NCAA Division I Football Championship Sat, Jan 9, 2016 Toyota Stadium (20,550) Frisco TX |
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11:00 AM CT |
(3) North Dakota State 12-2, 7-1 MVFC |
vs | (1) Jacksonville State 13-1, 8-0 OVC |
The top seed would be undefeated if not for an overtime loss on the road at Auburn, a team which should have stampeded them. The other team? Why, they're merely attempting something unprecedented in the history of college football. Right now, the Bison are tied with D-III Augustana (IL) with four straight trophies. Nobody else has even won four; nobody has won five. It's the official NCAA Division I Football Championship, a title that even Alabama isn't allowed to win.
And it's today.
The game: The North Dakota State Bison face the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in the NCAA Division I Football Championship, the 38th edition of that title game. As noted, North Dakota State has won four in a row (and four overall). The Bison also won five Division II titles on the field, and claim three other titles from prior to 1973 in the College Division. Including Division II, this is North Dakota State's 29th year participating in the playoffs out of a possible 42.
Jacksonville State has never won the Division I championship; they have never even appeared in the championship game. (In fact, no Ohio Valley team has won the Division I title since Western Kentucky in 1982.) The Gamecocks did win the Division II title in 1992, and were the losing team in 1989 when Mississippi College was forced to vacate their 3-0 Division II championship game victory. They also lost the 1991 Division II title to Pittsburg State and the 1977 championship game to Lehigh.It's the third meeting between the two schools. Both previous meetings were in Division II playoffs, and both were Jacksonville State wins leading to games mentioned above in 1977 and 1989.
Odds: North Dakota State is a three-point favorite on a total of 56.5, which works out to about 30-27.
Tickets: All reserved seating is sold out. Standing room may still be available at $40 per ticket. There are quite a few seated tickets available on the secondary market for $32, however.
Television: ESPN2 at 11:00 CT with Anish Shroff, Ahmad Brooks, and Quint Kessenich.
Radio: Only available via the Bison Sports Network in North Dakota and Minnesota (including the Twin Cities!) with Scott Miller, Phil Hansen, and Jeremy Jorgenson or in Alabama on the JSU Radio Network with Mike Parris and Ray Hammett. There's also no satellite broadcast, so if you're on the road outside of the teams' local markets you'll have to rely on streaming.
Online: Video streaming via WatchESPN, with a separate Spanish language feed as well. Audio streaming of the North Dakota State broadcast available at GoBison, while the JSU broadcast can be heard via WJLS 91.9 FM. Live stats via NCAA Gamecenter.