NCAA Division I Football Championship

This article is about the NCAA Division I FCS (formerly I-AA) championship. For the NCAA Division I FBS (formerly I-A) championship, see College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS.
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 (beginning with the 2014 season) is not sanctioned by the NCAA.

The reigning national champions are the North Dakota State Bison, who have won four consecutive Championship games. They are the first FCS team to win four consecutive titles and only the second team to do so in College Football history, the other being Augustana (Illinois) who won four consecutive Division III titles from 1983 to 1986. The Bison have also appeared in four straight championship games, one of only three teams to accomplish that feat.

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 I-AA playoffs were expanded again 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 again expand to include 20 teams beginning in 2010. At the same time, it announced that the number of conferences receiving automatic bids would increase to 10. 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 11 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 has historically been played in November and December; with the 2010 expansion to a 20-team field, the championship game moved from December to January. From 1997 through 2009, the title game had been played in Chattanooga, Tennessee at Finley Stadium, the home football venue of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and at Marshall University Stadium (now Joan C. Edwards Stadium) on the Marshall University campus in the 5 years prior to that. The title game is now played in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas 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] it has since been extended through the 2015 season.[3]

Two Football Championship Subdivision conferences usually do not participate in the tournament, and a third did not participate until the 2013 season. The Ivy League, I-AA since 1982, plays a strict ten-game regular season and does not participate in any post-season football, citing academic concerns.[4][5] Three Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) teams have regular seasons that extend into the start of the tournament (Alabama State in the Turkey Day Classic and Grambling and Southern in the Bayou Classic), which in turn prevents the championship of that conference from being decided until December; Alabama State announced it would end the Turkey Day Classic after the 2013 contest to allow itself to participate in the tournament if it qualified.[6] The SWAC has not sent a team since Jackson State in 1997. The Pioneer Football League (PFL) members did not have an automatic bid into the tournament until 2013 and none of its teams ever received an at-large bid into the tournament before then.[7]

FCS conferences

+By choice, the Ivy League abstains from the championship tournament.

Champions

YearChampion[8]Runner-upScoreVenueLocationAttendanceWinning Head Coach
1978 Florida A&M Massachusetts 42–28 Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas 13,604 Hubbard, RudyRudy Hubbard
1979 Eastern Kentucky Lehigh 30–7 Orlando Stadium Orlando, Florida 5,500 Kidd, RoyRoy Kidd
1980 Boise State Eastern Kentucky 31–29 Hughes Stadium Sacramento, California 8,157 Criner, JimJim Criner
1981 Idaho State Eastern Kentucky 34–23 Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas 11,003 Kragthorpe, DaveDave Kragthorpe
1982 Eastern Kentucky (2) Delaware 17–14 Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas 11,257 Roy Kidd
1983 Southern Illinois Western Carolina 43–7 Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, South Carolina 15,950 Dempsey, ReyRey Dempsey
1984 Montana State Louisiana Tech 19–6 Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, South Carolina 9,125 Dave Arnold
1985 Georgia Southern Furman 44–42 Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington 5,306 Russell, ErkErk Russell
1986 Georgia Southern (2) Arkansas State 48–21 Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington 4,419 Erk Russell
1987 Northeast Louisiana† Marshall 43–42 Mini Dome Pocatello, Idaho 11,513 Collins, PatPat Collins
1988 Furman Georgia Southern 17–12 Holt Arena Pocatello, Idaho 11,500 Jimmy Satterfield
1989 Georgia Southern (3) Stephen F. Austin 37–34 Paulson Stadium Statesboro, Georgia 25,725 Erk Russell
1990 Georgia Southern (4) Nevada 36–13 Paulson Stadium Statesboro, Georgia 23,204 Tim Stowers
1991 Youngstown State Marshall 25–17 Paulson Stadium Statesboro, Georgia 12,667 Tressel, JimJim Tressel
1992 Marshall Youngstown State 31–28 Marshall University Stadium Huntington 31,304 Donnan, JimJim Donnan
1993 Youngstown State (2) Marshall 17–5 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia 29,218 Jim Tressel
1994 Youngstown State (3) Boise State 28–14 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia 27,674 Jim Tressel
1995 Montana Marshall 22–20 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia 32,106 Read, DonDon Read
1996 Marshall (2) Montana 49–29 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia 30,052 Pruett, BobBob Pruett
1997 Youngstown State (4) McNeese State 10–9 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 14,771 Jim Tressel
1998 Massachusetts Georgia Southern 55–43 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 17,501 Whipple, MarkMark Whipple
1999 Georgia Southern (5) Youngstown State 59–24 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 20,052 Johnson, PaulPaul Johnson
2000 Georgia Southern (6) Montana 27–25 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 17,156 Paul Johnson
2001 Montana (2) Furman 13–6 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 12,698 Glenn, JoeJoe Glenn
2002 Western Kentucky McNeese State 34–14 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 12,360 Harbaugh, JackJack Harbaugh
2003 Delaware Colgate 40–0 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 14,281 Keeler, K. C.K. C. Keeler
2004 James Madison Montana 31–21 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 16,771 Mickey Matthews
2005 Appalachian State Northern Iowa 21–16 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 20,236 Moore, JerryJerry Moore
2006 Appalachian State (2) Massachusetts 28–17 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 22,808 Jerry Moore
2007 Appalachian State (3) Delaware 49–21 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 23,010 Jerry Moore
2008 Richmond Montana 24–7 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 17,823 London, MikeMike London
2009 Villanova Montana 23–21 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 14,328 Talley, AndyAndy Talley
2010 Eastern Washington Delaware 20–19 Pizza Hut Park‡ Frisco, Texas 13,027 Baldwin, BeauBeau Baldwin
2011 North Dakota StateSam Houston State 17–6 Pizza Hut Park‡ Frisco, Texas 20,586 Bohl, CraigCraig Bohl
2012 North Dakota State (2) Sam Houston State 39–13 FC Dallas Stadium‡ Frisco, Texas 21,411 Craig Bohl
2013 North Dakota State (3) Towson 35–7 Toyota Stadium Frisco, Texas 19,802 Craig Bohl
2014 North Dakota State (4) Illinois State 29–27 Toyota Stadium Frisco, Texas 20,918 Chris Klieman

† Known as University of Louisiana at Monroe since 1999.

‡ Now Toyota Stadium

Most national championships

Team Titles Title Years Finals Runner-up
Georgia Southern^6 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999, 2000 8 1988, 1998
Youngstown State 4 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997 6 1992, 1999
North Dakota State 4 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 4
Appalachian State^ 3 2005, 2006, 2007 3
Montana 2 1995, 2001 7 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009
Marshall^ 2 1992, 1996 6 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995
Eastern Kentucky 2 1979, 1982 4 1980, 1981
Delaware 1 2003 4 1982, 2007, 2010
Furman 1 1988 3 1985, 2001
Massachusetts^ 1 1998 3 1978, 2006
Boise State^ 1 1980 2 1994
Eastern Washington 1 2010 1
Florida A&M 1 1978 1
Idaho State 1 1981 1
James Madison 1 2004 1
Northeast Louisiana^ 1 1987 1
Montana State 1 1984 1
Richmond 1 2008 1
Southern Illinois 1 1983 1
Villanova 1 2009 1
Western Kentucky^ 1 2002 1
McNeese State 0 2 1997, 2002
Sam Houston State 0 2 2011, 2012
Arkansas State^ 0 1 1986
Colgate 0 1 2003
Illinois State 0 1 2014
Lehigh 0 1 1979
Louisiana Tech^ 0 1 1984
Nevada^ 0 1 1990
Northern Iowa 0 1 2005
Stephen F. Austin 0 1 1989
Towson 0 1 2013
Western Carolina 0 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. ↑ Pablo Torre (2007-11-29). "No playoffs for you!". SI. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  5. ↑ David Burrick (2003-09-18). "Ivy League not likely to see I-AA playoffs". The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  6. ↑ Craig T. Greenlee (2000-01-06). "Not Exactly for THE SPORT OF IT". Black Issues in Higher Education. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  7. ↑ http://pflfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1144
  8. ↑ NCAA (2008). "FCS History".

External links