The FBS has experienced several realignments since its formation in 1978 , with many teams changing conferences , dropping out of the FBS , or moving up from the FCS . In 1982 , the size of the division was cut considerably , and the Southern Conference and the Ivy League were demoted to the FCS . In 1985 , the Missouri Valley Conference stopped sponsoring football . In the 1980s and 1990s , several independents joined conferences , dropped football , or joined the FCS . In the 1996 NCAA conference realignment , the Southwest Conference dissolved , and four Texas teams from that conference joined with the Big 8 schools to form the Big 12 Conference . The Western Athletic Conference expanded to sixteen members , but half of the schools left in 1999 to form the Mountain West Conference . Conference USA ( C-USA ) formed from a merger of the Metro Conference and the Great Midwest Conference , two conferences which had not sponsored football . The Big West stopped sponsoring football after the 2000 season , and was essentially replaced by the Sun Belt Conference , which added former Big West members and began sponsoring football in 2001 . In the mid-2000s , the Big East added former basketball-only member Connecticut , while Temple left the conference ( before eventually returning in 2013 ) . During another phase of realignment in 2005 , three schools jumped from the Big East to the ACC . The Big East responded by adding schools from Conference USA
independents
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision