ESPN to Provide Complete Coverage of NCAA Division I Football Championship
By: Caryn Robbins Nov. 23, 2016
ESPN's exclusive coverage of the NCAA Division I Football Championship begins on Saturday, Nov. 26, with all eight games from campus sites. ESPN will cover all 23 games from the Championship, including eight second round games (Dec. 3), the quarterfinals (Dec. 9-10), semifinals (Dec. 16-17) and the final (Jan 7).
ESPN3 will stream the first and second rounds as well as two of the quarterfinal games. The other two quarterfinals will air on ESPN or ESPN2, the semifinals on ESPN2 and ESPNU and the championship on ESPN2 from Frisco, Texas. A full schedule is below.
The field of 24 is made up of 10 automatic qualifiers and 14 at large bids. Complete information on the field can be found here.
| Automatic Qualifiers (10) | |
| Conference | School |
| Big Sky | Eastern Washington (10-1) |
| Big South | Charleston Southern (7-3) |
| Colonial Athletic Association | James Madison (10-1) |
| Missouri Valley | South Dakota State (8-3) |
| Northeast | Saint Francis (Pa.) (7-4) |
| Ohio Valley | Jacksonville State (10-1) |
| Patriot League | Lehigh (9-2) |
| Pioneer | San Diego (9-1) |
| Southern | The Citadel (10-1) |
| Southland | Sam Houston State (11-0) |
| At-Large (14) | |
| Conference | School |
| Big Sky | Cal Poly (7-4) |
| Big Sky | North Dakota (9-2) |
| Big Sky | Weber State (7-4) |
| Colonial Athletic Association | New Hampshire (7-4) |
| Colonial Athletic Association | Richmond (8-3) |
| Colonial Athletic Association | Villanova (8-3) |
| Mid-Eastern Athletic | North Carolina A&T (9-2) |
| Missouri Valley | Illinois State (6-5) |
| Missouri Valley | North Dakota State (10-1) |
| Missouri Valley | Youngstown State (8-3) |
| Southern | Chattanooga (8-3) |
| Southern | Samford (7-4) |
| Southern | Wofford (8-3) |
| Southland | Central Arkansas (9-2) |
ESPN's NCAA Division I Football Championship Schedule:
NCAA Division I Football Championship - First Round
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Sat, Nov. 26 | 2 p.m. | Weber State at Chattanooga Jim Barber, Watson Brown |
ESPN3 |
| North Carolina A&T at Richmond Michael Reghi, Doug Graber |
ESPN3 | ||
| Lehigh at New Hampshire Bob Picozzi, Marcus Ray |
ESPN3 | ||
| Saint Francis (PA) at Villanova Mike Watts, Stan Lewter |
ESPN3 | ||
| Charleston Southern at Wofford Drew Fellios, Forrest Conoly |
ESPN3 | ||
| 3 p.m. | Illinois State at Central Arkansas Shawn Kenney, Chad Brown |
ESPN3 | |
| 5 p.m. | Samford at Youngstown State Robert Lee, Dustin Fox |
ESPN3 | |
| 7 p.m. | San Diego at Cal Poly Trey Bender, Jay Taylor |
ESPN3 |
NCAA Division I Football Championship - Second Round
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Sat, Dec. 3 | 2 p.m. | Lehigh or New Hampshire at No. 4 James Madison | ESPN3 |
| Samford or Youngstown State at No. 3 Jacksonville State | ESPN3 | ||
| 3 p.m. | Saint Francis (PA) or Villanova at No. 8 South Dakota State | ESPN3 | |
| Weber State or Chattanooga at No. 5 Sam Houston State | ESPN3 | ||
| 3:30 p.m. | San Diego or Cal Poly at No. 1 North Dakota State | ||
| 4 p.m. | Illinois State or Central Arkansas at No. 2 Eastern Washington | ESPN3 | |
| 6 p.m. | North Carolina A&T or Richmond at No. 7 North Dakota | ESPN3 | |
| Charleston Southern or Wofford at No. 6 The Citadel | ESPN3 |
NCAA Division I Football Championship - Quarterfinals
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Friday, Dec. 9 | 7 p.m. | Football Championship - Quarterfinal | ESPN2 |
| Saturday, Dec. 10 | Noon | Football Championship - Quarterfinal | ESPN |
| TBD | Football Championship - Quarterfinal | ESPN3 | |
| TBD | Football Championship - Quarterfinal | ESPN3 |
NCAA Division I Football Championship - Semifinals
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Friday, Dec. 16 | 7 p.m. | Football Championship - Semifinal | ESPN2 |
| Saturday, Dec. 17 | 6:30 p.m. | Football Championship - Semifinal | ESPNU |
NCAA Division I Football Championship - Championship
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| January, 7, 2017 | Noon | Football Championship - Championship | ESPN2 |
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