Brad Nessler (play-by-play) and Gary Danielson (analyst)
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
< 1995
1997 >
The 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Montana Grizzlies. The game was played on December 21, 1996, and was the last I-AA title game contested at Marshall University Stadium, now known as Joan C. Edwards Stadium, in Huntington, West Virginia. The culminating game of the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was a rematch of the prior season's final, and was won by Marshall, 49–29.[4] It was also Marshall's final game in Division I-AA, now known as Division I FCS; the Herd would move to Division I-A (now Division I FBS) the following July, joining the Mid-American Conference.
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1996 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.[5] The location of the title game, Marshall University Stadium, was determined before the playoffs started.[6]
Montana Grizzlies[]
Main article: 1996 Montana Grizzlies football team
Montana finished their regular season with a 14–0 record (8–0 in conference).[7] Seeded first in the playoffs, the Grizzlies defeated 16-seed Nicholls State, sixth-seed East Tennessee State, and fourth-seed Troy State to reach the final. This was the second appearance for Montana in a Division I-AA championship game, as the team was the defending champion from 1995.
Marshall also finished their regular season with a 14–0 record (8–0 in conference).[8] The Thundering Herd, seeded second, defeated 15-seed Delaware, tenth-seed Furman, and third-seed Northern Iowa to reach the final. This was the sixth appearance for Marshall in a Division I-AA championship game, having one prior win (1992) and four prior losses (1987, 1991, 1993, and 1995).
"Division I-AA poll". Billings Gazette. Billings, Montana: The Sports Network. AP. November 26, 1996. p. 2D. Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via newspapers.com.