2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game
The 2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was a college football game played on January 7, 2024, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The game determined the national champion of NCAA Division I FCS for the 2023 season and featured the two finalists of the 24-team playoff bracket, which began on November 25, 2023. The Sunday game began at approximately 1:00 p.m. CST and was broadcast on ABC and ESPN+.
Defending champion [2023 2023 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team|South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team|South Dakota State] repeated as FCS champions by defeating [2023 2023 Montana Grizzlies football team|Montana Grizzlies football team|Montana], 23–3. It was the Jackrabbits' 29th consecutive victory.
Teams
South Dakota State
South Dakota State played to an 11–0 regular-season record; their narrowest victory was a 20–16 win over Montana State on September 9. Seeded No. 1 in the FCS playoffs, the Jackrabbits received a first-round bye, then defeated Mercer, Villanova, and Albany, by a combined score of 123–12, to advance to the championship game.South Dakota State previously appeared in two FCS championship games—they were champions of the 2022 season and runners-up of the 2020 season.
Montana
Montana played to a 10–1 regular-season record; their only loss was to Northern Arizona in September. Seeded No. 2 in the FCS playoffs, the Grizzlies received a first-round bye, then defeated Delaware, Furman, and North Dakota State to advance to the championship game. Their latter two wins both went into overtime.Montana previously appeared in seven FCS championship games, winning two and losing five; their most recent appearance was in 2009, and they last won in 2001.