2007 NCAA Division I Football Championship Field Announced
INDIANAPOLIS---The field of 16 teams competing for the 2007 Division I Football Championship was announced today by the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee.
University of Northern Iowa University (11-0) tops the bracket as the top seed after capturing the automatic qualifying berth from the Gateway Football Conference. The Panthers are making their 13th tournament appearance.
Second-seeded McNeese State University (11-0) is making its 13th appearance. The Cowboys captured the Southland Conference automatic berth.
The University of Montana (11-0), which is making its 18th tournament appearance, is the number-three seed. The 2007 title marks the 10th straight year that the Grizzlies have either won the Big Sky Conference championship outright or shared the title
Rounding out this year’s seeded teams is Southern Illinois University (10-1) with the number- four seed. The Salukis, who won the 1983 national championship, is making their sixth appearance
Other first-round hosts include two-time defending national champion Appalachian St. (9-2), Delaware (8-3), Colonial Athletic Association automatic qualifier Massachusetts (9-2) and Richmond (9-2)
Other automatic qualifiers in the tournament include first-time participant Delaware State University (10-1), which earned the automatic bid from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Eastern Kentucky University (9-2) was the automatic qualifier from the Ohio Valley Conference. Fordham University (8-3) earned the Patriot League’s automatic bid and Wofford College (8-3) was the automatic qualifier from the Southern Conference.
Other teams in the field are Eastern Illinois University (8-3), Eastern Washington University (8-3), James Madison University (8-3) and the University of New Hampshire (7-4).
Eight conferences received automatic-qualifying berths: the Big Sky Conference, Colonial Athletic Association, Gateway Football Conference, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference and Southland Conference.
ESPN’s family of networks will televise two first round games live. ESPN will show Delaware State at Delaware at 1:30 p.m. ET, Friday, November 23. ESPNU will broadcast the Fordham at Massachusetts game at Noon ET, Saturday, November 24.
The 2007 NCAA Division I Football Championship game is slated for 8 p.m. Eastern time Friday, December 14, at W. Max Finley Stadium/Davenport Field in Chattanooga, Tennessee. ESPN2HD will televise the championship game.
More games may possibly be televised in the first round as well as additional rounds. Television schedules and games times for all rounds of the 2007 championship will be updated daily at the NCAA Sports web site (www.ncaasports.com).
November 23 at Newark, Delaware (ESPN at 1:30 p.m. ET)
Delaware St. (10-1) at Delaware (8-3)
November 24 at Amherst, Massachusetts (ESPNU at Noon ET)
Fordham (8-3) at Massachusetts (9-2)
November 24 at Boone, North Carolina
James Madison (8-3) at Appalachian St. (9-2)
November 24 at Cedar Falls, Iowa
New Hampshire (7-4) at No. 1 UNI (11-0)
November 24 at Carbondale, Illinois
Eastern Ill. (8-3) at No. 4 Southern Ill. (10-1)
November 24 at Lake Charles, Louisiana
Eastern Wash. (8-3) at No. 2 McNeese St. (11-0)
November 24 at Missoula, Montana
Wofford (8-3) at No. 3 Montana (11-0)
November 24 at Richmond, Virginia
Eastern Ky. (9-2) at Richmond (9-2)
The 2007 championship field consists of eight automatic qualifiers and eight at-large qualifiers.
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS (8)
Montana Big Sky Conference
Massachusetts Colonial Athletic Association
Northern Iowa Gateway Football Conference
Delaware State Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Eastern Kentucky Ohio Valley Conference
Fordham Patriot League
Wofford Southern Conference
McNeese State Southland Conference
AT-LARGE QUALIFERS (8)
Eastern Washington Big Sky Conference
Delaware Colonial Athletic Association
James Madison Colonial Athletic Association
New Hampshire Colonial Athletic Association
Richmond Colonial Athletic Association
Southern Illinois Gateway Football Conference
Eastern Illinois Ohio Valley Conference
Appalachian State Southern Conference