Arkansas State first fielded a football team in 1911. Since then the team has compiled six conference championships and one College Division (now NCAA Division II) football championship. The team was briefly discontinued during the First and Second World Wars. In 1953, the Indians moved from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), where they competed in the College Division. In 1975 they were promoted to NCAA Division I, and Arkansas State briefly played at the I-A level from 1978 to 1981. From 1982 to 1991, the Indians competed at the Division I-AA level before, again, being promoted to I-A, which is now known as Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).