Understanding the College Football Landscape

While there are plenty of opportunities available to play college football, it helps to understand the math and approach the process with a realistic mindset.

• 1,028,761 HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS
• 7.5% MAKE IT TO ANY LEVEL
• 3% MAKE IT TO NCAA D-1
• 2% MAKE IT TO NCAA D-II
• 2.5% MAKE IT TO NCAA D-III

In NCAA Division I, or the Football Bowl Subdivision, there are 134 schools that can have a max of 105 players.

In 2025, schools can offer full rides or equivalents, along with revenue sharing of around $15 million or $140,741 per player for football rosters.

Most schools will still only fully fund 85 scholarships.

• ACC: 17 TEAMS
• AMERICAN: 14 TEAMS
• M-WEST: 12 TEAMS
• BIG 12: 16 TEAMS
• C-USA: 10 TEAMS
• PAC-12: 2 TEAMS
• BIG TEN: 18 TEAMS
• SEC: 16 TEAMS
• INDY: 3 TEAMS
• SUNBELT: 14 TEAMS
• MAC: 12 TEAMS

The next division is the NCAA D-I Football Championship Subdivision or D-I-AA – which is made up of 125 teams.

• At the FCS level, they have a maximum of 63 equivalents.
• There is no revenue sharing and no roster limits.
• The average team size is 118 players.

• BIG SKY: 12 TEAMS
• IVY: 8 TEAMS
• PATRIOT: 7 TEAMS
• SOUTHWESTERN: 12 TEAMS
• BIG SOUTH-OVC: 9 TEAMS
• MID-EASTERN: 6 TEAMS
• PIONEER: 11 TEAMS
• UNITED: 9 TEAMS
• CAA: 16 TEAMS
• MO VALLEY: 11 TEAMS
• SOUTHERN: 9 TEAMS
• INDY: 2 TEAMS
• NORTHEAST: 8 TEAMS
• SOUTHLAND: 9 TEAMS

The next division is NCAA Division II. Currently, there are 167 of these schools, each with a maximum of 36 equivalents.

There has been some significant movement in the D-II ranks over the past few seasons as teams have dropped football or moved up from other divisions. The average team size is 125 players.

• CIAA: 12 TEAMS
• G-MAC: 10 TEAMS
• MIAA: 10 TEAMS
• PSAC: 15 TEAMS
• GAC: 12 TEAMS
• GSC: 6 TEAMS
• MT. EAST: 10 TEAMS
• RMAC: 10 TEAMS
• GLIAC: 8 TEAMS
• INDY: 2 TEAMS
• NE10: 9 TEAMS
• SAC: 12 TEAMS
• GLVC: 9 TEAMS
• LONESTAR: 10 TEAMS
• NSIC: 13 TEAMS
• SIAC: 13 TEAMS

The next division is NCAA Division III. These schools do not offer athletic scholarships – aid is through academics and other grants. If you have strong academics, you can often get a pretty strong package at the D-III level.

• There are 30 conferences and 242 football schools in D-III spread across 35 different states.
• The average team size is 109 players.
• The average enrollment at D-III schools is 2,486.
• The states with the highest concentration of D-III schools are Pennsylvania (28), Ohio (20), Illinois (19), Massachusetts (18), New York (18), Wisconsin (17) and Minnesota (17).

The NAIA is a totally different governing body with 93 schools that play football. Most NAIA schools are funded at about the same level as D-II schools. They split scholarships and athletes usually get more money the longer they are in the program.

• The NAIA is made up of 21 conferences with an average enrollment of 1,270 students.
• Most NAIA schools have a student body that's more than 25% athletes.
• The average team size is 107 players.
• Kansas is the top NAIA state for football, with more than 13 programs. It's also home to the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC), one of the oldest and most prestigious conferences not only in the NAIA but in all of college athletics.

There are also JUNIOR COLLEGES, with 124 schools across the country that play football. The average junior college roster has 78 players.

• Junior colleges often do not have robust scholarships or don't offer them at all in some instances.
• The Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference are the strongest junior colleges in the country. Their scholarship limit is 85.
• Quality football is played in the California Community College Athletic Association as well, however they offer no athletic scholarships.