INDIANAPOLIS---The field of 16 teams competing for the 2020 NCAA Division I Football Championship was announced today by the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee.  South Dakota State (5-1), winners of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, earned the top seed in their 10th appearance in the championship.

Printable Playoff Bracket (PDF)

• The MVFC is 103-55 during the past 23 years in the FCS playoffs (since 1997). Overall, a league team has appeared in 14 championship games and in 27 semifinal games.
• During the past decade, MVFC teams were 67-28 in the FCS playoffs, and only one other conference (the CAA at 44-39) had a winning record.  The MVFC had 11 intraconference playoff games in the decade, meaning MVFC teams have a combined 56-17 (.767) record against non-league teams in the playoffs since 2010.
• In 2019, four MVFC teams earned selection to the NCAA Division I Championship.  North Dakota State won its eighth national championship in nine years, and the MVFC’s four teams went a combined 8-3 in the playoffs with only one of those losses at the hands of a non-conference team. 

Sam Houston (6-0) is the number two seed earning the automatic qualifying berth from the Southland Conference. The Bearkats are making their 12th overall appearance and first since 2017 in the championship.  James Madison (5-0) is the number three seed after winning the CAA’s south division title. The Dukes will make their seventh consecutive appearance in the championship and 17th overall.  Jacksonville State (9-2) rounded out the top four seeds after capturing its ninth Ohio Valley Conference title and its sixth in the last seven years.

During the previous 43 years of the championship, 21 schools have won a national title, five of which earned a place in this year’s bracket.

The 2020 championship field consists of 10 automatic qualifiers and six at-large qualifiers. Team pairings are determined primarily according to geographical proximity.  Teams from the same conference will not be paired for first round games. (except for teams from the same conference that did not play against each other during the regular season; such teams may play each other in the first round).

2020 NCAA® DIVISION I FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS (10)
Big Sky -- Weber State
Big South -- Monmouth 
Colonial -- Delaware
Missouri Valley Football -- South Dakota State
Northeast -- Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley -- Jacksonville State
Patriot -- Holy Cross 
Pioneer Football -- Davidson 
Southern -- VMI 
Southland -- Sam Houston 

2020 NCAA® DIVISION I FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP AT-LARGE SELECTIONS (6)
Eastern Washington (Big Sky)
James Madison (Colonial
North Dakota (MVFC)
North Dakota State (MVFC)
Missouri State (MVFC)
Southern Illinois (MVFC)

Longest Consecutive Tournament Appearances in the Championship (Including 2020)
North Dakota State – 11
South Dakota State – 9
James Madison – 7
Weber State – 5

Most Tournament Appearances in the Championship (Including 2020)
Delaware – 17
James Madison – 17
Eastern Wash. – 14
Sam Houston – 12
North Dakota State – 11

Schools Making the Championship for the First Time
Davidson, VMI

Longest Stretch between Championship Appearances
Missouri State – 1990
Southern Illinois – 2009
Sacred Heart – 2014

Schools by Conference
Missouri Valley Football Conference – 5
Big Sky Conference – 2
Colonial Athletic Association- 2

DATES/SITES/PAIRINGS-FIRST-ROUND GAMES
April 24 at Brookings, South Dakota, 3 p.m. (ET) (ESPN3) 
Holy Cross (3-0) at #1 South Dakota St. (5-1)

April 24 at Ogden, Utah, 4 p.m. (ET) (ESPN3)
Southern Ill. (5-3) at Weber St. (5-0)

April 24 at Newark, Delaware, 7 p.m. (ET) (ESPN3)
Sacred Heart (3-1) at Delaware (5-0)

April 24 at Jacksonville, Alabama, 2 p.m. (ET) (ESPN3)
Davidson (4-2) at #4 Jacksonville St. (9-2)

April 24 at Harrisonburg, Virginia, 2 p.m. (ET) (ESPN3)
VMI (6-1) at #3 James Madison (5-0)

April 24 at Grand Forks, North Dakota, 4 p.m. (ET) (ESPN3)
Missouri St. (5-4) at North Dakota (4-1)

April 24 at Fargo, North Dakota, 3:30 p.m. (ET) (ESPN3)
Eastern Wash. (5-1) at North Dakota St. (6-2)

April 24 at Huntsville, Texas, Noon (ET) (ESPN3)
Monmouth (3-0) at #2 Sam Houston (6-0)

Television schedules and game times for all rounds of the 2020 championship will be updated at www.NCAA.com/fcs. All rounds of the FCS playoffs can be seen on ESPN’s family of networks with first-round games taking place Saturday, April 24 and concluding with the national championship game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, Sunday, May 16 at 2 p.m. (ET) on ABC.