2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship Field Announced
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2011 NCAA DIVISION I FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD ANNOUNCED
INDIANAPOLIS---The field of 20 teams competing for the 2011 NCAA Division
I Football Championship was announced today by the NCAA Division I
Football Championship Committee.
Sam Houston State University (11-0) tops the bracket as the top seed after
capturing the automatic qualifying berth from the Southland Conference.
The Bearkats, are making their fifth appearance and first since 2004.
Second-seeded North Dakota State University (10-1) is making its second
consecutive appearance. The Bison captured the Missouri Valley Football
Conference automatic berth.
Georgia Southern University (9-2), which is making its 18th overall
tournament appearance, is the number-three seed. The six-time national
champion Eagles captured the Southern Conference automatic berth.
The University of Montana (9-2) is the number-four seed after capturing
the Big Sky Conference automatic berth. The Grizzlies, the 1995 and 2001
national champion, are making its 21st appearance.
Rounding out this year’s seeded teams is the University of Northern Iowa
(9-2) with the number-five seed. The Panthers are making its 16th overall
appearance.
First-round hosts include Big South automatic qualifier Stony Brook
University (8-3), Ohio Valley Conference automatic qualifier Tennessee
Technological University (7-3), Old Dominion University (9-2) and Eastern
Kentucky University (7-4).
The top four national seeds will host winners from the first round
match-ups. Others hosting second rounds game will be Northern Iowa,
Appalachian State University (8-3), the Bobcats of Montana State
University (9-2) and the Colonial Athletic Association automatic
qualifier, Towson University (9-2).
Other automatic qualifiers in the tournament include University of Albany
(8-3), the Northeast Conference champion, who clinched its first trip into
the championship. Also making its first trip into the championship is
Norfolk State University (9-2), winner of the automatic bid from the
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Winning the Patriot League was the
Mountain Hawks of Lehigh University (10-1).
Other teams in the field: first time participant, University of Central
Arkansas (8-3); James Madison University (7-4); Maine (8-3); University of
New Hampshire (8-3); and Wofford College (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.
The combination of http://www.NCAA.com and ESPN’s family of networks will once
again provide coverage of all rounds of the 2011 NCAA Division I Football
Championship.
Television schedules and games times for all rounds of the 2011
championship will be updated daily at the NCAA Sports web site
(http://www.NCAA.com/fcs).
The 2012 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game is slated for 1 p.m.
Eastern time Saturday, January 7, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.
ESPN2HD/ESPN3 will televise the championship game.
For more information, go to
http://www.ncaa.com/fcs
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