NCAA Division I Football Championship

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This article is about the NCAA Division I FCS (formerly I-AA) championship. For the NCAA Division I FBS (formerly I-A) championship, see NCAA Division I FBS National 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 the year 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 to determine its champion.

The most recent national champions are the Wildcats of Villanova University.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

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 the present 16 team format, requiring four post-season victories to win the title. Eight conference champions get automatic bids, and there are eight at-large bids. 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 will again expand to include 20 teams beginning in 2010.[3]

The 16 team tournament is played each year in November and December and culminates in a championship game, which has since 1997 been played in Chattanooga, Tennessee at Finley Stadium, the home football venue of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Two Football Championship Subdivision conferences usually do not participate in the tournament. The Ivy League does not participate in any post-season football.[4][5] The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) has a conference schedule which conflicts with the tournament, so its members do not normally participate.[6]

[edit] Champions

Appalachian State's National Championship trophies showing the differences between 2005 (I-AA), 2006 (FCS), and 2007 (FCS).
Year Champion[7] Runner-up Score Location Attendance Head Coach
1978 Florida A&M Massachusetts 35–28 Wichita Falls, Texas 13,604 Rudy Hubbard
1979 Eastern Kentucky Lehigh 30–7 Orlando, Florida 5,500 Kidd, RoyRoy Kidd
1980 Boise State Eastern Kentucky 31–29 Sacramento, California 8,157 Criner, JimJim Criner
1981 Idaho State Eastern Kentucky 34–23 Wichita Falls, Texas 11,003 Kragthorpe, DaveDave Kragthorpe
1982 Eastern Kentucky Delaware 17–14 Wichita Falls, Texas 11,257 Kidd, RoyRoy Kidd
1983 Southern Illinois Western Carolina 43–7 Charleston, South Carolina 15,950 Dempsey, ReyRey Dempsey
1984 Montana State Louisiana Tech 19–6 Charleston, South Carolina 9,125 Dave Arnold
1985 Georgia Southern Furman 44–42 Tacoma, Washington 5,306 Russell, ErkErk Russell
1986 Georgia Southern Arkansas State 48–21 Tacoma, Washington 4,419 Russell, ErkErk Russell
1987 Northeast Louisiana† Marshall 43–42 Pocatello, Idaho 11,513 Pat Collins
1988 Furman Georgia Southern 17–12 Pocatello, Idaho 11,500 Jimmy Satterfield
1989 Georgia Southern Stephen F. Austin 37–34 Statesboro, Georgia 25,725 Russell, ErkErk Russell
1990 Georgia Southern Nevada 36–13 Statesboro, Georgia 23,204 Tim Stowers
1991 Youngstown State Marshall 25–17 Statesboro, Georgia 12,667 Tressel, JimJim Tressel
1992 Marshall Youngstown State 31–28 Huntington, West Virginia 31,304 Donnan, JimJim Donnan
1993 Youngstown State Marshall 17–5 Huntington, West Virginia 29,218 Tressel, JimJim Tressel
1994 Youngstown State Boise State 28–14 Huntington, West Virginia 27,674 Tressel, JimJim Tressel
1995 Montana Marshall 22–20 Huntington, West Virginia 32,106 Read, DonDon Read
1996 Marshall Montana 49–29 Huntington, West Virginia 30,052 Pruett, BobBob Pruett
1997 Youngstown State McNeese State 10–9 Chattanooga, Tennessee 14,771 Tressel, JimJim Tressel
1998 Massachusetts Georgia Southern 55–43 Chattanooga, Tennessee 17,501 Whipple, MarkMark Whipple
1999 Georgia Southern Youngstown State 59–24 Chattanooga, Tennessee 20,052 Johnson, PaulPaul Johnson
2000 Georgia Southern Montana 27–25 Chattanooga, Tennessee 17,156 Johnson, PaulPaul Johnson
2001 Montana Furman 13–6 Chattanooga, Tennessee 12,698 Glenn, JoeJoe Glenn
2002 Western Kentucky McNeese State 34–14 Chattanooga, Tennessee 12,360 Harbaugh, JackJack Harbaugh
2003 Delaware Colgate 40–0 Chattanooga, Tennessee 14,281 Keeler, K. C.K. C. Keeler
2004 James Madison Montana 31–21 Chattanooga, Tennessee 16,771 Matthews, MickeyMickey Matthews
2005 Appalachian State Northern Iowa 21–16 Chattanooga, Tennessee 20,236 Moore, JerryJerry Moore
2006 Appalachian State Massachusetts 28–17 Chattanooga, Tennessee 22,808 Moore, JerryJerry Moore
2007 Appalachian State Delaware 49–21 Chattanooga, Tennessee 23,010 Moore, JerryJerry Moore
2008 Richmond Montana 24–7 Chattanooga, Tennessee 17,823 London, MikeMike London
2009 Villanova Montana 23–21 Chattanooga, Tennessee 14,328 Talley, AndyAndy Talley

† Known as Louisiana-Monroe since 1999.

[edit] Most national championships

Team Championships Winning years
Georgia Southern 6 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999, 2000
Youngstown State 4 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997
Appalachian State 3 2005, 2006, 2007
Eastern Kentucky 2 1979, 1982
Marshall ^ 2 1992, 1996
Montana 2 1995, 2001
Boise State ^ 1 1980
Delaware 1 2003
Florida A&M 1 1978
Furman 1 1988
Idaho State 1 1981
James Madison 1 2004
Louisiana–Monroe ^ 1 1987
Massachusetts 1 1998
Montana State 1 1984
Richmond 1 2008
Southern Illinois 1 1983
Villanova 1 2009
Western Kentucky ^ 1 2002

^ Now a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ NCAA Division I Football Championship - Official Web Site
  2. ^ Associated Press (2009-12-19). "Szczur does it all as Villanova wins first championship". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=293520222. 
  3. ^ "NCAA approves playoff expansion to 20 teams for 2010". The Sports Network. 2008-04-25. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/news/newstest.aspx?id=4146516. 
  4. ^ Pablo Torre (2007-11-29). "No playoffs for you!". SI. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/sioncampus/11/29/ivyleague.football/. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
  5. ^ David Burrick (2003-09-18). "Ivy League not likely to see I-AA playoffs". The Daily Pennsylvanian. http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2003/09/18/Sports/Ivy-League.Not.Likely.To.See.IAa.Playoffs-2154091.shtml. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
  6. ^ Craig T. Greenlee (2000-01-06). "Not Exactly for THE SPORT OF IT". Black Issues in Higher Education. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DXK/is_23_16/ai_59019432/. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
  7. ^ NCAA (2008). "FCS History". http://www.ncaa.com/history/football-fcs.html. 

[edit] External links

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NCAA Division I Football Championship
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