Nov. 20, 2010

Contact: Chad Waller, NAIA Director of Sports Information & Media Services, cwaller@naia.org

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The 2010 Football Championship Series First Round wrapped up today with eight games played. Five of the eight hosts were victorious, while Marian (Ind.) upset Ottawa (Kan.) for its first victory in postseason history. The official quarterfinals pairings are listed below.

Since 2000, the home teams in the First Round improve to 66-22 overall. Last year, all eight hosts won for the first time since 1997.

No. 1-ranked Sioux Falls won for the 40^th-straight time with a 33-14 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State. The two-time defending national champions improved to 34-11 all-time in the Football Championship Series. The Cougars will now host McKendree (Ill.) on Nov. 27 and look to extend college football’s longest winning streak (among any division in NAIA and NCAA).

The three road teams to win were Marian over Ottawa, 35-20, McKendree (Ill.) out-lasting McPherson (Kan.), 38-14 and Saint Francis (Ind.) defeating Lindenwood (Mo.), 46-38. Marian is playing in its first ever postseason and outscored the Braves 21-0 in the second half. With the victory over McPherson, McKendree snapped a four-game losing skid in the First Round. Saint Francis won its eighth consecutive First Round contest in taking down the national runners-up Lindenwood.

Carroll (Mont.), one of the five hosts to win, held off Azusa Pacific (Calif.), 35-21. The Fighting Saints made it 11-straight wins in the First Round. Conversely, Azusa Pacific failed to win in its first postseason trip since 2005.

Morningside (Iowa) defended its home soil with a 38-17 win over Dickinson State (N.D.). The win was their sixth-straight in the First Round. In other action, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) defeated Georgetown (Ky.), 27-24 and Saint Xavier (Ill.) was victorious, 66-19 over Cumberlands (Ky.).

The 55th Annual Russell Athletic-NAIA Football National Championship is scheduled for Dec. 18 in 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 Television with kickoff slated for 4:30 p.m. EST. For ticket information, call 1-800-858-7601.

For complete Championship history and records, click here.

For more information on the 2010 National Championship, click here.

Championship Series Quick Facts:

• Defending national champion Sioux Falls is playing for its fifth National Championship and third consecutive. Only one team has won at least three straight titles, with Carroll (Mont.) winning four in-a-row from 2002-05. Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville) holds the most NAIA Championships with seven overall.

• Carroll (11) holds the longest active streak of postseason appearances, followed by Sioux Falls (10) and Morningside (Iowa) (7).

• Sioux Falls boasts the most wins all-time in the Football Championship Series with a 34-11 record. The next team with the most wins is Carroll with a 33-13 mark.

• Six teams made their 10th-plus trip to the Football Championship Series.

• In four of the eight First Round matchups, two teams met each other for the first time in postseason action.

• Azusa Pacific (Calif.), Georgetown (Ky.), Marian, Northwestern Oklahoma State and Saint Francis (Ind.) all are new compared to the 2009 field.

• Five programs all own at least 10 wins in the Football Championship Series, led by the 34 victories from Sioux Falls.

 • Marian (Ind.) is making its first trip to the Football Championship Series.

• Not including newcomer Marian (Ind.), Azusa Pacific is a team that is breaking the longest playoff drought. The Cougars last played in the 2005 postseason when they hosted Montana Tech, only to lose 24-17.

• Since 2005, four of the past five national champions led the NAIA in total defense. Currently, six qualifiers are ranked in the top-10 statistically in that defensive category, led by Sioux Falls (209.0 yapg).

• The Mid-States Football Association Mideast League (MSFA – Mideast) boasts the most teams in the 16-team field:  Marian, Saint Francis and Saint Xavier (Ill.). The Great Plains Athletic Conference, Heart of America Athletic Association and Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference each land a pair of teams. Overall, 11 conferences / independents sport at least one team.

• Sioux Falls is riding a nation-high 40 game winning streak heading into the postseason. Last year, the Cougars were on a 25-game winning streak heading into the playoffs. In 2008, Carroll was on a 26-game winning streak heading into the postseason.

• After securing the Frontier Conference Championship, Carroll now has won 11 straight (outright and shared) conference titles. The Fighting Saints own the nation’s longest active streak of conference championships.

• Five teams entered the Football Championship Series with an undefeated record: Carroll, McPherson, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), St. Xavier (Ill.) and Sioux Falls. In each of the last three seasons, there have now been at least five schools to finish the regular season with an unblemished record. Sioux Falls has gone undefeated in each of the last five seasons, the longest active stretch.

 2010 NAIA Football Championship Series

• Quarterfinal Pairings | Saturday, Nov. 27 | All times local and subject to change

Game 1:

• McKendree (Ill.) (9-2) @ Sioux Falls (S.D.) (11-0), Noon

Game 2

• Marian (Ind.) (10-2) @ Carroll (Mont.) (11-0), Noon

Game 3:

• Saint Francis (Ind.) (10-1) @ Saint Xavier (Ill.) (12-0), 1 p.m.

Game 4:

• Morningside (Iowa) (10-1) @ MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (11-0), 1 p.m.