NCAA Division I-AA Consensus Mid-Major Football National Championship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The NCAA Division I-AA Mid Major National Football Championship began in 2001. Prior to 2001, mid-major National Champions were named by various polls like Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette and the Dopke collegesportsreport.com polls, but no "consensus" champion was named.
Generally, the teams that are ranked in the poll are from conferences that do not receive automatic bids to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision championship tournament.
The Sports Network Cup is awarded annually to the winner. Like the Stanley Cup, the Sports Network Cup is a travelling trophy. It spends the year at the winning school and is passed on to the next winner annually.
The polls that are used to determine the annual champion are the Sports Network (for which the trophy is named), Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette, and the Dopke College Sports Report Polls.
(Notes: A team does not have to be named the national champion by all three polls in order to win the Sports Network Cup. They must only be named so BY the Sports Network. Hence, the trophy is named the Sports Network Cup. "Consensus" in this instance then means more in the regard of the Sports Network's authority to name a national champion rather than an agreement by all three major polls.)
[edit] Previous champions
| Year | Champion | Coach | League | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Sacred Heart Pioneers | Jim Fleming | Northeast Conference | 11-0 |
| 2002 | Dayton Flyers | Mike Kelley | Pioneer Football League | 11-1 |
| 2003 | Duquesne Dukes | Greg Gattuso | Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference | 8-3 |
| 2004 | Monmouth Hawks | Kevin Callahan | Northeast Conference | 10-1 |
| 2005 | San Diego Toreros | Jim Harbaugh | Pioneer Football League | 10-1 |
| 2006 | San Diego Toreros | Jim Harbaugh | Pioneer Football League | 11-1 |
