2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season
The 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level. The season began on August 30, 2012, and concluded with the 2013 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on January 5, 2013, at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas. North Dakota State beat Sam Houston State for the second year in a row, 39-13, to repeat as champions.
Conference changes and new programs
The Great West Conference dropped football after the 2011 season.No teams played as independents in 2012, for the first time in the history of Division I-AA/FCS.
| School | 2011 Conference | 2012 Conference |
| Cal Poly | Great West | Big Sky |
| Georgia State | FCS Independent | CAA |
| Massachusetts | CAA | MAC |
| North Dakota | Great West | Big Sky |
| South Alabama | [NCAA NCAA Division I|Division I FCS independent schools|FCS Independent] | Sun Belt |
| South Dakota | Great West | MVFC |
| Southern Utah | Great West | Big Sky |
| Texas State | FCS Independent | WAC |
| UC Davis | Great West | Big Sky |
| UTSA | FCS Independent | WAC |
FCS team wins over FBS teams
August 30: Eastern Washington 20, Idaho 3August 30: McNeese State 27, Middle Tennessee 21
September 1: Tennessee–Martin 20, Memphis 17
September 1: Youngstown State 31, Pittsburgh 17
September 8: Illinois State 31, Eastern Michigan 14
September 8: North Dakota State 22, Colorado State 7
September 8: Northern Arizona 17, UNLV 14
September 8: Sacramento State 30, Colorado 28
September 15: Cal Poly 24, Wyoming 22
September 29: Stony Brook 23, Army 3
Conference summaries
Other conference winners
Note: Records are regular-season only, and do not include playoff games.| Conference | Champion | Record | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Coach of the Year |
| Big Sky | Eastern Washington Montana State Cal Poly | 9–2 10–1 9–2 | DeNarius McGhee | Jody Owens | Beau Baldwin Tim Walsh |
| Big South | Coastal Carolina Liberty Stony Brook | 8–3 6–5 9–2 | Miguel Maysonet | Quinn Backus | Joe Moglia |
| CAA | New Hampshire Richmond Villanova Towson | 8–3 8–3 8–3 7–4 | Taylor Heinicke | Stephon Robertson | Andy Talley |
| Ivy | Penn | 6–4 | Colton Chapple | Mike Catapano | |
| MEAC | Bethune-Cookman | 9–2 | Nick Elko | Keith Pough | Brian Jenkins |
| MVFC | North Dakota State | 10–1 | Matt Brown | Marcus Williams | Craig Bohl |
| NEC | Wagner Albany | 9–2 | Jordan Harris | Nolan Nearhoof | Walt Hameline |
| OVC | Eastern Illinois | 7–4 | Erik Lora | Blake Peiffer | Dino Babers |
| Patriot | Colgate | 8–3 | Gavin McCarney | Robert McCabe | Dick Biddle |
| Pioneer | Butler Drake | 8–3 | Matt Lancaster | Tyler Moorehead | Jeff Voris |
| Southern | Georgia Southern Appalachian State Wofford | 8–3 | Eric Breitenstein | Jeremy Kimbrough Davis Tull | Kevin Higgins Pat Sullivan |
| Southland | Central Arkansas Sam Houston State | 9–2 8–3 | Wynrick Smothers | Darnell Taylor | Clint Conque |
Playoff qualifiers
Automatic berths for conference champions
- Big Sky Conference – Eastern Washington
- Big South Conference – Coastal Carolina
- Colonial Athletic Association – Villanova
- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Bethune-Cookman
- Missouri Valley Football Conference – North Dakota State
- Northeast Conference – Wagner
- Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Illinois
- Patriot League – Colgate
- Southern Conference – Georgia Southern
- Southland Conference – Central Arkansas
At large qualifiers
- Big Sky Conference - Montana State and Cal Poly
- Big South Conference - Stony Brook
- Colonial Athletic Association - New Hampshire and Old Dominion
- Missouri Valley Football Conference - Illinois State and South Dakota State
- Southern Conference - Wofford and Appalachian State
- Southland Conference - Sam Houston State
Abstains
Postseason
NCAA Division I playoff bracket
Coaching changes
Preseason and in-season
This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2012. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2012, see 2011 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.| School | Outgoing coach | Date | Reason | Replacement |
| Southern | Stump Mitchell | September 17 | Fired | Dawson Odums |
| Davidson | Tripp Merritt | November 5 | Fired | Brett Hayford |
| Florida A&M | Joe Taylor | November 7 | Retired | Earl Holmes |
End of season
| School | Outgoing coach | Date announced | Reason | Replacement |
| Georgia State | Bill Curry | August 15 | Retired | Trent Miles |
| Campbell | Dale Steele | November 5 | Fired | Mike Minter |
| Northwestern State | Bradley Dale Peveto | November 19 | Fired | Jay Thomas |
| Western Illinois | Mark Hendrickson | November 19 | Fired | Bob Nielson |
| Morehead State | Matt Ballard | November 20 | Fired | Rob Tenyer |
| Indiana State | Trent Miles | November 30 | Hired by Georgia State | Mike Sanford |
| Jacksonville State | Jack Crowe | November 30 | Fired | Bill Clark |
| UC Davis | Bob Biggs | December 1 | Retired | Ron Gould |
| Appalachian State | Jerry Moore | December 2 | Retired | Scott Satterfield |
| Cornell | Kent Austin | December 17 | Hired by Hamilton Tiger-Cats | David Archer |
| San Diego | Ron Caragher | December 17 | Hired by San Jose State | Dale Lindsey |
| Davidson | Brett Hayford | December 21 | Permanent replacement | Paul Nichols |
| Charleston Southern | Jay Mills | January 3 | Retired | Jamey Chadwell |
| Delaware | K. C. Keeler | January 7 | Fired | Dave Brock |
| Gardner–Webb | Ron Dickerson, Jr. | January 17 | Resigned | Carroll McCray |
| Savannah State | Steve Davenport | April 17 | Fired | Earnest Wilson III |
- In addition to the above changes, Southern named its interim head coach Dawson Odums as permanent head coach on December 14.