As the anticipation for football season continues to build, fans can look forward to more action on college campuses this fall. Eight colleges plan to launch football programs in 2011 while 17 others prepare to debut squads by 2015.

Three universities will join the NCAA football ranks this fall. The UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO (San Antonio, Texas) is the largest institute to open in 2011 and will compete as a Division I-FCS squad, while PRESENTATION COLLEGE (Aberdeen, South Dakota) and STEVENSON UNIVERSITY (Owings Mills, Maryland) will launch in Division III.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) welcomes four universities (AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY, Ave Maria, Florida; CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY, Ann Arbor, Michigan; ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY, Chicago, Illinois; SIENA HEIGHTS UNIVERSITY, Adrian, Michigan) to its contingent in 2011. VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY OF LYNCHBURG (Lynchburg, Virginia), once known as Virginia Seminary, plans to compete as an independent after reviving a program established in the early 1900s.

At least 25 schools plan to add a varsity team, revive a dormant varsity program or upgrade a team to varsity level by 2015. "It's exciting to see the launch of these programs because they are giving players the opportunity of playing at different levels in regions of the country where those options did not previously exist," says Steven J. Hatchell, president & CEO of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. "Football's popularity has never been greater."

A list of colleges that plan to initiate football programs by 2015:

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