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 a 16-team format, requiring four post-season victories to win the title. Eight conference champions received automatic bids, with the remaining eight bids available on an at-large basis. 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 would again expand to include 20 teams beginning in 2010. At the same time, it announced that the number of conferences receiving automatic bids would increase to 10.
The tournament has historically been played in November and December; with the latest expansion to a 20-team field, the championship game moved from December to January. From 1997 through 2009, the title game had been played in Chattanooga, Tennessee at Finley Stadium, the home football venue of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and at Marshall University Stadium (now Joan C. Edwards Stadium) on the Marshall University campus in the 5 years prior to that. From 2010 through 2012, it will be played in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas at FC Dallas Stadium (known as Pizza Hut Park at the time of announcement), a multi-purpose stadium primarily used by FC Dallas of Major League Soccer.
Three Football Championship Subdivision conferences usually do not participate in the tournament. The Ivy League, I-AA since 1982, plays a strict ten-game regular season and does not participate in any post-season football, citing academic concerns. The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) has a conference schedule which conflicts with the tournament, so its members do not normally participate. The SWAC has not sent a team since Jackson State in 1997. The Pioneer Football League members are eligible to participate in the tournament, but no PFL football team has ever received an FCS playoff invitation.
In 2013, the FCS playoffs will expand to 24 teams and the PFL will receive an automatic invitation.
Read more about this topic: NCAA Division I Football Championship
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