2025 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game

Postseason college football game

This article is about the FCS (Division I-AA) championship game. For the FBS (Division I-A) championship game, see 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship.

College football game

2025 NCAA Division I Football Championship

FCS National Championship Game
| North Dakota State Bison | Montana State Bobcats

|

(13–2) | (15–0)
Missouri Valley | Big Sky
Head coach:
Tim Polasek | Head coach:
Brent Vigen
| STATS| Seed

|

3| 2
| STATS| Seed

|

1| 1
Date| January 6, 2025
Season| 2024
Stadium| Toyota Stadium
Location| Frisco, Texas
United States TV coverage
Network| ESPN, ESPN+
Announcers| Dave Flemming (Play-by-Play), Brock Osweiler (color), Stormy Buonantony (sideline reporter)
International TV coverage
Network| Canada: TSN2/TSN+
|  NCAA Division I Football Championship

< 2024 | 2026 >

The 2025 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game will be a college football game scheduled to be played on January 6, 2025, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The game will determine the national champion of NCAA Division I FCS for the 2024 season. The game will feature the two finalists of the 24-team playoff bracket, which began on November 30, 2024.[1] The game will begin at approximately 6:00 p.m. CST and will broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+.

## Teams

[edit]

See also: 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season § Bracket

### North Dakota State

[edit]

Main article: 2024 North Dakota State Bison football team

North Dakota State finished their regular season at 10–2; their losses started and ended the regular season, 31–26 at Colorado on August 29th, and South Dakota 29–28 on November 23rd. NDSU was seeded No. 2 giving them a bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs where they would defeat No. 15 Abilene Christian 51–31, No. 7 Mercer 31–7, and Dakota Marker rival – No. 3 South Dakota State 28–21.

The 2025 FCS Championship game marks the 11th trip to Frisco for the Bison since the 2012 game against Sam Houston State, with NDSU being 9–1 in championship games losing their most recent appearance versus South Dakota State 45–21 in 2023, with their last win coming the year before against the Bobcats 38–10.

### Montana State

[edit]

Main article: 2024 Montana State Bobcats football team

Montana State finished their regular season a perfect 12–0 with their highest profile wins over New Mexico 35–31 and UC Davis 30–28. Their playoff schedule started with a bye as they were the No. 1 seed and gave them homefield advantage where they were able to get wins against UT Martin 49–17, No. 8 Idaho 52–19, and No. 4 South Dakota 31–17.

Montana State's last championship appearance came against the Bison three years ago where they fell 38–10, the last time Montana State won the FCS title was in 1984 against Louisiana Tech with a 19–6 win in Charleston, South Carolina.

A win would give them a 16–0 record which has only been done by Yale in 1894 and North Dakota State in 2019.

## Game summary

[edit]

2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game

Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3| 4| Total

|
|
|
|
|

No. 2 North Dakota State | 0 | 0 | 0| 0| 0
No. 1 Montana State | 0 | 0 | 0| 0| 0

at Toyota Stadium • Frisco, Texas

* Date: January 7, 2024
* Game time: 6:00 p.m. CST
* Referee: [2][3]
* TV announcers (ESPN, ESPN+): Dave Flemming (Play-by-Play), Brock Osweiler (color), Stormy Buonantony (sideline reporter)

### Statistics

[edit]

Statistics  | North Dakota State  | Montana State

|
|

First downs |  |
Plays–yards |  |
Rushes–yards |  |
Passing yards |  |
Passing: comp–att–int |  |
Time of possession |  |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics

|
|
|

North Dakota State  | Passing |  |
Rushing |  |
Receiving |  |
Montana State  | Passing |  |
Rushing |  |
Receiving |  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "2024 Division I FCS Football Official Bracket". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
2. ^ "2024 FCS Football Championship". NCAA. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
3. ^ "FCS Championship". ESPN. Retrieved January 4, 2025.

* v
* t
* e

NCAA Division I Football Championship Game

* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2011*
* 2012*
* 2013*
* 2014*
* 2015*
* 2016*
* 2017*
* 2018*
* 2019*
* 2020*
* 2021†
* 2022*
* 2023*
* 2024*
* 2025*

Games through 2009 were played in December. Subsequent games have been played in January (*) or May (†).

* v
* t
* e

North Dakota State Bison football

Venues|

* Dacotah Field (1910–1992)
* Fargodome (1993–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* North Dakota: Nickel Trophy
* South Dakota State: Dakota Marker

Culture & lore|

* Thundar
* "On Bison"
* Gold Star Marching Band

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees

Seasons|

* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943–1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

National championship seasons in bold

* v
* t
* e

Montana State Bobcats football

Venues|

* Gatton Field (1930–1971)
* Van Winkle Stadium (1972)
* Bobcat Stadium (1973–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Montana

Culture & lore|

* Spirit of the West Marching Band

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees

Seasons|

* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906–1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942–1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

National championship seasons in bold

* v
* t
* e

2024–25 NCAA Division I championships

* Baseball
* Men's basketball
* Women's basketball
* Beach volleyball
* Bowling
* Cross country
* Fencing
* Field hockey
* Football (FBS) †
* Football (FCS)
* Men's golf
* Women's golf
* Men's gymnastics
* Women's gymnastics
* Men's ice hockey
* Women's ice hockey
* Indoor track and field
* Men's lacrosse
* Women's lacrosse
* Outdoor track and field
* Rifle
* Rowing
* Skiing
* Men's soccer
* Women's soccer
* Softball
* Men's swimming and diving
* Women's swimming and diving
* Tennis
* Men's volleyball
* Women's volleyball
* Men's water polo
* Women's water polo
* Wrestling

* † Not an officially sanctioned NCAA championship

*[comp]: Completions
*[att]: Attempts
*[int]: Interceptions
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template