NCAA Division I Football Championship

Logo for the 2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game.

The NCAA Division I Football Championship[1] is an American college football tournament played each year to determine the champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Prior to 2006, the game was known as the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship. The FCS is the highest division in college football to hold a playoff tournament sanctioned by the NCAA to determine its champion. The four-team playoff system used by the Bowl Subdivision is not sanctioned by the NCAA.

The reigning national champions are the North Dakota State Bison, who won their sixth championship in seven years after winning five consecutive titles from 2011-2015.

History

Appalachian State's National Championship trophies showing the differences between 2005 (I-AA), 2006 (FCS), and 2007 (FCS).

When Division I-AA was formed for football in 1978, the playoffs included just four teams, doubling to eight teams in its fourth season of 1981. In 1982, the I-AA playoffs were expanded to 12 teams, with each of the top four seeds receiving a first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals. In its ninth season of 1986, the playoffs expanded to a 16-team format, requiring four post-season victories to win the title. Eight conference champions received automatic bids, with the remaining eight bids available on an at-large basis. The field is traditionally set the Sunday before Thanksgiving and play begins that weekend. The top four teams are seeded; however, the matchups are not strictly set up by these seedings as geographic considerations are also taken into account to minimize travel.

In April 2008, the NCAA announced that the playoff field would expand to twenty teams in 2010, with the number of conferences receiving automatic bids increasing to ten. The structure then adopted included eight teams playing in four first-round games. The four first round winners advance to the second Round of Sixteen where they play the top four seeds. The playoffs expanded to 24 teams beginning with the 2013 season. The number of conferences whose champions receive automatic bids increased to eleven with the addition of a bid for the Pioneer Football League and the number of first-round games increased from four to eight.

The tournament was historically played in December; with the expansion to twelve teams in 1982, earlier rounds were held in late November. With the 2010 expansion to a 20-team field, the championship game moved from December to January, with several weeks between the semifinals and finals. From 1997 through 2009, the title game was played at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. In the five previous years (1992–1996) it was at Marshall University Stadium (now Joan C. Edwards Stadium) in Huntington, West Virginia.

Since 2010, the title game has been played in Frisco, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas, at Toyota Stadium (known as Pizza Hut Park until the day after the championship game of the 2011 season, and then as FC Dallas Stadium until September 2013), a multi-purpose stadium primarily used by FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. The original contract with Frisco began in the 2010 season and ran through the 2012 season.[2] The contract has since been extended twice, first through the 2015 season[3] and later through the 2019 season.[4]

Three Football Championship Subdivision conferences usually do not participate in the tournament. The Ivy League, which has been at the FCS level since 1982 and prohibits its members from awarding athletic scholarships in any sport, plays a strict ten-game regular season and does not participate in any post-season football, citing academic concerns.[5][6] The Southwestern Athletic Conference and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, two conferences consisting of historically black colleges and universities, opt to play the Celebration Bowl (which was established in 2015) instead of the FCS tournament; the MEAC gave up its automatic spot in the tournament prior to the 2015 season, while the SWAC (whose regular season extends through the Turkey Day Classic and Bayou Classic at the end of November and holds its own championship game in December) has not sent a team to the tournament since 1997.[7] Both the MEAC and SWAC accept at-large bids, and the elimination of the SWAC championship game after 2017 will allow the second-best team in that conference to accept a bid (with the championship game, the SWAC was limited to sending its third-best or worse team not counting the three teams in the Turkey Day and Bayou Classics, hence why it did not receive at-large bids).

Historically, conferences in the Championship Subdivision that did not offer athletic scholarships were not granted automatic bids into the tournament and, although in theory were eligible for at-large bids, never received any. The last non-scholarship conference in the subdivision, the Pioneer Football League, received its at-large bid in 2013.

The teams that make the playoffs are determined by the FCS Playoff Selection Committee, which consists of one athletic director from each of the 10 conferences which have automatic bids. The current committee chairman is Mark Wilson (Tennessee Tech). The others who serve on the selection committee are Chuck Burch (Gardner–Webb), Troy Dannen (Northern Iowa), Brian Hutchinson (Morehead State), Richard Johnson (Wofford), Nathan Pine (Holy Cross), Marty Scarano (New Hampshire), Paul Schlickmann (Central Connecticut State), Dr. Brad Teague (Central Arkansas) and Jeff Tingey (former Idaho State).

Conference Nickname Founded Football Members Sports Headquarters
Big Sky Conference Big Sky 1963 12 16 Ogden, Utah
Big South Conference Big South 1983 10 19 Charlotte, North Carolina
Colonial Athletic Association CAA 1979 10 21 Richmond, Virginia
Ivy League + 1954 8 33 Princeton, New Jersey
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference ++ MEAC 1970 13 16 Norfolk, Virginia
Missouri Valley Football Conference MVFC 1982 10 1 St. Louis, Missouri
Northeast Conference NEC 1981 10 22 Somerset, New Jersey
Ohio Valley Conference OVC 1948 12 18 Brentwood, Tennessee
Patriot League 1986 10 24 Center Valley, Pennsylvania
Pioneer Football League PFL 1991 11 1 St. Louis, Missouri
Southern Conference SoCon 1921 10 20 Spartanburg, South Carolina
Southland Conference 1963 11 17 Frisco, Texas
Southwestern Athletic Conference % SWAC 1920 10 18 Birmingham, Alabama

+ The Ivy League abstains from the championship tournament and all postseason play.

++ The MEAC Champion, since 2015, forgoes its automatic bid to allow its champion to participate in the Celebration Bowl. Non-champions are eligible for at-large bids (an example being the 2016 North Carolina A&T Aggies football team).

% The SWAC abstains from the championship tournament to allow for a longer regular season, an in-conference championship game (until 2017), and (since 2015) participation in the Celebration Bowl. Beginning 2018, the SWAC will discontinue its championship game and send its regular season champion to the Celebration Bowl, freeing up the conference's second-place finisher (if it is not Grambling State, Alabama State or Southern) to accept an at-large bid.

Champions

YearChampion[8]Runner-upScoreVenueLocationAttendanceWinning head coach
1978Florida A&MMassachusetts35–28Memorial StadiumWichita Falls, Texas13,604Rudy Hubbard
1979Eastern KentuckyLehigh30–7Orlando StadiumOrlando, Florida5,500Roy Kidd
1980Boise StateEastern Kentucky31–29Hughes StadiumSacramento, California8,157Jim Criner
1981Idaho StateEastern Kentucky34–23Memorial StadiumWichita Falls, Texas11,003Dave Kragthorpe
1982Eastern Kentucky (2)Delaware17–14Memorial StadiumWichita Falls, Texas11,257Roy Kidd (2)
1983Southern IllinoisWestern Carolina43–7Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, South Carolina15,950Rey Dempsey
1984Montana StateLouisiana Tech19–6Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, South Carolina9,125Dave Arnold
1985Georgia SouthernFurman44–42Tacoma DomeTacoma, Washington5,306Erk Russell
1986Georgia Southern (2)Arkansas State48–21Tacoma DomeTacoma, Washington4,419Erk Russell (2)
1987Northeast Louisiana†Marshall43–42MinidomePocatello, Idaho11,513Pat Collins
1988FurmanGeorgia Southern17–12Holt ArenaPocatello, Idaho11,500Jimmy Satterfield
1989Georgia Southern (3)Stephen F. Austin37–34Paulson StadiumStatesboro, Georgia25,725Erk Russell (3)
1990Georgia Southern (4)Nevada36–13Paulson StadiumStatesboro, Georgia23,204Tim Stowers
1991Youngstown StateMarshall25–17Paulson StadiumStatesboro, Georgia12,667Jim Tressel
1992MarshallYoungstown State31–28Marshall University StadiumHuntington, West Virginia31,304Jim Donnan
1993Youngstown State (2)Marshall17–5Marshall University StadiumHuntington, West Virginia29,218Jim Tressel (2)
1994Youngstown State (3)Boise State28–14Marshall University StadiumHuntington, West Virginia27,674Jim Tressel (3)
1995MontanaMarshall22–20Marshall University StadiumHuntington, West Virginia32,106Don Read
1996Marshall (2)Montana49–29Marshall University StadiumHuntington, West Virginia30,052Bob Pruett
1997Youngstown State (4)McNeese State10–9Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee14,771Jim Tressel (4)
1998MassachusettsGeorgia Southern55–43Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee17,501Mark Whipple
1999Georgia Southern (5)Youngstown State59–24Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee20,052Paul Johnson
2000Georgia Southern (6)Montana27–25Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee17,156Paul Johnson (2)
2001Montana (2)Furman13–6Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee12,698Joe Glenn
2002Western KentuckyMcNeese State34–14Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee12,360Jack Harbaugh
2003DelawareColgate40–0Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee14,281K. C. Keeler
2004James MadisonMontana31–21Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee16,771Mickey Matthews
2005Appalachian StateNorthern Iowa21–16Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee20,236Jerry Moore
2006Appalachian State (2)Massachusetts28–17Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee22,808Jerry Moore (2)
2007Appalachian State (3)Delaware49–21Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee23,010Jerry Moore (3)
2008RichmondMontana24–7Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee17,823Mike London
2009VillanovaMontana23–21Finley StadiumChattanooga, Tennessee14,328Andy Talley
2010Eastern WashingtonDelaware20–19Pizza Hut Park‡Frisco, Texas13,027Beau Baldwin
2011North Dakota StateSam Houston State17–6Pizza Hut Park‡Frisco, Texas20,586Craig Bohl
2012North Dakota State (2)Sam Houston State39–13FC Dallas Stadium‡Frisco, Texas21,411Craig Bohl (2)
2013North Dakota State (3)Towson35–7Toyota StadiumFrisco, Texas19,802Craig Bohl (3)
2014North Dakota State (4)Illinois State29–27Toyota StadiumFrisco, Texas20,918Chris Klieman
2015North Dakota State (5)Jacksonville State37–10Toyota StadiumFrisco, Texas21,836Chris Klieman (2)
2016James Madison (2)Youngstown State28–14Toyota StadiumFrisco, Texas14,423*Mike Houston
2017North Dakota State (6)James Madison17–13Toyota StadiumFrisco, Texas19,090*Chris Klieman (3)

† Known as University of Louisiana at Monroe since 1999.

‡ Now Toyota Stadium

* Toyota Stadium capacity reduced due to construction

Team titles

Georgia Southern
North
Dakota
State
Youngstown State
Appalachian State
Montana
Marshall
EKU
JMU

Delaware
Furman
Massachusetts
Boise
State
Eastern Washington
Florida A&M
Idaho
State
Northeast
Louisiana
Montana State
Richmond
Southern Illinois
Villanova
WKU
Schools with FCS championships
– 6 championships, – 4 championships
– 3 championships, – 2 championships, – 1 championship
Italics indicate schools that have since moved to FBS
TeamTitles Appearances Years Won Years Lost
Georgia Southern^6 81985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999, 2000 1988, 1998
North Dakota State6 62011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017
Youngstown State4 71991, 1993, 1994, 1997 1992, 1999, 2016
Appalachian State^3 32005, 2006, 2007
Montana2 71995, 2001 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009
Marshall^2 61992, 1996 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995
Eastern Kentucky2 41979, 1982 1980, 1981
James Madison2 32004, 2016 2017
Delaware1 42003 1982, 2007, 2010
Furman1 31988 1985, 2001
Massachusetts^1 31998 1978, 2006
Boise State^1 21980 1994
Eastern Washington1 12010
Florida A&M1 11978
Idaho State1 11981
Northeast Louisiana^1 11987
Montana State1 11984
Richmond1 12008
Southern Illinois1 11983
Villanova1 12009
Western Kentucky^1 12002
Arkansas State^0 1 1986
Colgate0 1 2003
Illinois State0 1 2014
Jacksonville State0 1 2015
Lehigh0 1 1979
Louisiana Tech^0 1 1984
McNeese State0 2 1997, 2002
Nevada^0 1 1990
Northern Iowa0 1 2005
Sam Houston State0 2 2011, 2012
Stephen F. Austin0 1 1989
Towson0 1 2013
Western Carolina0 1 1983

^ Now a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

See also

References

  1. ↑ NCAA Division I Football Championship - Official Web Site
  2. ↑ Caplan, Jeff (2010-02-26). "20 teams to compete for FCS crown". ESPNDallas.com. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
  3. ↑ "NCAA inks three-year extension to keep FCS title game in Frisco, Texas" (Press release). NCAA. December 19, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  4. ↑ "NCAA keeping FCS title game in Frisco through at least 2020". USA Today. Associated Press. January 8, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  5. ↑ Torre, Pablo (2007-11-29). "No playoffs for you!". SI. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  6. ↑ David Burrick (2003-09-18). "Ivy League not likely to see I-AA playoffs". The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  7. ↑ Craig T. Greenlee (2000-01-06). "Not Exactly for THE SPORT OF IT". Black Issues in Higher Education. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  8. ↑ NCAA (2008). "FCS History". Archived from the original on 2012-09-18.
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