Chicago City Wire

Chicago-based Robert Morris University football fielded 190 players in 2016 – the sixth highest such student popularity number in the nation – according to a Chicago City Wire analysis of federal education data.

Other Illinois schools among the nation’s 200 college or university football teams that field the most football players were McKendree University in Lebanon (148 players) and North Central College in Naperville (132 players). 

The U.S. Department of Education’s office of postsecondary education collects athletics data annually from all institutions with intercollegiate athletics programs that receive funding through federal financial aid programs. Data for 2016 – the latest year available – includes more than 2,000 schools nationwide.

A total of 887 schools nationwide offer football programs, with the number of players averaging 103 per team.

Top 200: College football programs in U.S. with most participation

School	State	Division	Football Team Members
University of Mount Union	OH	NCAA Division III with football	251
MidAmerica Nazarene University	KS	NAIA Division I	215
Methodist University	NC	NCAA Division III with football	201
Tusculum College	TN	NCAA Division II with football	192
Lindenwood University	MO	NCAA Division II with football	191
Robert Morris University Illinois	IL	NAIA Division II	190
Benedictine College	KS	NAIA Division I	190
Newberry College	SC	NCAA Division II with football	187
Limestone College	SC	NCAA Division II with football	178
Baldwin Wallace University	OH	NCAA Division III with football	174
Ashland University	OH	NCAA Division II with football	173
Alderson Broaddus University	WV	NCAA Division II with football	171
Delaware Valley University	PA	NCAA Division III with football	169
Graceland University-Lamoni	IA	NAIA Division II	167
Hardin-Simmons University	TX	NCAA Division III with football	167
Trine University	IN	NCAA Division III with football	166
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor	TX	NCAA Division III with football	165
Saint Ambrose University	IA	NAIA Division II	163
North Carolina Wesleyan College	NC	NCAA Division III with football	163
Henderson State University	AR	NCAA Division II with football	162
Thomas More College	KY	NCAA Division III with football	162
University of Pikeville	KY	NAIA Division I	159
Howard Payne University	TX	NCAA Division III with football	158
University of Dubuque	IA	NCAA Division III with football	156
University of St Thomas	MN	NCAA Division III with football	156
Mississippi College	MS	NCAA Division II with football	156
Midland University	NE	NAIA Division II	156
Carson-Newman University	TN	NCAA Division II with football	156
Grand View University	IA	NAIA Division II	154
Wayland Baptist University	TX	NAIA Division I	152
ASA College	NY	NJCAA Division I	151
Marian University	IN	NAIA Division II	150
Lindsey Wilson College	KY	NAIA Division I	149
Olivet College	MI	NCAA Division III with football	149
Carthage College	WI	NCAA Division III with football	149
McKendree University	IL	NCAA Division II with football	148
Wingate University	NC	NCAA Division II with football	146
Huntingdon College	AL	NCAA Division III with football	145
Iowa Central Community College	IA	NJCAA Division II	145
Georgetown College	KY	NAIA Division I	145
Heidelberg University	OH	NCAA Division III with football	145
Albright College	PA	NCAA Division III with football	145
Ohio Northern University	OH	NCAA Division III with football	144
Southeastern Oklahoma State University	OK	NCAA Division II with football	144
Shorter University	GA	NCAA Division II with football	143
Bridgewater College	VA	NCAA Division III with football	143
Saginaw Valley State University	MI	NCAA Division II with football	142
Wagner College	NY	NCAA Division I-FCS	142
Averett University	VA	NCAA Division III with football	142
Valdosta State University	GA	NCAA Division II with football	141
Concordia University-Nebraska	NE	NAIA Division II	141
Pittsburg State University	KS	NCAA Division II with football	140
Adrian College	MI	NCAA Division III with football	140
Chowan University	NC	NCAA Division II with football	140
Texas A & M University-Commerce	TX	NCAA Division II with football	140
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	NCAA Division I-FBS	139
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	NE	NCAA Division I-FBS	139
Pacific University	OR	NCAA Division III with football	139
Washington & Jefferson College	PA	NCAA Division III with football	139
Colorado State University-Pueblo	CO	NCAA Division II with football	138
DePauw University	IN	NCAA Division III with football	138
Iowa State University	IA	NCAA Division I-FBS	137
Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	NCAA Division I-FBS	137
Warner University	FL	NAIA Division II	136
Lackawanna College	PA	NJCAA Division II	136
The University of Alabama	AL	NCAA Division I-FBS	135
Hartwick College	NY	NCAA Division III with football	135
Tiffin University	OH	NCAA Division II with football	135
Arkansas Tech University	AR	NCAA Division II with football	134
McNeese State University	LA	NCAA Division I-FCS	134
Davenport University	MI	NCAA Division II with football	134
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	NCAA Division I-FBS	134
University of Nebraska at Kearney	NE	NCAA Division II with football	134
John Carroll University	OH	NCAA Division III with football	134
George Fox University	OR	NCAA Division III with football	134
University of California-Berkeley	CA	NCAA Division I-FBS	133
Iowa Western Community College	IA	NJCAA Division I	133
Wartburg College	IA	NCAA Division III with football	133
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	LA	NCAA Division I-FBS	133
Northwood University	MI	NCAA Division II with football	133
Lenoir-Rhyne University	NC	NCAA Division II with football	133
Chadron State College	NE	NCAA Division II with football	133
Utica College	NY	NCAA Division III with football	133
Lake Erie College	OH	NCAA Division II with football	133
Mt San Antonio College	CA	CCCAA	132
North Central College	IL	NCAA Division III with football	132
Charleston Southern University	SC	NCAA Division I-FCS	132
Ferrum College	VA	NCAA Division III with football	132
Troy University	AL	NCAA Division I-FBS	131
Bethany College	KS	NAIA Division II	131
Stevenson University	MD	NCAA Division III with football	131
Concordia University-Ann Arbor	MI	NAIA Division II	131
Doane University-Arts & Sciences	NE	NAIA Division II	131
Midwestern State University	TX	NCAA Division II with football	131
Southwestern Assemblies of God University	TX	NAIA Division I	131
Florida Institute of Technology	FL	NCAA Division II with football	130
Louisiana College	LA	NCAA Division III with football	130
Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	NCAA Division I-FBS	130
Walsh University	OH	NCAA Division II with football	130
Reinhardt University	GA	NAIA Division II	129
Western New England University	MA	NCAA Division III with football	129
Eastern Michigan University	MI	NCAA Division I-FBS	129
The University of Montana-Western	MT	NAIA Division I	129
Bluffton University	OH	NCAA Division III with football	129
Middle Tennessee State University	TN	NCAA Division I-FBS	129
Angelo State University	TX	NCAA Division II with football	129
Texas Lutheran University	TX	NCAA Division III with football	129
Harding University	AR	NCAA Division II with football	128
University of Georgia	GA	NCAA Division I-FBS	128
Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	NCAA Division I-FBS	128
Siena Heights University	MI	NAIA Division II	128
University of Central Oklahoma	OK	NCAA Division II with football	128
Brigham Young University-Provo	UT	NCAA Division I-FBS	128
Snow College	UT	NJCAA Division I	128
West Virginia University	WV	NCAA Division I-FBS	128
Jacksonville State University	AL	NCAA Division I-FCS	127
Fullerton College	CA	CCCAA	127
Western Connecticut State University	CT	NCAA Division III with football	127
University of West Georgia	GA	NCAA Division II with football	127
Augustana College	IL	NCAA Division III with football	127
Fort Scott Community College	KS	NJCAA Division I	127
University of Louisiana at Monroe	LA	NCAA Division I-FBS	127
Springfield College	MA	NCAA Division III with football	127
Missouri Southern State University	MO	NCAA Division II with football	127
Northwest Missouri State University	MO	NCAA Division II with football	127
Westminster College	PA	NCAA Division III with football	127
West Texas A & M University	TX	NCAA Division II with football	127
University of Utah	UT	NCAA Division I-FBS	127
University of South Alabama	AL	NCAA Division I-FBS	126
Michigan Technological University	MI	NCAA Division II with football	126
Oklahoma Baptist University	OK	NCAA Division II with football	126
Texas A & M University-College Station	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	126
The University of Virginia's College at Wise	VA	NCAA Division II with football	126
Norwich University	VT	NCAA Division III with football	126
University of Charleston	WV	NCAA Division II with football	126
Central College	IA	NCAA Division III with football	125
Franklin College	IN	NCAA Division III with football	125
Kansas State University	KS	NCAA Division I-FBS	125
Kansas Wesleyan University	KS	NAIA Division II	125
Frostburg State University	MD	NCAA Division III with football	125
Alma College	MI	NCAA Division III with football	125
Carroll College	MT	NAIA Division I	125
The University of Findlay	OH	NCAA Division II with football	125
Wittenberg University	OH	NCAA Division III with football	125
Temple University	PA	NCAA Division I-FBS	125
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	NCAA Division I-FBS	125
Texas Christian University	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	125
The University of Texas at Austin	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	125
University of Central Florida	FL	NCAA Division I-FBS	124
Point University	GA	NAIA Division II	124
Elmhurst College	IL	NCAA Division III with football	124
Concordia College at Moorhead	MN	NCAA Division III with football	124
Southwest Baptist University	MO	NCAA Division II with football	124
Colorado Mesa University	CO	NCAA Division II with football	123
Georgia Southern University	GA	NCAA Division I-FBS	123
University of Kentucky	KY	NCAA Division I-FBS	123
Northwestern State University of Louisiana	LA	NCAA Division I-FCS	123
University of Missouri-Columbia	MO	NCAA Division I-FBS	123
University of Nevada-Reno	NV	NCAA Division I-FBS	123
Northwestern Oklahoma State University	OK	NCAA Division II with football	123
Citadel Military College of South Carolina	SC	NCAA Division I-FCS	123
University of West Alabama	AL	NCAA Division II with football	122
University of Arkansas	AR	NCAA Division I-FBS	122
San Diego State University	CA	NCAA Division I-FBS	122
University of Redlands	CA	NCAA Division III with football	122
Simpson College	IA	NCAA Division III with football	122
Washburn University	KS	NCAA Division II with football	122
Centre College	KY	NCAA Division III with football	122
Grand Valley State University	MI	NCAA Division II with football	122
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	NC	NCAA Division I-FBS	122
SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	NY	NCAA Division III with football	122
Allegheny College	PA	NCAA Division III with football	122
Coastal Carolina University	SC	Other	122
University of Houston	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	122
Arizona State University-Tempe	AZ	NCAA Division I-FBS	121
Florida State University	FL	NCAA Division I-FBS	121
Berry College	GA	NCAA Division III with football	121
University of Iowa	IA	NCAA Division I-FBS	121
University of Saint Francis-Fort Wayne	IN	NAIA Division I	121
University of Louisville	KY	NCAA Division I-FBS	121
Nebraska Wesleyan University	NE	NCAA Division III with football	121
Southwestern Oklahoma State University	OK	NCAA Division II with football	121
Misericordia University	PA	NCAA Division III with football	121
Clemson University	SC	NCAA Division I-FBS	121
University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	NCAA Division I-FBS	121
Sam Houston State University	TX	NCAA Division I-FCS	121
Texas Tech University	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	121
Emory & Henry College	VA	NCAA Division III with football	121
Bethany College	WV	NCAA Division III with football	121
Auburn University	AL	NCAA Division I-FBS	120
University of Florida	FL	NCAA Division I-FBS	120
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	LA	NCAA Division I-FBS	120
Montana Tech of the University of Montana	MT	NAIA Division I	120
Rocky Mountain College	MT	NAIA Division I	120
Cornell University	NY	NCAA Division I-FCS	120
Morrisville State College	NY	NCAA Division III with football	120
SUNY Buffalo State	NY	NCAA Division III with football	120
Ohio Dominican University	OH	NCAA Division II with football	120
Ohio University-Main Campus	OH	NCAA Division I-FBS	120
University of Toledo	OH	NCAA Division I-FBS	120

 Source: U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education