FCS Championship Procedures and Details
The Division I Football Championship, the highest level of NCAA playoff championship football began in 1978 and all starts with...
Here's how the NCAA does it (Reference: 2007 Division I Football Championship Handbook):
2007 Championship
First Round—November 23 and 24 at on-campus sites
Quarterfinals—December 1 at on-campus sites
Semifinals—December 7 and 8 at on-campus sites
Final—December 14 at W. Max Finley Stadium/Davenport Field, Chattanooga, Tennessee
ESPN Television Coverage:
First Round Game, Live on ESPN HD/ESPN 360 simulcast
Friday, November 23 at 1:30 p.m. ET
First Round Game, Live on ESPNU
Saturday, November 24 at Noon or 3:30 p.m. ET
Quarterfinal Games, Live on ESPN Syndication/ESPN GamePlan/ESPN 360
Saturday, December 1 at Noon ET
Saturday, December 1 at 3:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, December 1 at 7 p.m. ET
Saturday, December 1 at TBA
Semifinal Game, Live on ESPN2 HD/ESPN 360 simulcast
Friday, December 7 at 8 p.m. ET
Semifinal Game, Live on ESPN HD/ESPN 360 simulcast
Saturday, December 8 at 4 p.m. ET
National Championship – Live on ESPN2 HD/ESPN 360 simulcast
Friday, December 14 at 8 p.m. ET
Site Determination
With regard to first-round, quarterfinal and semifinal sites, in addition to the criteria listed in Bylaw 31.1.3, the NCAA Division I Football Committee shall consider the following additional criteria when selecting playoff sites:
a. Prospective host institutions must submit the following minimum financial guarantees, which shall be 75 percent of the estimated net receipts as submitted on the proposed budget:
First round—$30,000
Quarterfinal—$40,000
Semifinal—$50,000
b. If the minimum financial guarantees are met, the committee will award the playoff sites to the top four seeded teams.
c. When determining host institutions for playoff games when both teams are unseeded, criteria shall apply as follows: (1) quality of facility, (2) revenue potential plus estimated net receipts, (3) attendance history and potential, (4) team’s performance (i.e., conference place finish, head-to-head results and number of Division I opponents), and (5) student-athlete well-being (e.g., travel, missed class time).
d. If a quarterfinal or semifinal playoff site is not available due to the fact the institutions involved did not submit a proposed budget, the committee will contact the institutions and offer the opportunity to submit a bid at the current round’s minimum financial guarantee level. If seeded teams are not involved, the committee will determine the host institutions by applying the championship site-selection criteria in Bylaw 31.1.3.2.1.
e. If no institution is willing to submit a proposed budget at the current level, the previous round’s minimum financial guarantee will be offered. If seeded teams are not involved, the committee will determine the host institutions by applying the championship site-selection criteria in Bylaw 31.1.3.2.1.
f. The committee will consider previous crowd-control measures and crowd behavior of the prospective host institution.
Championship Structure
The Division I Football Championship provides for a maximum field of 16 teams. Teams will play first-round games on the campuses of competing teams. Eight member conferences have been granted automatic qualification for the 2007 championship. The remaining eight teams will be selected at large by the Division I football championship committee.
The top four teams in the 16-team bracket for the championship will be seeded. Team pairings will be determined by geographical proximity, with the exception that teams from the same conference may not be paired in the first round.
[See Appendix A (page 31) for the championship bracket.]
Championship Selection
[Reference: Bylaws 31.01.2, 31.01.3 and 31.3 in the NCAA Manual.]
At-large teams shall be selected by the Division I football committee, assisted by four regional advisory committees that serve in an advisory capacity only.
The following principles shall apply when selecting at-large teams:
1. The committee shall select the best teams available on a national at-large basis to complete the bracket;
2. There is no limit to the number of teams the committee may select from one conference;
3. The won-lost record of a team will be scrutinized to determine a team’s strength of schedule; however, less than seven Division I wins may place a team in jeopardy of not being selected;
4. The committee may give more consideration to those teams that have played all Division I opponents; and
5. If the team of a committee member is under consideration, the member may not vote for the team being considered and will not be in the room when a vote is taken.
[See Appendix B (page 31) for a map of the geographical regions.]
Automatic Qualifiers
[Reference: Bylaws 31.3.4 and 31.3.5 in the NCAA Manual.]
The following conferences have been granted automatic-qualification privileges for the 2006 championship:
Big Sky Conference
Colonial Athletic Association
Gateway Football Conference
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Ohio Valley Conference
Patriot League
Southern Conference
Southland Conference
Automatic Qualifying Conferences
BIG SKY CONFERENCE
California State University, Sacramento
Eastern Washington University
Idaho State University
University of Montana
Montana State University-Bozeman
Northern Arizona University
University of Northern Colorado
Portland State University
Weber State University
COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
University of Delaware
Hofstra University
James Madison University
University of Maine, Orono
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
University of New Hampshire
Northeastern University
University of Rhode Island
University of Richmond
Towson University
Villanova University
College of William and Mary
GATEWAY FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
Illinois State University
Indiana State University
University of Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Southwest Missouri State University
Western Illinois University
Youngstown State University
MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Bethune-Cookman College
Delaware State University
Florida A&M University
Hampton University
Howard University
Morgan State University
Norfolk State University
North Carolina A&T State University
South Carolina State University
OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE
Austin Peay State University
Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Kentucky University
Jacksonville State University
Murray State University
Samford University
Southeast Missouri State University
University of Tennessee at Martin
Tennessee State University
Tennessee Technological University
PATRIOT LEAGUE
Bucknell University
Colgate University
Fordham University
Georgetown University
College of the Holy Cross
Lafayette College
Lehigh University
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Appalachian State University
The Citadel
Elon University
Furman University
Georgia Southern University
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Western Carolina University
Wofford College
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
McNeese State University
Nicholls State University
Northwestern State University
Sam Houston State University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Stephen F. Austin State University
Texas State University - San Marcos
At-Large Institutions
CENTRAL REGION
Butler University
University of Dayton
Drake University
Morehead State University
Valparaiso University
EAST REGION
State University of New York at Albany
Brown University
Central Connecticut State University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Duquesne University
Harvard University
Iona College
La Salle University
Marist College
Monmouth University
University of Pennsylvania
Princeton University
Robert Morris University
Sacred Heart University
St. Francis University (Pennsylvania)
Stony Brook University
Wagner College
Yale University
SOUTH REGION
Alabama A&M University
Alabama State University
Alcorn State University
University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff
Charleston Southern University
Coastal Carolina University
Davidson College
Gardner-Webb University
Grambling State University
Jackson State University
Jacksonville University
Liberty University
Mississippi Valley State University
Prairie View A&M University
Savannah State University
Southern University, Baton Rouge
Texas Southern University
Virginia Military Institute
WEST REGION
California Polytechnic State University
University of California, Davis
University of San Diego
Southern Utah University
Additional Football Criteria
Conferences must conduct regular-season, round-robin play among the members to determine the champion. The Division I football committee may grant exceptions to the round-robin requirement subject to approval of the NCAA Executive Committee.
Automatic Qualification Criteria/Process
The Division I Football Championship Committee will annually make the determination of which eligible conference will recieve automatic qualification. The following criteria are used when determining which conferences shall receive annual automatic qualification for the NCAA Division I Football Championship:
1. Nonconference records;
2. Strength of nonconference opponents;
3. Recent postseason history; and
4. Competition against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.
The Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet policy stipulates that for the Division I Football Championship at least 50 percent of the bracket shall be reserved for at-large selections, and no more than 50 percent of the bracket shall be available for automatic qualification of eligible conferences.
Certification of Eligibility/Availability
[Reference: Certification of Eligibility/Availability in the Division I General Section and Bylaws 3.2.4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 31.2.1.7 in the NCAA Manual.]
Only student-athletes eligible under Bylaws 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 may compete in NCAA championships. In accordance with Bylaw 3.2.4.3, member institutions are required to certify the eligibility of their student-athletes before the beginning of each academic year and to withhold ineligible student-athletes from all intercollegiate competition. Member institutions are reminded to notify the NCAA national office before the selection date for each championship of any student-athlete who may have participated in regular-season competition but subsequently is determined to be ineligible or unavailable for NCAA championship competition.
For the Division I Football Championship, the championship liaison must be notified before November 2.
Pairings
[Reference: Championship Structure (page 11) in the handbook and Bylaw 31.1.3 in the NCAA Manual.]
All pairings will be made by the Division I football committee. The following principles are applied when pairing teams:
1. The teams awarded the top four seeds are placed in the appropriate positions in the bracket (Nos. 1 and 4 in the upper half, and Nos. 2 and 3 in the lower half), and will be paired with teams that are in closest geographic proximity;
2. The remaining teams will be paired according to geographic proximity and placed in the bracket according to geographic proximity of the four pairings previously placed in the bracket.
3. Teams from the same conference will not be paired for first-round games;
4. Once the first-round pairings have been determined, there will be no adjustments to the bracket.
Semifinal Determination Procedure
The semifinal games during the 2007 Division I Football Championship will be conducted on two different days. One semifinal game will occur Friday evening, December 7, while the other will occur Saturday, December 8. The games will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and ESPN, respectively.
The Division I football championship committee has determined that the two remaining teams in the top half of the 16-team championship bracket will play Friday night, while the two remaining teams in the bottom half of the bracket will play Saturday.
Please note, however, that the determination of which teams play on which dates is subject to change if issues arise (e.g., host facility specifications) that necessitate a change in the best interest of the championship. All eight teams participating in quarterfinal competition will be made aware before their games of the won-loss scenarios that will dictate which teams play Friday night or Saturday afternoon.
Home Team––Championship Game
Once the 16-team bracket has been determined, the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee will determine by a coin flip as to whether the winner of the upper half or lower half of the bracket will be the home team for the championship game. However, if the host institution is selected to participate in the playoffs and should advance to the championship game, it will be permitted to use its normal dressing room and the home team bench area.
