NCAA Division II football championship
The NCAA Division II football championship is an American college football tournament played annually to determine a champion at the NCAA Division II level. It was first held in 1973, as a single-elimination playoff with eight teams. The tournament field has subsequently been expanded four times: to 16 teams in 1988, 24 teams in 2004, 28 teams in 2016, and 32 teams in 2025.
The national championship game has been held in eight cities. Former sites include Sacramento, California ; Wichita Falls, Texas ; Longview, Texas ; Albuquerque, New Mexico ; McAllen, Texas ; Florence, Alabama ; and Kansas City, Kansas. From 1973 through 1985 the championship game carried a bowl designation.
Since 2018, the championship game has been played at the McKinney ISD Stadium and Community Event Center in McKinney, Texas. Since 1994, the games have been broadcast on ESPN.
Small-college wire service national champions
Prior to 1973, for what was then called the NCAA College Division, national champions were selected by polls conducted at the end of each regular season by two major wire services, the Associated Press and United Press International. In five years, the two polls named different number one teams. From 1964 to 1972, postseason bowl games crowned four regional champions. NCAA [Division II bowl games] still exist, but only as postseason contests for teams not qualifying for the championship playoffs.Polls to rank "small college" football teams were conducted by the Associated Press and United Press International during and at the end of each regular season. The AP polled a panel of experts, while UPI polled a panel of coaches. When UPI began its poll in 1958, it explained that the poll would cover college football programs not considered "major" by the Football Writers Association of America, with the small schools belonging to the NCAA, the NAIA, both, or neither. The AP began its poll in 1960.
National champions per wire service polls
;NotesNCAA Division II champions
Since 1973, a post-season tournament has been held to determine the Division II Champion. The current format, in use since 2025, features 32 teams organized into 4 super-regions of 8 teams each. Prior to the championship game, all contests are hosted by the higher-seeded team. the semi-final games are held at the home stadiums of the two highest-seeded remaining teams. Since 2018, the championship game has been played at the McKinney Independent School District Stadium, a 12,000 seat facility that opened in August 2018.Results
;NotesTeam titles
| Team | # | Years |
| 6 | 1998, 1999, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016 | |
| [Grand Valley State Lakers football|] | 4 | 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 |
| [Valdosta State Blazers football|] | 4 | 2004, 2007, 2012, 2018 |
| ' | 4 | 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025 |
| ' | 2 | 2008, 2010 |
| [Pittsburg State Gorillas football|] | 2 | 1991, 2011 |
| [CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves football|] | 1 | 2014 |
| [Delta State Statesmen football|] | 1 | 2000 |
| ' | 1 | 2023 |
| ' | 1 | 1975 |
| [West Florida Argonauts football|] | 1 | 2019 |
| Team | # | Years |
| 5 | 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990 | |
| ' | 3' | 1993, 1994, 1995 |
| ' | 2' | 1996, 1997 |
| ' | 2' | 1981, 1982 |
| [Troy Trojans football|] | 2 | 1984, 1987 |
| ' | 1' | 1980 |
| ' | 1' | 1974 |
| ' | 1' | 1979 |
| [Eastern Illinois Panthers football|] | 1 | 1978 |
| [Jacksonville State Gamecocks football|] | 1 | 1992 |
| [Lehigh Mountain Hawks football|] | 1 | 1977 |
| [Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football|] | 1 | 1973 |
| ' | 1' | 1976 |
| [North Dakota Fighting Hawks football|] | 1 | 2001 |
| 1 | 2017 | |
| ' | 0' |
Championship game appearances
Programs that no longer compete in Division II are indicated in italics.Of the programs that no longer compete in D-II, Akron, Central Michigan, Delaware, Jacksonville State, Louisiana Tech, Texas State, Troy and Western Kentucky currently compete in Division I FBS, while Mississippi College no longer fields a football team. All others compete in Division I FCS.
Teams that moved to Division I
Most of the participants in early national championship games have moved into Division I, the main catalyst for their moves being the creation of Division I-AA, now the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, in 1978. The following Division II title game participants later moved to Division I:;Division I FBS
;Division I FCS
- Cal Poly
- East Texas A&M
- Eastern Illinois
- Lehigh
- Montana State
- New Haven
- North Alabama
- North Dakota
- North Dakota State
- Northern Colorado
- Portland State
- South Dakota
- UC Davis
- Youngstown State
Postseason bowls
Regional bowls
From 1964 to 1972, four regional bowl games were played in order to provide postseason action, however these games took place after the AP and UPI polls were completed, therefore these games did not factor in selecting a national champion for the College Division. The bowl games were:Winners of regional bowls
Playoff bowls
From 1973 to 1977, some of the tournament games were also known by bowl names;- In 1973, one of the first-round games was the final playing of the Boardwalk Bowl.
- From 1973 through 1975, the two semifinal games were the Grantland Rice Bowl and the Pioneer Bowl, while the final game was the Camellia Bowl.
- In 1976 and 1977, the two semifinal games were the Grantland Rice Bowl and the Knute Rockne Bowl, while the final game was the Pioneer Bowl.