The NCAA I-AA football committee notified Tennessee State that they will be ahost team for one of the I-AA first-round play-off games. Three schools,Tennessee State, Illinois State and Georgia Southern, were notified of theirearly selection host institutions for the NCAA I-AA Football championshipfirst-round games. Two of the three teams hosting first-round games -- IllinoisState and Tennessee State -- qualified as conference champions. Illinois State(9-2) won the Gateway Conference title and Tennessee State (10-0) claimedthe Ohio Valley Conference championship. Georgia Southern was awarded a homefirst-round site and currently stands tied for first place in the SouthernConference. The three teams chosen, received automatic qualification to theplay-offs by virtue of winning their respective conference championship.
The Tigers (10-0, 6-0) champions of the Ohio Valley Conference, will not knowtheir opponent until the final pairings announcements are made on Sunday,November 21st. The Tigers will be participating in their second consecutive I-AAplay-off. Last year, TSU lost in the first-round 45-31 at AppalachianState (NC).
The first-round game will be played on Saturday, November 27 at Adelphia Coliseum. The time has yet to be determined. Ticket prices will be$12.50 for adults and $5.00 for students.
Tennessee State is averaging 19,518 fans per home game, drawing 97,588fans on five home dates.
TSU is currently ranked #1 in the I-AA by the Sports Network and USAToday/ESPN polls, Georgia Southern (9-2) ranked # 2 and Illinois State (9-2) isranked #5. The NCAA, however, does not use these polls in the seedings forthe play-offs.
Georgia Southern has won the I-AA championship four times and played in lastyear's game losing to the University of Massachusetts 44-38.
The other automatic qualifiers to date are James Madison, champion of theAtlantic 10 Conference, and North Carolina A&T, champion of the Mid-EasternAthletic Conference. First-round competition takes place November 27. The16-team bracket announcement may be seen via live satellite telecast at noonEastern time Sunday, November 21. Individuals wishing to view the selectionsshould tune to Galaxy 6, Transponder 11. Downlink frequency is 3920 MHz (H), andthe audio will be sent 6.2 / 6.8 mixed program. The satellite signal will not bescrambled. NCAA Productions provides a test signal beginning at 11:30 a.m.Eastern time.
The 22nd Division I-AA football championship game kicks off at 2 p.m. Easterntime Saturday, December 18, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
