lancers Big South Conference public 4,800 1839
New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, New Jersey NJIT Highlanders America East Conference public 10,646 1881
University of New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans Privateers Southland Conference public 8,000 1956
University of North Florida Jacksonville, Florida North Florida Ospreys Atlantic Sun Conference public 16,372 1972
Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, Kentucky Northern Kentucky Norse Horizon League public 14,566 1968
Oakland University Auburn Hills & Rochester Hills, Michigan[j] Oakland Golden Grizzlies Horizon League public 20,169 1957
Oral Roberts University Tulsa, Oklahoma Oral Roberts Golden Eagles Summit League private, Christian 3,335 1965
Purdue University Fort Wayne[k] Fort Wayne, Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons Horizon League public 10,208 1964
Queens University of Charlotte[l] Charlotte, North Carolina Queens Royals[m] Atlantic Sun Conference private 2,463 1857
Quinnipiac University Hamden, Connecticut Quinnipiac Bobcats Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference private 9,000 1929
Radford University Radford, Virginia Radford Highlanders Big South Conference public 9,798 1910
Seattle University Seattle, Washington Seattle Redhawks Western Athletic Conference[e] private, Jesuit 7,755 1891
University of South Carolina Upstate Spartanburg, South Carolina USC Upstate Spartans Big South Conference public 5,500 1967
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, Illinois SIU Edwardsville Cougars Ohio Valley Conference public 13,972 1957
University of California, Irvine Irvine, California UC Irvine Anteaters Big West Conference public, research 30,757 1965
University of Maryland, Baltimore County Catonsville, Maryland[n] UMBC Retrievers America East Conference public 13,979 1966
University of North Carolina at Asheville[i] Asheville, North Carolina UNC Asheville Bulldogs Big South Conference public 3,644 1927
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, North Carolina UNC Greensboro Spartans Southern Conference public 18,502 1891
University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, North Carolina UNC Wilmington Seahawks Colonial Athletic Association public 12,743 1979
University of Southern Indiana[l] Perry Township, Indiana[o] Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles Ohio Valley Conference public 9,758 1965
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley[i][p][q] Edinburg, Texas[r] UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros Southland Conference public 28,700 1927/
2015[s]
Utah Valley University Orem, Utah Utah Valley Wolverines Western Athletic Conference public 31,556 1941
Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia VCU Rams Atlantic 10 Conference public 31,163 1838
Winthrop University Rock Hill, South Carolina Winthrop Eagles Big South Conference public 6,170 1886
Wright State University Fairborn, Ohio[t] Wright State Raiders Horizon League public 17,595 1967

Notes

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  1. ^ Bellarmine added sprint football, a form of the sport with severe limits on player weight that is not governed by the NCAA, in the 2022–23 school year.[1]
  2. ^ The campus mailing address is Binghamton.
  3. ^ The campus mailing address is Fort Myers.
  4. ^ The mailing address for the main campus is Fairfax.
  5. ^ a b Grand Canyon and Seattle join the West Coast Conference in July 2025.
  6. ^ In 2024, the Indiana University and Purdue University systems dissolved IUPUI, replacing it with separate IU- and Purdue-affiliated institutions. The athletic program transferred to the new IU Indianapolis. The athletic branding of the new institution is IU Indy.[2]
  7. ^ Began transition from NCAA Division II to Division I in July 2023. Full D-I membership in 2027.
  8. ^ The campus mailing address is Syracuse.
  9. ^ a b c These schools had football teams when they were junior colleges, but none have since becoming universities.
  10. ^ The campus is physically divided between Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, and its mailing address is Rochester.
  11. ^ Purdue Fort Wayne inherited its athletic program from the former Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), which was dissolved on July 1, 2018. Degree programs in health sciences became exclusive to the IU system as Indiana University Fort Wayne, with all other degree programs becoming exclusive to the Purdue system as Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). Shortly before the split became official, PFW announced that the athletic program would change its branding from "Fort Wayne" to "Purdue Fort Wayne".
  12. ^ a b Began transition from NCAA Division II to Division I in July 2022. Full D-I membership in 2026.
  13. ^ Often referred to by media as "Queens (NC)" because of the existence of Queens College in New York City, which remained in D-II after the North Carolina school moved to D-I in 2022.
  14. ^ The campus mailing address is Baltimore.
  15. ^ The campus mailing address is Evansville.
  16. ^ In July 2015, UTRGV, in full the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, entered full operation after the merger of the two University of Texas System campuses in the Rio Grande Valley, the University of Texas–Pan American (UTPA) and University of Texas at Brownsville.[3] Nearly a year before the merger, the UT System announced that UTRGV would inherit the UTPA athletic program,[4] and later unveiled the new school's nickname as Vaqueros.
  17. ^ In January 2021, UTRGV explored the addition of a football program. The university has since confirmed that it will play an exhibition schedule in 2024 before starting full varsity play in 2025. Football will compete in that conference, starting in the 2025 season.[5]
  18. ^ UTRGV has multiple campuses throughout its service area, but its athletic program is based from the former UTPA main campus in Edinburg.
  19. ^ UTRGV was formally founded in 2013 and began full operation in 2015, but inherited its athletic program from UTPA, which was founded in 1927 as the two-year Edinburg College.
  20. ^ The campus mailing address is Dayton.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Bellarmine to become founding member of Midwest Sprint Football League" (Press release). Bellarmine Knights. June 21, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  2. ^ Tryon, Matthew (August 12, 2022). "What's next for IUPUI athletics? Staying in the Horizon League and 'tough decisions'". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  3. ^ "Project South Texas: Timeline". University of Texas System.
  4. ^ "Project South Texas: Ask a Question". University of Texas System. July 30, 2014.
  5. ^ Jeyarajah, Shehan (January 14, 2021). "UTRGV exploring adding FCS football". Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Retrieved January 22, 2021.