NCAA Division III Football Championship

2016 Stagg Bowl logo

The NCAA Division III Football Championship began in 1973.

The Division III playoffs begin with 32 teams selected to participate in the Division III playoffs. The Division III championship game, known as the Stagg Bowl (named after Amos Alonzo Stagg), will be held at Woodforest Bank Stadium in Shenandoah, Texas in 2018 and 2019. The championship game had previously been held at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia (1993–2017), at Hawkins Stadium in Bradenton, Florida (1990–1992), Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City, Alabama (1973–1982, 1985–1989), and at Galbreath Field at the College Football Hall of Fame, when the Hall was located in Kings Island, Ohio (1983–1984).

North Central (IL) defeated Wisconsin-Whitewater to win the 2019 season championship.

West and East Regional Championships (1969–1972)

In 1969, the NCAA started two regional championship games for small college teams: the East Regional's Knute Rockne Bowl and the West's Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. When the NCAA developed a national Division III championship game in 1973, the Stagg Bowl name and the host city of Phenix City, Alabama was chosen.

West Regional championship (Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl)

Year	Date	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Location
1969		Wittenberg	William Jewell	27–21	Springfield, Ohio
1970		Capital	Luther	34–21	Columbus, Ohio
1971		Samford (vacated)	Ohio Wesleyan	20–10	Phenix City, Alabama
1972	Nov 24	Heidelberg	Fort Valley State	28–16	Phenix City, Alabama

East Regional championship (Knute Rockne Bowl)

Year	Date	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Location
1969	Nov 29	Randolph–Macon	Bridgeport	47–28	Bridgeport, Connecticut
1970	Nov 28	Montclair State	Hampden–Sydney	7–6	Atlantic City, New Jersey
1971	Nov 26	Bridgeport	Hampden–Sydney	17–12	Atlantic City, New Jersey
1972	Nov 24	Bridgeport	Slippery Rock	27–22	Atlantic City, New Jersey

National championship games

Year	Date	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Attendance	Venue	Location	Winning head coach
1973	Dec. 8	Wittenberg	Juniata	41–0	5,000	Garrett-Harrison Stadium	Phenix City, Alabama	Dave Maurer
1974	Dec. 7	Central (IA)	Ithaca	10–8	5,500			Ron Schipper
1975	Dec. 6	Wittenberg	Ithaca	28–0	6,000			Dave Maurer
1976	Dec. 4	Saint John's (MN)	Towson	31–28	7,214			John Gagliardi
1977	Dec. 3	Widener	Wabash	39–36	7,852			Bill Manlove
1978	Dec. 2	Baldwin–Wallace	Wittenberg	24–10	7,500			Lee Tressel
1979	Dec. 1	Ithaca	Wittenberg	14–10	6,500			Jim Butterfield
1980	Dec. 6	Dayton	Ithaca	63–0	8,701			Rick E. Carter
1981	Dec. 5	Widener	Dayton	17–10	6,100			Bill Manlove
1982	Dec. 4	West Georgia	Augustana (IL)	14–0	9,000			Bobby Pate
1983	Dec. 1	Augustana (IL)	Union (NY)	21–17	3,800	Galbreath Field	Kings Island, Ohio	Bob Reade
1984	Dec. 8	Augustana (IL)	Central (IA)	21–12	2,300	Galbreath Field	Kings Island, Ohio	Bob Reade
1985	Dec. 14	Augustana (IL)	Ithaca	20–7	1,879	Garrett-Harrison Stadium	Phenix City, Alabama	Bob Reade
1986	Dec. 13	Augustana (IL)	Salisbury State	31–3	2,000			Bob Reade
1987	Dec. 12	Wagner	Dayton	19–3	4,000			Walt Hameline
1988	Dec. 10	Ithaca	Central (IA)	39–24	4,000			Jim Butterfield
1989	Dec. 9	Dayton	Union (NY)	17–7	3,500			Mike Kelly
1990	Dec. 8	Allegheny	Lycoming	21–14 (OT)	4,800	Hawkins Stadium	Bradenton, Florida	Ken O'Keefe
1991	Dec. 14	Ithaca	Dayton	34–20	5,469			Jim Butterfield
1992	Dec. 12	Wisconsin–La Crosse	Washington & Jefferson	16–12	5,392			Roger Harring
1993	Dec. 11	Mount Union	Rowan	34–24	7,304	Salem Football Stadium	Salem, Virginia	Larry Kehres
1994	Dec. 10	Albion	Washington & Jefferson	38–15	7,168			Pete Schmidt
1995	Dec. 9	Wisconsin–La Crosse	Rowan	36–7	4,905			Roger Harring
1996	Dec. 14	Mount Union	Rowan	56–24	5,048			Larry Kehres
1997	Dec. 13	Mount Union	Lycoming	61–12	5,777			Larry Kehres
1998	Dec. 12	Mount Union	Rowan	44–24	5,145			Larry Kehres
1999	Dec. 18	Pacific Lutheran	Rowan	42–13	4,101			Frosty Westering
2000	Dec. 16	Mount Union	Saint John's (MN)	10–7	4,436			Larry Kehres
2001	Dec. 15	Mount Union	Bridgewater	30–27	7,992			Larry Kehres
2002	Dec. 21	Mount Union	Trinity (TX)	48–7	4,398			Larry Kehres
2003	Dec. 20	Saint John's (MN)	Mount Union	24–6	5,073			John Gagliardi
2004	Dec. 18	Linfield	Mary Hardin–Baylor	28–21	3,240			Jay Locey
2005	Dec. 17	Mount Union	Wisconsin–Whitewater	35–28	4,619			Larry Kehres
2006	Dec. 16	Mount Union	Wisconsin–Whitewater	35–16	6,051			Larry Kehres
2007	Dec. 15	Wisconsin–Whitewater	Mount Union	31–21	5,099			Lance Leipold
2008	Dec. 20	Mount Union	Wisconsin–Whitewater	31–26	5,344			Larry Kehres
2009	Dec. 19	Wisconsin–Whitewater	Mount Union	38–28	3,468			Lance Leipold
2010	Dec. 18	Wisconsin–Whitewater	Mount Union	31–21	4,598			Lance Leipold
2011	Dec. 16	Wisconsin–Whitewater	Mount Union	13–10	3,784			Lance Leipold
2012	Dec. 14	Mount Union	St. Thomas (MN)	28–10	6,027			Larry Kehres
2013	Dec. 20	Wisconsin–Whitewater	Mount Union	52–14	5,371			Lance Leipold
2014	Dec. 19	Wisconsin–Whitewater	Mount Union	43–34	5,465			Lance Leipold
2015	Dec. 18	Mount Union	St. Thomas (MN)	49–35	5,343			Vince Kehres
2016	Dec. 16	Mary Hardin–Baylor§	Wisconsin–Oshkosh	10–7	3,476			Pete Fredenburg
2017	Dec. 15	Mount Union	Mary Hardin–Baylor	12–0	4,971			Vince Kehres
2018	Dec. 14	Mary Hardin–Baylor	Mount Union	24–16	6,816	Woodforest Bank Stadium	Shenandoah, Texas	Pete Fredenburg
2019	Dec. 20	North Central (IL)	Wisconsin–Whitewater	41–14	1,362	Woodforest Bank Stadium	Shenandoah, Texas	Jeff Thorne
2020	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.					Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium	Canton, Ohio
2021						Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium	Canton, Ohio

§ - note that on October, 10, 2019 the NCAA vacated the 2016 championship due to violations self-reported by UMHB.^[1] The action is currently under appeal. If the appeal is unsuccessful there will be no champion declared for the 2016 season. For the next few years to come, the NCAA Division III championship game is scheduled to be played in Canton, Ohio.

Most national championships

50-yard line action at the 2010 Stagg Bowl

Team	Titles	Winning Years
Mount Union	13	1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017
Wisconsin–Whitewater	6	2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014
Augustana (IL)	4	1983, 1984, 1985, 1986
Ithaca	3	1979, 1988, 1991
Mary Hardin-Baylor	2§	2016§, 2018
Saint John's (MN)	2	1976, 2003
Wisconsin–La Crosse	2	1992, 1995
Dayton	2	1980, 1989
Widener	2	1977, 1981
Wittenberg	2	1973, 1975
North Central (IL)	1	2019
Linfield	1	2004
Pacific Lutheran	1	1999
Albion	1	1994
Allegheny	1	1990
Wagner	1	1987
West Georgia	1	1982
Baldwin-Wallace	1	1978
Central (IA)	1	1974

§ - note that on October, 10, 2019 the NCAA vacated the 2016 championship due to violations self-reported by UMHB. The action is currently under appeal. If the appeal is unsuccessful there will be no champion declared for the 2016 season.

Championship game appearances

Team	Appearances	Years
Mount Union	21	1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018
Wisconsin–Whitewater	10	2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2019
Ithaca	7	1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1991
Augustana (IL)	5	1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986
Dayton	5	1980, 1981, 1987, 1989, 1991
Rowan	5	1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999
Mary Hardin-Baylor	4	2004, 2016, 2017, 2018
Wittenberg	4	1973, 1975, 1978, 1979
Central (IA)	3	1974, 1984, 1988
Saint John's (MN)	3	1976, 2001, 2003
Lycoming	2	1990, 1997
St. Thomas (MN)	2	2012, 2015
Washington & Jefferson	2	1992, 1994
Widener	2	1977, 1981
Wisconsin–La Crosse	2	1992, 1995
Union (NY)	2	1983, 1989
Albion	1	1994
Allegheny	1	1990
Baldwin-Wallace	1	1978
Bridgewater (VA)	1	2001
Juniata	1	1973
Linfield	1	2004
North Central (IL)	1	2019
Pacific Lutheran	1	1999
Salisbury State	1	1986
Trinity (TX)	1	2002
Towson State	1	1976
Wabash	1	1977
Wagner	1	1987
West Georgia	1	1982
Wisconsin–Oshkosh	1	2016

Stagg Bowl Most Outstanding Player Award

As voted by the media at the game since 2000.

Year	Player	Team	Class	Position
2000	Chuck Moore	Mount Union	Senior	RB
2001	Chuck Moore	Mount Union	5th year Senior	RB
2002	Dan Pugh	Mount Union	Senior	RB
2003	Blake Elliot	Saint John's	Senior	WR
2004	Riley Jenkins	Linfield	Senior	RB
2005	Nate Kmic	Mount Union	Freshman	RB
2006	Greg Micheli	Mount Union	Sophomore	QB
2007	Justin Beaver	UW-Whitewater	Senior	RB
2008	Greg Micheli	Mount Union	Senior	QB
2009	Levell Coppage	UW-Whitewater	Sophomore	RB
2010	Levell Coppage	UW-Whitewater	Junior	RB
2011	Loussaint Minett	UW-Whitewater	Sophomore	DE
2012	Kevin Burke	Mount Union	Sophomore	QB
2013	Matt Behrendt	UW-Whitewater	Junior	QB
2014	Matt Behrendt	UW-Whitewater	Senior	QB
2015	Taurice Scott	Mount Union	Senior	QB
2016	Blake Jackson	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Senior	QB
2017	Nick Brish	Mount Union	Sophomore	DB
2018	T.J. Josey	Mary Hardin–Baylor	Senior	WR
2019	Ethan Greenfield	North Central	Sophomore	RB

References

Notes

^ "UMHB to appeal vacating 2016 title". DFootball.com. D3football.com. Retrieved 10 October 2019.

Sources

NCAA Division III National Football Championship history from NCAA.org
NCAA Division III Football Championships Records Book from NCAA.org
Division III football playoff history from d3football.com

External links

D3football.com

[1] "UMHB to appeal vacating 2016 title". DFootball.com. D3football.com. Retrieved 10 October 2019.

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