NCAA Division III Football Championship (Sports, English)
Status: Running
Premiered: 1973-12-08
Network: ESPN
Country: US
Airs on: Friday
Air time: 19:00
Runtime: 180 minutes
The NCAA Division III Football Championship is the Division III NCAA Football Game that is played every year in December to determine the National Champion of College Football's Division III level. The NCAA Division III Football Championship began in 1973. Before 1973, most of the schools now in Division III competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Division III playoffs begin with 32 teams selected to participate in the playoffs. The Division III championship game, known as the "Stagg Bowl", has been played annually in Salem, Virginia at Salem Football Stadium since 1993. It was previously played in Phenix City, Alabama at Garrett-Harrison Stadium (1973–1982, 1985–1989), at the College Football Hall of Fame, when the Hall was located in Kings Island, Ohio at Galbreath Field (1983–1984), and Bradenton, Florida at Hawkins Stadium (1990–1992).Mount Union has appeared in the last ten Stagg Bowls—defeating Wisconsin–Whitewater in 2005, 2006, and 2008; losing to Wisconsin–Whitewater in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014; and defeating University of St. Thomas in 2012. In 1969, the NCAA started two regional championship games for small college teams: the East Regional's Knute Rockne Bowl and the West's Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. When the NCAA developed a national Division III championship game in 1973, the Stagg Bowl name and the host city of Phenix City, Alabama was chosen.