2021 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game


The 2021 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game played to determine a national champion in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision for the 2020–21 season. It was played at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on May 16, 2021. It was the culminating game of the 2020–21 FCS Playoffs. The Sam Houston State Bearkats defeated the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, 23–21.

Background

The regular season and postseason schedules for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision were both impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Multiple FCS conferences moved their scheduled games from the fall of 2020 to the spring of 2021, and in August 2020, the NCAA announced that the FCS postseason would also be delayed. While the NCAA at one point announced a cancellation of the FCS playoff, in late September a revised playoff schedule was announced, with the Championship Game to be played in mid-May 2021. The date of the Championship Game was later set for May 16.
The 2021 Championship Game matched the final two teams from a 16-team playoff bracket, reduced from the normal 24-team bracket. The playoffs began with a first round on April 24, followed by quarterfinals on May 1, and then semi-finals on May 8.

Teams

The participants of the 2021 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game were the finalists of the 2020 FCS Playoffs—South Dakota State and Sam Houston State—which began with a 16-team bracket. Neither program had previously won a Division I Football Championship Game. Sam Houston State head coach K. C. Keeler was head coach of the champion 2003 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team.

South Dakota State Jackrabbits

The Jackrabbits entered the game in Frisco with an 8–1 record. This was their first appearance in the championship game. SDSU was the top seed in the playoffs and defeated Holy Cross, Southern Illinois, and Delaware at home.

Sam Houston State Bearkats

The Bearkats entered the game in Frisco with an 9–0 record. This was their third appearance in the championship game, having lost both of their prior appearances, in January 2012 and January 2013. SHSU was the second seed in the playoffs and defeated Monmouth, defending champion North Dakota State, and James Madison at home.