| Div. I-AA Football Championship Selections Announced
Florida A&M to face Western KentuckyNovember 20, 2000 INDIANAPOLIS - The field of 16 teams competing for the 2000 Division I-AA Football Championship was announced Sunday by the NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee. Montana (10-1) tops the bracket as the top seed after capturing the automatic qualifying berth from the Big Sky Conference. The Grizzlies, champions in 1995, have won 10 straight games since dropping their season-opener and own the longest current streak of Division I-AA playoff appearances at eight. Second-seeded Delaware (10-1) rallied from a 25-point deficit Saturday to win the Atlantic 10 Conference title for the first time in five years. The Blue Hens make their 11th NCAA appearance and are in the field for the first time since 1997. Georgia Southern (9-2) returns to defend its championship from a year ago after capturing the Southern Conference crown over league rivals Furman (9-2) and Appalachian State (8-3). All three teams are in the field for a second straight year and have combined for 32 Division I-AA playoff bids and six national titles - five by Georgia Southern. Troy State (9-2) and Western Kentucky (10-1) copped the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively, as champions of the Southland Football and Ohio Valley conferences. Western Illinois (9-2) earned the Gateway Football Conference title Saturday on a 56-yard field goal as time expired and is rewarded with a first-round game against the tournament's only unbeaten team, Lehigh (11-0), winners of the Patriot League. Florida A&M (9-2) qualifies for a fifth-st raight bid as champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Portland State (8-3) is the only team making its initial Division I-AA appearance, although the Vikings qualified eight times in nine years for the Division II NCAA championship playoffs from 1987-95. Conferences receiving automatic-qualifying berths were the Atlantic 10 Conference, Big Sky Conference, Gateway Football Conference, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference and Southland Football Conference. Following are the match-ups for the first round of competition to be played Saturday, November 25. Game times will be released Monday, November 20, via the NCAA Championships web site (www.ncaachampionships.com). Television schedules for all rounds of the 2000 championship will be updated daily at the NCAA Online web site (www.ncaa.org) under "TV Schedule". November 25
at Missoula, Montana - No. 16 Eastern Illinois (8-3) at No. 1 Montana (10-1) at Richmond, Virginia - No. 9 Youngstown State (9-2) at No. 8 Richmond (9-2) at Bowling Green, Kentucky - No. 12 Florida A&M (9-2) at No. 5 Western Kentucky (10-1) at Troy, Alabama - No. 13 Appalachian State (8-3) at No. 4 Troy State (9-2) at Statesboro, Georgia - No. 14 McNeese State (8-3) at No. 3 Georgia Southern (9-2) at Greenville, South Carolina - No. 11 Hofstra (8-3) at No. 6 Furman (9-2) at Macomb, Illinois - No. 10 Lehigh (11-0) at No. 7 Western Illinois (9-2) at Newark, Delaware - No. 15 Portland State (8-3) at No. 2 Delaware (10-1) The 2000 championship field consists of:
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS (8) Delaware Atlantic 10 Conference Florida A&M Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Georgia Southern Southern Conference Lehigh Patriot League Montana Big Sky Conference Troy State Southland Football Conference Western Illinois Gateway Football Conference Western Kentucky Ohio Valley Conference AT-LARGE QUALIFERS (8) Appalachian State Southern Conference Eastern Illinois Ohio Valley Conference Furman Southern Conference Hofstra Independent McNeese State Southland Football Conference Portland State Big Sky Conference Richmond Atlantic 10 Conference Youngstown State Gateway Football Conference The 2000 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship game is slated for 3:06 p.m. Eastern time Saturday, December 16, at W. Max Finley Stadium/Davenport Field in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN. Bill Rowe, athletics director at Southwest Missouri State, chairs the NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee. The other members of the committee are Greg Burke, athletics director at Northwestern State; E.W. Dennison, athletics director at Murray State; Wayne Hogan, athletics director at Montana; Bob Marcum, athletics director at Massachusetts; Walt Nadzak, athletics director at The Citadel; Joe Sterrett, athletics director at Lehigh; and Dennis Thomas, athletics director at Hampton. |
