NCAA Announces 2012 Division I Football Championship Field

NCAA Release

For College Sports Journal

 

INDIANAPOLIS, IN. — The field of 20 teams competing for the 2012 NCAA Division I Football Championship was announced today by the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee. 

 

North Dakota State (10-1) tops the bracket as the top seed after capturing the automatic qualifying berth from the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bison, who are the defending national champions, are making their third straight appearance.

 

 

 

Second-seeded Eastern Washington (9-2) is making its ninth appearance. The Eagles — the 2010 national champions — captured the Big Sky Conference automatic berth and are back into the field after a one-year absence.

 

Montana State (10-1), which is making its seventh overall tournament appearance, is the No. 3 seed. The 1984 national champion, the Bobcats are making its seventh overall appearance and third in a row.

 

Old Dominion is the No. 4 seed after putting together a 10-1 regular season record in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Monarchs were ineligible for the CAA automatic qualification slot as they have announced plans to leave the league for Conference USA.

 

Rounding out this year’s seeded teams is Georgia Southern (8-3) with the number-five seed. The Southern Conference champions are making their third straight and19th appearance overall. 

 

First-round hosts include Bethune-Cookman (9-2), which is in as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champs, South Dakota State (8-3), Stony Brook (9-2) and Wagner (8-3), the Northeast Conference champion and the only team in the field who will be making its first trip into the championship.

 

The top four national seeds will host winners from the first round match-ups. Others hosting second rounds game will be Appalachian State (8-3), Georgia Southern, Sam Houston State (8-3) and Wofford (8-3).

 

Other automatic qualifiers in the tournament include Central Arkansas (9-2), winner of the Southland Conference, Coastal Carolina (7-4), who was the Big South Conference champion, Colgate (8-3), the Patriot League representative, Eastern Illinois (7-4), the Ohio Valley Conference champions and Villanova (8-3), the Colonial Athletic Association representative.

 

The other teams in the field include Cal Poly (9-2), Illinois State (8-3) and New Hampshire (8-3).

 

Ten conferences received automatic-qualifying berths: the Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Colonial Athletic Association, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Missouri Valley Football Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference and Southland Conference.

 

ESPN’s family of networks will once again provide coverage of all rounds of the 2012 NCAA Division I Football Championship. Television schedules and games times for all rounds of the 2012 championship will be updated weekly at www.NCAA.com.

 

The 2013 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game is slated for 1 p.m. Eastern time Saturday, January 5, at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The championship game will air on ESPN2HD and ESPN3.

 

 

FIRST ROUND GAMES

 

November 24 at Brookings, South Dakota, 3 p.m. (ET) Eastern Illinois (7-4) at South Dakota State (8-3)

 

November 24 at Dayton Beach, Florida, 2 p.m. (ET) Coastal Carolina (7-4) at Bethune-Cookman (9-2)

 

November 24 at Stony Brook, New York , 3 p.m. (ET) Villanova (8-3) at Stony Brook (9-2)

 

November 24 at Staten Island, New York, 12 p.m. (ET) Colgate (8-3) at Wagner (8-3)

 

SECOND ROUND GAMES

 

December 1 at Fargo, North Dakota, 4 p.m. (ET) Eastern Illinois/South Dakota State winner at #1 North Dakota State (10-1)

 

December 1 at Spartanburg, South Carolina , 2 p.m. (ET) New Hampshire (8-3) at Wofford (8-3)

 

December 1 at Statesboro, Georgia, 2 p.m. (ET) Central Arkansas (9-2) at #5 Georgia Southern (8-3)

 

December 1 at Norfolk, Virginia, 2 p.m. (ET) Coastal Carolina/Bethune-Cookman winner at #4 Old Dominion (10-1)

 

December 1 at Bozeman, Montana, 7 p.m. (ET) Villanova/Stony Brook winner at #3 Montana State (10-1)

 

December 1 at Huntsville, Texas, 4 p.m. (ET) Cal Poly (9-2) at Sam Houston State (8-3)

 

December 1 at Boone, North Carolina, 2 p.m. (ET) Illinois State (8-3) at Appalachian State (8-3)

 

December 1 at Cheney, Washington, 6 p.m. (ET) Colgate/Wagner winner at #2 Eastern Washington (9-2)

 

The 2012 championship field consists of 10 automatic qualifiers and 10 at-large qualifiers.

 

Automatic Qualifers 

 

Big Sky Conference – Eastern Washington (9-2)

Big South Conference – Coastal Carolina (7-4)

Colonial Athletic Association – Villanova (8-3)

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Bethune-Cookman (9-2)

Missouri Valley Football Conference – North Dakota State (10-1)

Northeast Conference – Wagner (8-3)

Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Illinois (7-4)

Patriot League – Colgate (8-3)

Southern Conference – Georgia Southern (8-3)

Southland Conference – Central Arkansas (9-2)

 

At-Large Qualifiers

 

Coastal Carolina (7-4), Villanova (8-3), Bethune-Cookman (9-2), North Dakota State (10-1), Wagner (8-3), Eastern Illinois (7-4), Colgate (8-3), Georgia Southern (8-3), Central Arkansas (9-2), Cal Poly (9-2), Montana State (10-1), Stony Brook (9-2), Old Dominion (10-1), New Hampshire (8-3), Illinois State (8-3), South Dakota State (8-3), Appalachian State (8-3), Wofford (8-3), Sam Houston State. (8-3)