The 2023 NCAA Division II football season, part of
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
in the United States organized by the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA) at the
Division II level, began on August 31 and ended on December 16 with the
Division II championship at the
McKinney Independent School District Stadium in
McKinney, Texas
McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas, United States. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano, Texas, Plano and Frisco, Texas, Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about ...
.
Harding won the title, defeating
Colorado Mines, 38–7.
D-II team wins over FCS teams
September 2:
Bowie State 22,
Delaware State 11
September 2:
Virginia State 33,
Norfolk State 24
September 2:
Central State (OH) 24,
Mississippi Valley State 21
September 8:
Barton 33,
Davidson 31
September 9:
Colorado Mesa 28,
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
21
OT
September 9:
Miles
The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English f ...
21,
Alabama State 17
September 16:
Delta State
Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...
35,
Mississippi Valley State 7
Conference changes and new programs
Headlines
* January 14 – At the 2023 NCAA Convention, the D-II football membership approved a change to
redshirt
Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to:
Sports
* Redshirt (college sports)
Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...
rules to allow freshmen to play in up to three games without losing a season of athletic eligibility.
* January 26 –
Conference Carolinas
Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...
announced that Shorter University would join from the
Gulf South Conference
The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States.
History
Originally known as the ...
in 2024. This gave the conference 6 football sponsoring members, and accordingly, it was announced that they would begin sponsoring football again effective for the 2025 season, a sport they had previously discontinued in 1975. Inaugural members of the new league would be Barton and Erskine, who currently play in the
South Atlantic Conference
The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as ...
; UNC Pembroke, who plays in the
Mountain East Conference
The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 11 schools, m ...
; and Chowan, North Greenville, and Shorter, who all play in the Gulf South Conference.
* December 14 – The NCAA Division II Championships Committee approved a restructuring of the football super regions effective for the 2025 season once Conference Carolinas begins sponsoring football. The new super region alignment is as follows:
**Super Region 1: Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Mountain East Conference, Northeast-10 Conference, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
**Super Region 2: Conference Carolinas, Gulf South Conference, South Atlantic Conference, Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
**Super Region 3: Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Great Lakes Valley Conference, Great Midwest Athletic Conference, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
**Super Region 4: Great American Conference, Lone Star Conference, Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Rankings
The top 25 from the AFCA Coaches' Poll.
Preseason Poll
Conference standings
Super Region 1
Super Region 2
Super Region 3
Super Region 4
Postseason
Qualifiers
* — Indicates a team playing outside of its assigned super region.
Bracket
Super Region 1
Super Region 2
Super Region 3
Super Region 4
Semifinals & Championship
Teams were re-seeded prior to semifinals.
Bowl games
There were four bowl games, which featured teams that did not qualify for the Division II postseason tournament.
The schedule included the inaugural edition of the Florida Beach Bowl, contested between teams from the
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black col ...
(SIAC) and
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (originally and through 1950 known as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association — CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...
(CIAA), two conferences mostly consisting of
historically black colleges and universities
Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...
(HBCUs).
Coaching changes
Preseason and in-season
This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2023, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled games but before its playoff games.
End of season
This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.
See also
*
2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 154th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). ...
*
2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season
The 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The regular seas ...
*
2023 NCAA Division III football season
*
2023 NAIA football season
*
2023 U Sports football season
*
2023 junior college football season
References
{{NCAA football season navbox