Nov. 20, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The 2008 NAIA Football Championship Series (FCS) will begin with eight first-round games scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 22. Defending national champion Carroll (Mont.) College opens up by hosting Dickinson State (N.D.) University at Nelson Stadium for a 12:07 local time kick-off. The Fighting Saints have won five of the last six National Championships and are 14-1 in their last 15 Football Championship Series home games. Overall, this is the 17^th overall appearance for Carroll and ninth straight.

Two teams are making their first ever appearance in the Football Championship Series -- Shorter (Ga.) College and Union (Ky.) College. Shorter travels to University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) while Union visits the University of Saint Francis (Ind.).

St. Francis leads the active group in consecutive FCS appearances with 10. Carroll holds the most current wins in the FCS with a 28-11 record following by Sioux Falls (S.D.) with a 25-11 mark. A few streaks to keep in mind is the 50-game overall home winning streak for St. Francis and the 32-game overall home winning streak for Sioux Falls. Also, Carroll has not lost (a span of 26 games) since the 2006 FCS Quarterfinals.

Winners of the First Round will advance to play in the Quarterfinals, scheduled for No. 29 at campus sites. The Quarterfinal winners will then meet on Dec. 6. The 53^rd Annual Russell Athletic-NAIA Football National Championship is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 20 at Rome, Ga. Rome-Floyd County and Shorter (Ga.) College will host the event at Barron Stadium. The event will be televised live on CBS College Sports Network with kick-off slated for 12 p.m. EST. For ticket information, call (706) 233-7288 or click here to download the order form.

For complete Championship history and records, click here.

For more information on the 2008 Football Championship Series First Round, click here.

For more information on the 2008 National Championship, click here.

• First Round Pairings | Saturday, Nov. 22 | CLICK HERE

Fun Facts:

• Of the current teams in the Football Championship Series (FCS), only two teams have faced each other before in the playoffs – Dickinson State (N.D.) and Carroll (Mont.). The Fighting Saints hold a 5-1 advantage over DSU with the lone loss coming in the 1989 FCS First Round.

• Since 2000, the home teams in the FCS First Round are 47-17 overall. Last year, six of the eight hosts were victorious as Morningside (Iowa) and Missouri Valley both won on the road. There has not been one year since 2000 when all eight hosts won in the First Round.

• Three programs in this FCS hold at least one National Championship ring – Carroll (Mont.) has five followed by Sioux Falls (S.D.) with two and Northwestern Oklahoma State with 1.

• Five teams will enter the FCS with an undefeated record (Carroll, Sioux Falls, St. Francis, MidAmerica Nazarene and Friends). The amount is the most since six NAIA teams were undefeated during the regular season in 1995.

• Shorter (Ga.) is making its first FCS appearance in just its fourth season of NAIA football.

• When Dickinson State and Carroll face off, two of the NAIA’s most notable coaches will be on the sideline. DSU’s Hank Biesiot enters as the winningest active coach in NAIA history with a 235-88 record, while Carroll’s Mike Van Diest is the winningest coach by percentage. He’s won 86.5 percent of his games with a 115-18 record.

• Carroll (Mont.) is seeking its sixth overall National Championship and sixth in the last seven years. Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville) holds the most NAIA Championships with seven.

• Baker is appearing for the first time since 1993, the longest drought of any current FCS team (excluding Shorter and Union). Langston (Okla.) is right behind with a 14-year absence.

• Shorter (Ga.) and Union (Ky.) are making their first ever Championship Series appearance.

• St. Francis (Ind.) holds the longest active streak of consecutive Championship Series appearances with 10; Carroll (9) and Sioux Falls (8) are right behind USF.

• Carroll (Mont.) is riding a 26-game winning streak heading into the playoffs.

• St. Francis (Ind.) has won 50 straight home games including playoffs while Sioux Falls (S.D.) has won 32 straight games on home turf.