Remembering the 2012 Division I Championship Tourney

[Wallace]

home team in caps

WAGNER beat Colgate by 11
Coastal Carolina beat BETHUNE-COOKMAN by 10
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE beat Eastern Illinois by 48
STONY BROOK beat Villanova by 10

Illinois State beat APPALACHIAN STATE by 1 in overtime
GEORGIA SOUTHERN beat Central Arkansas by 8
OLD DOMINION beat Coastal Carolina by 28
WOFFORD beat New Hampshire by 16
NORTH DAKOTA STATE beat South Dakota State by 25
SAM HOUSTON STATE beat Cal Poly by 2
EASTERN WASHINGTON beat Wagner by 10
MONTANA STATE beat Stony Brook by 6

Sam Houston State beat #2 Seed MONTANA STATE by 18
#2 Seed EASTERN WASHINGTON beat Illinois State by 16
#5 Seed Georgia Southern beat #4 Seed OLD DOMINION by 14
#1 Seed NORTH DAKOTA STATE beat Wofford by 7

#1 Seed NORTH DAKOTA STATE beat #5 Seed Georgia Southern by 3
Sam Houston State beat #2 Seed EASTERN WASHINGTON by 3

#1 Seed North Dakota State beat Sam Houston State by 26

The top level of NCAA championship football had a great tourney!

[Bisonator]

The top level of NCAA championship football had a great tourney!

xnodx

[IBleedYellow]

What I see there: Being the HOME team helps a lot.

[dewey]

What I see there: Being the HOME team helps a lot.

Unless you are playing Sam Houston State:)

Dewey

[813Jag]

What I see there: Being the HOME team helps a lot.
yep, home teams were 13-5

[cmaxwellgsu]

yep, home teams were 13-5

I will say that playing in Fargo is not what did us in. We made some crucial mistakes (including not finding a kicker last year), and NDSU made us pay for them. Kudos to the Bison for earning it!

[BEAR]

Georgia Southern was tougher than I remember! NDSU won by 3. UCA dropped TDs in the endzone to bring it within 1. Nice playoffs last year! Can't wait for this year!

[Bisonator]

I will say that playing in Fargo is not what did us in. We made some crucial mistakes (including not finding a kicker last year), and NDSU made us pay for them. Kudos to the Bison for earning it!

That was a gut wrencher for sure. Huge momentum swings both ways. Mistakes by both teams but key plays made at crucial times too. Just a fun college football game!

[melloware13]

That GSU-NDSU game was a fun game to watch. Although who will take over GSU's streak of losing in the semi's, I do not know.

[Sam_Kats]

That GSU-NDSU game was a fun game to watch. Although who will take over GSU's streak of losing in the semi's, I do not know.

Montana State. Wait - those are the quarterfinals. xnodx

[Bison Fan in NW MN]

Montana State. Wait - those are the quarterfinals. xnodx


xlolx

Gotta give some + rep for that.....xlolx

[URMite]

I don't remember the Big Sky getting 2x #2 seeds? Wasn't somebody #3?

[Twentysix]

These things seem more exciting when your team wins it.

[AmsterBison]

What I see there: Being the HOME team helps a lot.

Well, with games involving seeded teams, wouldn't you expect that the better team would be playing at home?

The only seeded teams to lose to a non-seeded team were Big Sky teams vs Sam Houston State - and SHSU was only unseeded because they screwed themselves with their schedule.

[Go...gate]

I hope Colgate has learned its lesson. Word is that we did not bid on a home game in the first round.

Wagner was clearly the better team and deserved the win, but walking away friom a home playoff game makes no sense.

[heath]

I hope Colgate has learned its lesson. Word is that we did not bid on a home game in the first round.

Wagner was clearly the better team and deserved the win, but walking away friom a home playoff game makes no sense.

The committee was afraid nobody would find the stadium.What a sad and gloomy place to be....................can't see how Colgate recruits players into the middle of nowhere. Love the gravel underneath the home bleachers. reminds me of driving in WVxlolx

[GoCats23]

I don't remember the Big Sky getting 2x #2 seeds? Wasn't somebody #3?

We were the three seed.

[Hammerhead]

The semifinal round had the most competitive games with two 3-point wins.

1st round avg. margin of victory: 19.75
2nd round avg. margin of victory: 13.57
3nd round avg. margin of victory: 13.75

[Go...gate]

The committee was afraid nobody would find the stadium.What a sad and gloomy place to be....................can't see how Colgate recruits players into the middle of nowhere. Love the gravel underneath the home bleachers. reminds me of driving in WVxlolx

You should have seen that side back in the day, when it was wooden bleachers with lots of splinters.

Not so sad and gloomy, though. Come see a game on a nice fall day and you will understand.

[Mr. C]

I don't remember the Big Sky getting 2x #2 seeds? Wasn't somebody #3?

Someone made a mistake posting that. Obviously, Eastern Washington was the No. 2 seed and Montana State was the No. 3 seed. (as is shown on the official NCAA brackets). EWU BEAT Montana State in the regular season and the two teams tied for the Big Sky championship, along with Cal Poly. EWU also won the auto-bid from the Big Sky Conference.

[andy7171]

Not to be bitter or anything, but my school really took it iin the pants by the selection committee.

[cmaxwellgsu]

That was a gut wrencher for sure. Huge momentum swings both ways. Mistakes by both teams but key plays made at crucial times too. Just a fun college football game!

It sure was a gut wrencher. For those criticizing Brock Jensen's skills, that game is a pretty good dismissal of them all. While the guy is not a stat machine like a lot of college QB's, he put the Bison on his back for the game winning drive.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

It sure was a gut wrencher. For those criticizing Brock Jensen's skills, that game is a pretty good dismissal of them all. While the guy is not a stat machine like a lot of college QB's, he put the Bison on his back for the game winning drive.

not gonna lie. I watch it back every once and while to see Jeff Monken lose his ****ing mind when he has to take the 2nd timeout at the end. If he had a dog, he may have kicked it at that moment.

[Wallace]

I don't remember the Big Sky getting 2x #2 seeds? Wasn't somebody #3?
My typo! Montana State was #3. I should have just copied it from College Sporting News (http://www.collegesportingnews.com/content.php?865-2012-NCAA-Division-I-Football-Championship-Field-Announced)

FIRST ROUND GAMES, NOVEMBER 24

South Dakota State 58, Eastern Illinois 10 | Recap | Stats
Coastal Carolina 24, *Bethune-Cookman 14 | Recap | Stats
*Stony Brook 20, Villanova 10 | Recap | Stats
*Wagner 31, Colgate 20 | Recap | Stats

SECOND ROUND GAMES, DECEMBER 1

#1 North Dakota State 28, South Dakota State 3 | Recap | Stats
Wofford 23, New Hampshire 7 | Recap | Stats
#5 Georgia Southern 24, Central Arkansas 16 | Recap | Stats
#4 Old Dominion 63, Coastal Carolina 35 | Recap | Stats
#3 Montana State 16, Stony Brook 10 | Recap | Stats
Sam Houston State 18, Cal Poly 16 | Recap | Stats
Illinois State 38, Appalachian State 37 (OT) | Recap | Stats
#2 Eastern Washington 29, Wagner 19 | Recap | Stats

QUARTERFINAL ROUND GAME, DECEMBER 7

Sam Houston State 34, #3 Montana State 16 | Recap | Stats

QUARTERFINAL ROUND GAMES, DECEMBER 8

#1 North Dakota State 14, Wofford 7 | Recap | Stats
#5 Georgia Southern 49, #4 Old Dominion 35 | Recap | Stats
#2 Eastern Washington 51, Illinois State 35 | Recap | Stats

SEMIFINAL ROUND GAME, DECEMBER 14

#1 North Dakota State 23, #5 Georgia Southern 20 | Recap | Stats

SEMIFINAL ROUND GAME, DECEMBER 15

Sam Houston State 45, #2 Eastern Washington 42 | Recap | Stats

NCAA DIVISION I FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, JANUARY 5, 2013

#1 North Dakota State 31, Sam Houston State 13 | Recap | Stats

[blueballs]

It sure was a gut wrencher. For those criticizing Brock Jensen's skills, that game is a pretty good dismissal of them all. While the guy is not a stat machine like a lot of college QB's, he put the Bison on his back for the game winning drive.

Despite the fact my team lost, that was a great game and a great showcase for the division and playoff football.

Man am I going to miss the playoffs!!!!!!

[Twentysix]

Despite the fact my team lost, that was a great game and a great showcase for the division and playoff football.

Man am I going to miss the playoffs!!!!!!

Don't worry, you will rejoin us shortly and their shall be playoffs.

[eaglewraith]

not gonna lie. I watch it back every once and while to see Jeff Monken lose his ****ing mind when he has to take the 2nd timeout at the end. If he had a dog, he may have kicked it at that moment.

I was at that point just watching the game in how we bungled that personnel package getting onto the field.

[Mr. C]

Not to be bitter or anything, but my school really took it iin the pants by the selection committee.

Unfortunately, there is some incriminating evidence that leads one to believe that some of the brackets were already in place BEFORE UNH and Towson played their final game.

[frozennorth]

Despite the fact my team lost, that was a great game and a great showcase for the division and playoff football.

Man am I going to miss the playoffs!!!!!!

I think it was appropriate that GSU and NDSU got the opportunity to play the last two years. It would have been a huge loss if the two sub-FBS super-heavyweights (no disrespect to um, asu, ysu and others) had never matched up with everything on the line and both programs in prime form.

[eaglewraith]

I think it was appropriate that GSU and NDSU got the opportunity to play the last two years. It would have been a huge loss if the two sub-FBS super-heavyweights (no disrespect to um, asu, ysu and others) had never matched up with everything on the line and both programs in prime form.

I honestly think you only got our best shot once, and that was last year. We weren't quite back to our full potential in 2011, as we had a QB that didn't threaten the defense the same way as QB's in our past had. You guys were definitely strong that year though. That game last year really should have been played in Frisco. We shouldn't have been forced to matchup before then. Would have made an epic game even more epic.

[andy7171]

Unfortunately, there is some incriminating evidence that leads one to believe that some of the brackets were already in place BEFORE UNH and Towson played their final game.

Well isn't that a great picker-upper! And certainly explains the first round bye they got a day after getting kicked all over the field.