The NCAA officially set the dates for spring championships Tuesday, confirming that the FCS playoffs will contain 16 teams, rather than the usual 24.

The new-look FCS playoffs will start the weekend of April 16, with the title game the weekend of May 14.

The decision is the result of months of planning after fall sports championships were canceled across the NCAA because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Division I Council sent recommendations to the Board of Directors, which officially approved them Tuesday.

”The plan sent to us by the Division I Council provides the maximum number of opportunities to fall student-athletes to participate in NCAA championships while still being fiscally responsible,” said acting board chair Denise Trauth, president at Texas State, in an NCAA press release. “We look forward to the spring, understanding things will look a little different but knowing the competitions will be just as meaningful as in normal circumstances.”

In other fall sports, brackets will be filled at 75% of their normal capacities.

In football, just 16 teams will advance to the playoffs.

It was also confirmed Tuesday that the MEAC is planning to compete in the FCS playoffs, meaning 11 conferences will automatically send their conference champion to the postseason, rather than the normal 10.

That leaves five spots for at-large bids, which could create chaos at the end of the season as highly-ranked teams from FCS power conferences find themselves on the outside looking in.

In 2019, for example, the Big Sky Conference qualified three at-large teams, all of which were ranked in the top 10 at the end of the season.