The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) coordinated the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season, which was part of collegiate football in the United States. On January 5, 2019, the FCS Championship Game was held in Frisco, Texas. The game was hosted by the University of North Texas, who had won the title game the previous two seasons. Appalachian State defeated North Carolina State 27–7 to claim their first national championship. The FCS championship game is played on the campus of a school that has not yet earned the right to play in or win a bowl game. In fact, only three teams have ever reached or exceeded expectations going into the season and still failed to earn an invitation to a bowl game. Those teams are Youngstown State in 1990, Maine in 2001, and Richmond in 2008. The FCS championship game is different from other college football games in that there is no direct path to the NFL. Almost all professional players come from some sort of college program, either division I or II. However, several players who started their careers in the FCS have gone on to have successful pro careers. These include Eric Berry, Ed Reed, Michael Bennett, Malcolm Butler, Joe Flacco, Trent Gentry, Tamba Hali, Brian Kimbrow, Dont'a Hightower, Jarvis Jones, Kevin Reddick, Danny Trevathan, Jerod Mayo, Zach Moore, and Aaron Ross.