NCAA Division I Football Championship The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an American college football tournament played each year to determine the champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision ( FCS ) . Prior to the year 2006 , the game was known as the NCAA Division I - AA Football Championship . The FCS is the highest division in college football to hold a playoff tournament to determine its champion ( until 2014 when the FBS adopts a four - team playoff system ) . The reigning national champion is the North Dakota State University Bison , which also won the championship for the year 2011 . In both seasons the Bison defeated the Sam Houston State University Bearkats in the championship game . The first time the Bison won 17 – 6 on January 7 , 2012 , and the second time 39 - 13 on January 5 , 2013 . Both games were played at FC Dallas Stadium , then known as Pizza Hut Park , in the Dallas suburb of Frisco , Texas . History . When Division I - AA was formed for football in 1978 , the playoffs included just four teams , doubling to eight teams in its fourth season of 1981 . In 1982 the I - AA playoffs were expanded to 12 teams , with each of the top four seeds receiving a first - round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals . In its ninth season of 1986 , the I - AA playoffs were expanded again to a 16 - team format , requiring four post - season victories to win the title . Eight conference champions received automatic bids , with the remaining eight bids available on an at - large basis . The field is traditionally set the Sunday before Thanksgiving and play begins that weekend . The top four teams are seeded ; however , the matchups are not strictly set up by these seedings as geographic considerations are also taken into account to minimize travel . In April 2008 the NCAA announced that the playoff field would again expand to include 20 teams beginning in 2010 . At the same time , it announced that the number of conferences receiving automatic bids would increase to 10 . The tournament has historically been played in November and December ; with the latest expansion to a 20 - team field , the championship game moved from December to January . From 1997 through 2009 , the title game had been played in Chattanooga , Tennessee at Finley Stadium , the home football venue of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga , and at Marshall University Stadium ( now Joan C . Edwards Stadium ) on the Marshall University campus in the 5 years prior to that . The title game is now played in the Dallas suburb of Frisco , Texas at FC Dallas Stadium ( known as Pizza Hut Park until the day after the championship game of the 2011 season ) , a multi - purpose stadium primarily used by FC Dallas of Major League Soccer . The original contract with Frisco began in the 2010 season and ran through the 2012 season ; it has since been extended through the 2015 season . Three Football Championship Subdivision conferences usually do not participate in the tournament . The Ivy League , I - AA since 1982 , plays a strict ten - game regular season and does not participate in any post - season football , citing academic concerns . The Southwestern Athletic Conference ( SWAC ) has a conference schedule which conflicts with the tournament , so its members do not normally participate . The SWAC has not sent a team since Jackson State in 1997 . The Pioneer Football League members are eligible to participate in the tournament , but no PFL football team has ever received an FCS playoff invitation . In 2013 , the FCS playoffs will expand to 24 teams and the PFL will receive an automatic invitation .