FCS conference belt
The Patriot Belt
A companion lineage restricted to Patriot: the belt passes to whoever beats the holder, exactly like the real belt, but only games between two Patriot members COUNT — and only for the seasons both sides were actually in Patriot at the time. Caught it by beating Lehigh on October 24, 2026.
Next Patriot gameVillanova at Lafayette · October 31, 2026 · ESPN+ — Lafayette takes it with a win.
| # | Team | Reign | Length | Def. | Won it | Lost it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colgate | September 6, 2003 – October 30, 2004 | 1 yr, 54 days | 8 | Established it (first game on record) | lost to Lehigh |
| 2 | Lehigh | October 30, 2004 – November 20, 2004 | 21 days | 2 | beat Colgate 21–14 | lost to Lafayette |
| 3 | Lafayette | November 20, 2004 – November 5, 2005 | 350 days | 3 | beat Lehigh 24–10 | lost to Colgate |
| 4 | Colgate | November 5, 2005 – October 28, 2006 | 357 days | 4 | beat Lafayette 18–15 | lost to Lafayette |
| 5 | Lafayette | October 28, 2006 – October 20, 2007 | 357 days | 3 | beat Colgate 27–10 | lost to Fordham |
| 6 | Fordham | October 20, 2007 – November 17, 2007 | 28 days | 1 | beat Lafayette 34–23 | lost to Bucknell |
| 7 | Bucknell | November 17, 2007 – October 25, 2008 | 343 days | 1 | beat Fordham 38–24 | lost to Colgate |
| 8 | Colgate | October 25, 2008 – October 24, 2009 | 364 days | 5 | beat Bucknell 52–28 | lost to Holy Cross |
| 9 | Holy Cross | October 24, 2009 – November 21, 2009 | 28 days | 3 | beat Colgate 42–28 | lost to Bucknell |
| 10 | Bucknell | November 21, 2009 – October 23, 2010 | 336 days | 1 | beat Holy Cross 23–17 | lost to Lehigh |
| 11 | Lehigh | October 23, 2010 – November 10, 2012 | 2 yrs, 18 days | 14 | beat Bucknell 32–10 | lost to Colgate |
| 12 | Colgate | November 10, 2012 – November 2, 2013 | 357 days | 3 | beat Lehigh 35–24 | lost to Bucknell |
| 13 | Bucknell | November 2, 2013 – November 9, 2013 | 7 days | 0 | beat Colgate 28–7 | lost to Fordham |
| 14 | Fordham | November 9, 2013 – November 16, 2013 | 7 days | 0 | beat Bucknell 23–21 | lost to Lafayette |
| 15 | Lafayette | November 16, 2013 – October 3, 2014 | 321 days | 1 | beat Fordham 27–14 | lost to Fordham |
| 16 | Fordham | October 3, 2014 – October 31, 2015 | 1 yr, 28 days | 7 | beat Lafayette 42–18 | lost to Colgate |
| 17 | Colgate | October 31, 2015 – October 8, 2016 | 343 days | 3 | beat Fordham 31–29 | lost to Lehigh |
| 18 | Lehigh | October 8, 2016 – October 28, 2017 | 1 yr, 20 days | 7 | beat Colgate 45–31 | lost to Fordham |
| 19 | Fordham | October 28, 2017 – November 4, 2017 | 7 days | 0 | beat Lehigh 45–35 | lost to Holy Cross |
| 20 | Holy Cross | November 4, 2017 – November 11, 2017 | 7 days | 0 | beat Fordham 42–20 | lost to Lehigh |
| 21 | Lehigh | November 11, 2017 – October 13, 2018 | 336 days | 1 | beat Holy Cross 34–21 | lost to Fordham |
| 22 | Fordham | October 13, 2018 – October 27, 2018 | 14 days | 0 | beat Lehigh 43–14 | lost to Lafayette |
| 23 | Lafayette | October 27, 2018 – November 3, 2018 | 7 days | 0 | beat Fordham 21–13 | lost to Holy Cross |
| 24 | Holy Cross | November 3, 2018 – November 9, 2019 | 1 yr, 6 days | 5 | beat Lafayette 40–14 | lost to Lafayette |
| 25 | Lafayette | November 9, 2019 – November 16, 2019 | 7 days | 0 | beat Holy Cross 23–20 | lost to Colgate |
| 26 | Colgate | November 16, 2019 – October 23, 2021 | 1 yr, 341 days | 2 | beat Lafayette 16–0 | lost to Holy Cross |
| 27 | Holy Cross | October 23, 2021 – October 21, 2023 | 1 yr, 363 days | 12 | beat Colgate 42–10 | lost to Lafayette |
| 28 | Lafayette | October 21, 2023 – November 4, 2023 | 14 days | 1 | beat Holy Cross 38–35 | lost to Colgate |
| 29 | Colgate | November 4, 2023 – October 5, 2024 | 336 days | 2 | beat Lafayette 37–34 | lost to Holy Cross |
| 30 | Holy Cross | October 5, 2024 – November 9, 2024 | 35 days | 2 | beat Colgate 38–7 | lost to Lehigh |
| 31 | Lehigh | November 9, 2024 – October 24, 2026 | 1 yr, 349 days | 13 | beat Holy Cross 10–7 | lost to Villanova |
| 32 | Villanova | October 24, 2026 – Present | 7 days | 0 | beat Lehigh 24–18 | — present — |
No reigns match “.”
Membership is judged season by season from every game a team played, so realignment moves a team’s games with it. A holder that stays in Patriot keeps the belt through any stretch without a game against another member; a holder that leaves vacates the belt on its last game as a member, and it reverts to the most recent earlier holder that is a member of the season it left for. If no one is left to inherit it, the belt retires with its last holder. Days count the offseason; switch to games to measure a reign by belt games only.