NCAA Division II Football Championship

NCAA Division II Football Championship
Logo used for the 2005 NCAA Division II National Championship Game
In operation	1973–present
Preceded by	Small college polls
Number of playoff teams	28
Championship trophy	NCAA Division II National Championship Trophy
Television partner(s)	ESPN 2
Most playoff appearances	North Alabama Northwest Missouri State (19)
Most playoff championships	Northwest Missouri State (6)
Current champion	Northwest Missouri State (6)

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 tournament with eight teams. The tournament field has subsequently been expanded three times; in 1988 it became 16 teams, in 2004 it became 24 teams, and in 2016 it became 28 teams.

The National Championship game has been held in seven different cities; Sacramento, California (1973–1975), Wichita Falls, Texas (1976–1977), Longview, Texas (1978), Albuquerque, New Mexico (1979–1980), McAllen, Texas (1981–1985), Florence, Alabama (1986–2013), and Kansas City, Kansas (2014–2016). The 2017 game will also be played in Kansas City. Since 1994, the games have been broadcast on ESPN.

Prior to 1973, for what was then called the "NCAA College Division," champions were selected by polls conducted at the end of each regular season by two major wire services; in some years the two polls named different number one teams.

Polls were conducted by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) at the end of each regular season. The AP would poll a panel of writers, while UPI would poll a panel of coaches.

National champions by polling

While the NCAA started Division II playoffs in 1973, AP and UPI still conducted their polls these years.

† Mississippi College's 1989 tournament participation, along with its championship, were vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

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 (FCS), in 1978. The following Division II title game participants later moved to Division I: