NCAA Division I Football Championship
Season Date ( notes ) Champion Score Runner-up Location Attendance Winning head coach
1978 December 16 , 1978 Florida A & M 35-28 UMass Wichita Falls , TX 13,604 Rudy Hubbard
1979 December 15 , 1979 Eastern Kentucky 30-7 Lehigh Orlando , FL 5,200 Roy Kidd
1980 December 20 , 1980 Boise State 31-29 Eastern Kentucky Sacramento , CA 8,157 Jim Criner
1981 December 19 , 1981 Idaho State 34-23 Eastern Kentucky Wichita Falls , TX 11,002 Dave Kragthorpe
1982 December 18 , 1982 Eastern Kentucky ( 2 ) 17-14 Delaware Wichita Falls , TX 11,257 Roy Kidd ( 2 )
1983 December 17 , 1983 Southern Illinois 43-7 Western Carolina Charleston , SC 15,950 Rey Dempsey
1984 December 15 , 1984 Montana State 19-6 Louisiana Tech Charleston , SC 9,125 Dave Arnold
1985 December 21 , 1985 Georgia Southern 44-42 Furman Tacoma , WA 5,306 Erk Russell
1986 December 19 , 1986 Georgia Southern ( 2 ) 48-21 Arkansas State Tacoma , WA 4,419 Erk Russell ( 2 )
1987 December 19 , 1987 Northeast Louisiana 43-42 Marshall Pocatello , ID 11,513 Pat Collins
1988 December 17 , 1988 Furman 17-12 Georgia Southern Pocatello , ID 9,714 Jimmy Satterfield
1989 December 16 , 1989 Georgia Southern ( 3 ) 37-34 Stephen F. Austin Statesboro , GA 25,725 Erk Russell ( 3 )
1990 December 15 , 1990 Georgia Southern ( 4 ) 36-13 Nevada Statesboro , GA 23,204 Tim Stowers
1991 December 21 , 1991 Youngstown State 25-17 Marshall Statesboro , GA 12,667 Jim Tressel
1992 December 19 , 1992 Marshall 31-28 Youngstown State Huntington , WV 31,304 Jim Donnan
1993 December 18 , 1993 Youngstown State ( 2 ) 17-5 Marshall Huntington , WV 29,218 Jim Tressel ( 2 )
1994 December 17 , 1994 Youngstown State ( 3 ) 28-14 Boise State Huntington , WV 27,674 Jim Tressel ( 3 )
1995 December 16 , 1995 Montana 22-20 Marshall Huntington , WV 32,106 Don Read
1996 December 21 , 1996 Marshall ( 2 ) 49-29 Montana Huntington , WV 30,052 Bob Pruett
1997 December 20 , 1997 Youngstown State ( 4 ) 10-9 McNeese State Chattanooga , TN 14,771 Jim Tressel ( 4 )
Champions
See also : List of NCAA Division I FCS playoff appearances by team
The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was known as the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship. The game serves as the final match of an annual postseason bracket tournament between top teams in FCS. Since 2013, 24 teams participate in the tournament, with some teams receiving automatic bids upon winning their conference championship, and other teams determined by a selection committee. The reigning national champions are the North Dakota State Bison, who have won eight championship games in the past nine seasons (2011-2015, 2017-2019). The FCS is the highest division in college football to hold a playoff tournament sanctioned by the NCAA to determine its champion. The four-team College Football Playoff used by the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) is not sanctioned by the NCAA.