NCAA Division I Football Championship

The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was called the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship, during the period when the FCS was known as NCAA Division I-AA.

The game serves as the final match of an annual postseason bracket tournament between top teams in FCS. Since 2013, 24 teams normally participate in the tournament, with some teams receiving automatic bids upon winning their conference championship, and other teams determined by a selection committee. The reigning national champions are the Montana State Bobcats, winners of the January 2026 championship game.

The FCS is the highest division in college football to hold a playoff tournament sanctioned by the NCAA to determine its champion, as the College Football Playoff currently used by the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) is not NCAA-sanctioned.

History

Playoff format

In the inaugural season of Division I-AA, the 1978 postseason included just four teams; three regional champions (East, West, and South) plus an at-large selection.^[1] The field doubled to eight teams in 1981, with champions of five conferences—Big Sky, Mid-Eastern, Ohio Valley, Southwestern, and Yankee—receiving automatic bids.^[2] The top four teams were seeded, and then matched against the four remaining teams based on geographical proximity.^[3] The tournament was expanded to 12 teams in 1982, with each of the top four seeds receiving a first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals.^[4] Champions of the Southern and Southland conferences also received automatic bids.^[5]

The number of automatic bids has varied over time, due to changes in the number and size of conferences, with an automatic bid typically granted only to champions of conferences with at least six teams.^[6] Initially, the tournament was played in December; since the expansion to twelve teams in 1982, earlier rounds have been held in late November.

The playoffs expanded to a 16-team format in 1986, requiring four postseason victories to win the title. Initially, only the top four teams were seeded,^[7] with other teams geographically placed in the bracket. From 1995 through 2000, all 16 teams were seeded, independent of geography. In 2001, the number of seeded teams was reduced to four, with the seeded teams assured of home games in early tournament rounds, and other teams once again placed in the bracket to minimize travel.^[8] Home team designation in games between unseeded teams is determined based on several factors, including attendance history and revenue potential.^[9]

In April 2008, the NCAA announced that the playoff field would expand to 20 teams in 2010, with the Big South and Northeast Conference earning automatic bids for the first time.^[10] That bracket structure included seeding of the top five teams. Twelve teams received first-round byes; the remaining eight teams played first-round games, with the four winners advancing to face the top four seeds.

The playoffs expanded to 24 teams beginning in 2013, with the champion of the Pioneer Football League receiving an automatic bid for the first time.^[11] The number of seeded teams was increased to eight, with the 16 unseeded teams playing in first-round games. The unseeded teams continue to be paired according to geographic proximity and then placed in the bracket according to geographic proximity to the top eight seeds. Teams cannot travel more than 400 miles via ground, and teams from the same conference that played each other during the regular season are not paired for first-round games.^[12] For the 2020 season, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the bracket was reduced to 16 teams.^[13] The bracket returned to 24 teams for the 2021 season.^[14]

The field is traditionally set the Sunday before Thanksgiving and play begins that weekend.

Team selection

At-large selections and seeding within the bracket are determined by the FCS Playoff Selection Committee, which consists of one athletic director from each conference with an automatic bid.^[15] As of the 2018 season, there were 10 conferences with automatic bids and the selection committee made 14 at-large selections.^[15] An 11th automatic bid was added as of the 2021 season, reducing the number of at-large selections to 13.^[14] The number of automatic bids was reduced back to 10 in 2022 (due to the Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference, which both previously sent their champions, merging their football operations into the OVC–Big South Football Association), but restored to 11 in 2025 following the Ivy League's decision to enter the FCS Playoff for the first time.

Championship final

The tournament culminates with the national final, played between the two remaining teams from the playoff bracket. Unlike earlier round games in each year's playoff, which are played at campus sites, the title game is played at a site predetermined by the NCAA, akin to how the NFL predetermines the site for each Super Bowl. Originally played in December, with the 2010 expansion to a 20-team field, the final moved to January, with two or three weeks between the semifinals and final.

The inaugural title game was played in 1978 in Wichita Falls, Texas. The 1979 and 1980 games were held in Orlando, Florida, and Sacramento, California, respectively, and the game returned to Wichita Falls for 1981 and 1982. The games played in Wichita Falls were known as the Pioneer Bowl, while the game played in Sacramento was known as the Camellia Bowl—both names were used for various NCAA playoff games played in those locations, and were not specific to the I-AA championship. In 1983 and 1984, the game was played in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1985 and 1986, Tacoma, Washington, hosted the game, which the NCAA branded as the "Diamond Bowl".^[16]

The 1987 and 1988 games were played in Pocatello, Idaho; and from 1989 through 1991, in Statesboro, Georgia. The 1992 through 1996 games were held in Huntington, West Virginia; and from 1997 through 2009, the title game was played in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

From 2010 through the 2024 season, the title game was played in Frisco, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas, at Toyota Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium primarily used by FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. The stadium was known as Pizza Hut Park until the day after the final of the 2011 season, and then as FC Dallas Stadium until September 2013. The original contract with Frisco began in the 2010 season and ran through the 2012 season.^[17] The contract was extended three times; first through the 2015 season,^[18] then through the 2019 season,^[19] and finally through the 2024 season with an option for the 2025 season.^[20]

For at least 2026 and 2027, the title game will be played at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, home of the Vanderbilt Commodores, due to renovations beginning at Toyota Stadium following the 2025 title game.^[21]

Details

Notes

1. ^ at the time games were played
2. ^ Earlier name of the same venue.

There have been six instances where a team whose venue was predetermined to host the final game advanced to play for the championship on its own field. Georgia Southern won both title games it played at Paulson Stadium, while Marshall had a 2–2 record in four title games it played at Marshall University Stadium (now known as Joan C. Edwards Stadium).

Non-participants

As of the 2025 season, two FCS conferences usually do not participate in the tournament: the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Since 2015, the champions of these two conferences, which consist of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), play each other in the Celebration Bowl, the only active bowl game featuring FCS teams.^[22] MEAC gave up its automatic spot in the tournament prior to the 2015 season,^[23] while the SWAC's regular season extends through the Turkey Day Classic and Bayou Classic at the end of November and the SWAC Championship Game is played in December. Teams from the MEAC and SWAC may accept at-large bids, so long as they are not committed to other postseason games that would conflict with the tournament. The most recent MEAC and SWAC teams to accept bids were the 2023 North Carolina Central Eagles and 2021 Florida A&M Rattlers, respectively.

The Ivy League has been at the FCS level since 1982 and prohibits its members from awarding athletic scholarships in any sport; it plays a strict ten-game regular season. Through the 2024 season, it did not participate in any postseason football, citing academic concerns.^[24][25] The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (consisting of student-athletes at all sports, including those who participated in the NCAA tournament in their respective sport) recommended the change be reversed, and on December 18, 2024, the Ivy League announced starting with the 2025 season, the league champion will participate in the tournament.^[26]

Historically, conferences in FCS 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, now receives a tournament bid, which was initiated with the 2013 postseason.

FCS conferences

Membership numbers reflect the 2025 FCS season.

Notes

1. ^ The Big South and Ohio Valley Conference effectively merged their football leagues in 2023. Both leagues share a single automatic playoff berth.
2. ^ CAA Football is administered by the multi-sports Coastal Athletic Association but is a separate legal entity.
3. ^ Although CAA Football did not exist in its current form until 2007, it claims the football histories of the Yankee Conference (formed in 1946, played football from 1947 to 1995) and Atlantic 10 Conference (football from 1996 to 2006). It does not claim the history of the New England Conference (1938–1946), even though four of the six charter Yankee Conference members were NEC members in its final season.
4. ^ The Ivy League abstained from the championship tournament and all postseason play until the end of the 2024 season. Starting in 2025, the Ivy League champion will participate in the NCAA tournament.
5. ^ 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, which now plays in CAA Football.).
6. ^ The SWAC abstains from the championship tournament to allow for a longer regular season, a conference final, and participation in the Celebration Bowl against the MEAC champion since 2015.
7. ^ Formed in 2022 as a joint venture of the Atlantic Sun Conference and Western Athletic Conference football playing members; first season in 2023.

Champions

Championship game history

For each season since the inaugural year of Division I-AA play, 1978, the following table lists the date of each title game and the champion.^[27] The score and runner-up are also noted, along with the host city, game attendance, and head coach of the championship team.

Notes:

• 1987 champion Northeast Louisiana has been known as the University of Louisiana at Monroe (Louisiana–Monroe) since 1999.
• The 2020–21 school year was the first in which Sam Houston State University called its athletic program "Sam Houston", without the word "State".
• Attendance at the 2020 championship game (played in May 2021) was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Appearances by team

Updated through the January 2026 championship game, following the 2025 football season. Conference affiliations reflect those for the upcoming 2026 season.

Key

• National champion
• National runner-up
• Semifinals
• Quarterfinals
• Round of 12 (1982 through 1985), Round of 16 (1986 to present)
• First Round (2010 to present, except for 2020)

Beginning in 1981, the NCAA seeded the top 4 teams. This expanded to the top 5 in 2010, the top 8 in 2013, and the top 16 in 2024. In all of these years, the team's seed is shown in superscript next to the result.