The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- November 9, 1998

Division II Football

Field: The 16-team field includes four teams from each of four regions.

Dates and sites: First round (November 21), quarterfinal (November 28) and semifinal (December 5) games will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The championship game will be played December 12 in Florence, Alabama.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/563-1133 (pin code 1915); request numbers are 1351 for bracket/schedule and 5090 for championship-game results. Championship-game results will be published in the December 21 issue

of The NCAA News.

Championship notes: Two-time defending champion Northern Colorado will try to equal what only North Alabama has accomplished at the Division II level -- win three consecutive championships. North Alabama lost only one game from 1993-95 en route to three straight titles. Northern Colorado, which had to win three playoff games last year on the road to advance to the championship game, is among the nation's leaders in scoring, passing offense and total offense .... North Dakota State leads all teams with 16 tournament appearances, 28 victories and five championships .... Besides North Alabama, Northern Colorado and North Dakota State, only Southwest Texas State (2) and Troy State (2) have won multiple championships. Both schools, however, presently compete at the Division I-AA level.