As the anticipation for football season continues to build, fans can look forward to more action on college campuses this fall. After a total of 28 NCAA and NAIA schools added varsity football teams in the past four years, five colleges plan to launch football programs in 2012 while 17 others prepare to debut squads by 2015.

In 2012, Misericordia University (Dallas, Pennsylvania) will compete in Division III of the NCAA, while the NAIA will welcome BLUEFIELD COLLEGE (Bluefield, Virginia), Lindenwood University-Belleville (Belleville, Illinois), Point University (West Point, Georgia) and WAYLAND BAPTIST UNIVERSITY (Plainview, Texas).

Alderson-Broaddus College will open play this fall, but will launch its program at the club level before rising to NCAA Division II in 2013. Alderson-Broaddus College will enter the NCAA ranks during the same season as the University Of North Carolina at Charlotte, which will compete in the Division I-Football Championship Subdivision until it elevates to the Division I-Bowl Subdivision and joins Conference USA in 2015.

"Football's popularity has never been greater," says Steven J. Hatchell, president & CEO of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. "The fact that so many schools are embracing it is a testament that more and more college administrators see the value of the sport to a student's overall educational experience."

Colleges that plan to initiate football programs by 2015: