2001 Division I-AA Football Championship Field Announced
11/25/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
INDIANAPOLIS - The field of 16 teams competing for the 2001 Division I-AA Football Championship was announced today by the NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee.
University of Montana (11-1) tops the bracket as the top seed after capturing the automatic qualifying berth from the Big Sky Conference. The Grizzlies, runners-up in 2000, have won 10 straight games since dropping their second game of the year and own the longest current streak of Division I-AA playoff appearances at nine.
Second-seeded Georgia Southern University (10-1) returns to defend its championship from a year ago after capturing the Southern Conference crown over league rivals Furman University (9-2) and Appalachian State University (8-3). All three teams are in the field for a third straight year and have combined for 35 Division I-AA playoff bids and seven national titles - six by Georgia Southern.
Furman, which is making its third straight appearance, is the number-three seed. The Paladins are making their 11th tournament appearance and won the championship in 1988.
Rounding out this year's seeded teams is Eastern Illinois University (9-1) with the number four seed. The Panthers are the automatic qualifier from the Ohio Valley Conference.
Eastern Illinois is making its eighth overall tournament appearance and second consecutive.
Unlike years past, only four teams were seeded per the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet's October 2001 directive that only one-quarter of a bracket will be seeded. Team pairings were determined by geographic proximity, with the exception that teams from the same conference were not paired during the first round.
Other conference champions hosting first-round games include Patriot League champion Lehigh University (10-0), the only undefeated team in Division I and McNeese State University, which was the Southland Football Conference champion. Other teams hosting first-round games include Sam Houston State University (9-2) and Appalachian State University (8-3). Northern Iowa University (9-2) earned the Gateway Football Conference title, while Hofstra University (9-2), from the Atlantic 10 Conference and Florida A&M University (9-2) from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference round out this year's automatic qualifiers.
College of William and Mary (8-3) and Maine (8-2), who both tied for first place along with Hofstra for the Atlantic 10 title, join other at-large teams Northern Arizona (8-3) Northwestern State (8-3) and Western Kentucky (8-3) to round out this year's participants.
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, December 1. Game times will be released Monday, November 26, via the NCAA Championships web site (www.ncaachampionships.com). Television schedules for all rounds of the 2001 championship will be updated daily at the NCAA Online web site (www.ncaa.org) under "TV Schedule".
December 1 at Missoula, Montana
Northwestern State (8-3) at No. 1 Montana (11-1)
December 1 at Huntsville, Texas
Northern Arizona (8-3) at Sam Houston State (9-2)
December 1 at Lake Charles, Louisiana
Maine (8-2) at McNeese State (8-3)
December 1 at Charleston, Illinois
Northern Iowa (9-2) at No. 4 Eastern Illinois (9-1)
December 1 at Statesboro, Georgia
Florida A&M (7-3) at No. 2 Georgia Southern (10-1)
December 1 at Boone, North Carolina
William & Mary (8-3) at Appalachian State (8-3)
December 1 at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Hofstra (9-2) at Lehigh (10-0)
December 1 at Greenville, South Carolina
Western Kentucky (8-3) at No. 3 Furman (9-2)
The 2001 championship field consists of eight automatic qualifiers and eight at-large qualifiers.
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS (8)
Hofstra Atlantic 10 Conference
Florida A&M Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Georgia Southern Southern Conference
Lehigh Patriot League
Montana Big Sky Conference
McNeese State Southland Football Conference
Northern Iowa Gateway Football Conference
Eastern Illinois Ohio Valley Conference
AT-LARGE QUALIFERS (8)
Appalachian State Southern Conference
Furman Southern Conference
Maine Atlantic 10 Conference
Northern Arizona Big Sky
Northwestern State Southland Football Conference
Sam Houston State Southland Football Conference
Western Kentucky Gateway Football Conference
William & Mary Atlantic 10 Conference
View the complete bracket. .GIF or .PDF
The 2001 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship game is slated for 5:30 p.m. Eastern time Friday, December 21, at W. Max Finley Stadium/Davenport Field in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Dennis Thomas, athletics director at Hampton, 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; Jim Miller, athletics director at Richmond; Walt Nadzak, The Citadel; Joe Sterrett, athletics director at Lehigh; and Perk Weisenburger, athletics director at Illinois State.
University of Montana (11-1) tops the bracket as the top seed after capturing the automatic qualifying berth from the Big Sky Conference. The Grizzlies, runners-up in 2000, have won 10 straight games since dropping their second game of the year and own the longest current streak of Division I-AA playoff appearances at nine.
Second-seeded Georgia Southern University (10-1) returns to defend its championship from a year ago after capturing the Southern Conference crown over league rivals Furman University (9-2) and Appalachian State University (8-3). All three teams are in the field for a third straight year and have combined for 35 Division I-AA playoff bids and seven national titles - six by Georgia Southern.
Furman, which is making its third straight appearance, is the number-three seed. The Paladins are making their 11th tournament appearance and won the championship in 1988.
Rounding out this year's seeded teams is Eastern Illinois University (9-1) with the number four seed. The Panthers are the automatic qualifier from the Ohio Valley Conference.
Eastern Illinois is making its eighth overall tournament appearance and second consecutive.
Unlike years past, only four teams were seeded per the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet's October 2001 directive that only one-quarter of a bracket will be seeded. Team pairings were determined by geographic proximity, with the exception that teams from the same conference were not paired during the first round.
Other conference champions hosting first-round games include Patriot League champion Lehigh University (10-0), the only undefeated team in Division I and McNeese State University, which was the Southland Football Conference champion. Other teams hosting first-round games include Sam Houston State University (9-2) and Appalachian State University (8-3). Northern Iowa University (9-2) earned the Gateway Football Conference title, while Hofstra University (9-2), from the Atlantic 10 Conference and Florida A&M University (9-2) from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference round out this year's automatic qualifiers.
College of William and Mary (8-3) and Maine (8-2), who both tied for first place along with Hofstra for the Atlantic 10 title, join other at-large teams Northern Arizona (8-3) Northwestern State (8-3) and Western Kentucky (8-3) to round out this year's participants.
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, December 1. Game times will be released Monday, November 26, via the NCAA Championships web site (www.ncaachampionships.com). Television schedules for all rounds of the 2001 championship will be updated daily at the NCAA Online web site (www.ncaa.org) under "TV Schedule".
December 1 at Missoula, Montana
Northwestern State (8-3) at No. 1 Montana (11-1)
December 1 at Huntsville, Texas
Northern Arizona (8-3) at Sam Houston State (9-2)
December 1 at Lake Charles, Louisiana
Maine (8-2) at McNeese State (8-3)
December 1 at Charleston, Illinois
Northern Iowa (9-2) at No. 4 Eastern Illinois (9-1)
December 1 at Statesboro, Georgia
Florida A&M (7-3) at No. 2 Georgia Southern (10-1)
December 1 at Boone, North Carolina
William & Mary (8-3) at Appalachian State (8-3)
December 1 at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Hofstra (9-2) at Lehigh (10-0)
December 1 at Greenville, South Carolina
Western Kentucky (8-3) at No. 3 Furman (9-2)
The 2001 championship field consists of eight automatic qualifiers and eight at-large qualifiers.
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS (8)
Hofstra Atlantic 10 Conference
Florida A&M Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Georgia Southern Southern Conference
Lehigh Patriot League
Montana Big Sky Conference
McNeese State Southland Football Conference
Northern Iowa Gateway Football Conference
Eastern Illinois Ohio Valley Conference
AT-LARGE QUALIFERS (8)
Appalachian State Southern Conference
Furman Southern Conference
Maine Atlantic 10 Conference
Northern Arizona Big Sky
Northwestern State Southland Football Conference
Sam Houston State Southland Football Conference
Western Kentucky Gateway Football Conference
William & Mary Atlantic 10 Conference
View the complete bracket. .GIF or .PDF
The 2001 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship game is slated for 5:30 p.m. Eastern time Friday, December 21, at W. Max Finley Stadium/Davenport Field in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Dennis Thomas, athletics director at Hampton, 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; Jim Miller, athletics director at Richmond; Walt Nadzak, The Citadel; Joe Sterrett, athletics director at Lehigh; and Perk Weisenburger, athletics director at Illinois State.
Thursday, June 11
Thursday, June 04
Friday, May 01
Monday, March 30
