The 2016 NCAA Division II football season, part of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

in the United States organized by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) at the Division II level, began on September 1, 2016 and ended with the

NCAA Division II Football Championship 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 tourna ...

on December 17, 2016 at

Children's Mercy Park Children's Mercy Park is a soccer-specific stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, and is the home of Sporting Kansas City. The stadium is located near Kansas Speedway, on the far west side of Wyandotte County, Kansas. It opened during t ...

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

. Northwest Missouri State successfully defended their national title from the previous season, winning their sixth overall championship, by defeating

North Alabama North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Associ ...

Conference changes and new programs

Membership changes

Mississippi College Mississippi College (MC) is a private Baptist university in Clinton, Mississippi. Founded in 1826, MC is the second-oldest Baptist-affiliated college or university in the United States and the oldest college or university in Mississippi. Histor ...

completed their transition to Division II and became eligible for the postseason.

Conference standings

Super Region 1

Super Region 2

Super Region 3

Super Region 4

Postseason

The 2016

Postseason involved 28 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The tournament began on November 19, 2016 and concluded on December 17, 2016 with the 2016 NCAA Division II National Football Championship game at

Format

The top seven teams per super regional made up the field of 28 teams. Twelve first-round games were conducted on the campus of one of highest seed of that matchup. In addition, one team per super regional earned first-round byes. Second-round winners met in the quarterfinals at the campus site of the highest seed. Quarterfinal winners advanced to play in the semifinals on the campus of the highest seed. The championship took place at Children's Mercy Park.

Qualifiers

The following teams were qualifiers for the 2016 NCAA Division II Football Tournament.

Super Regional One

Super Regional Two

Super Regional Three

Super Regional Four

† ''Overtime''

Final Four

Teams that make it to the Final Four are re-seeded for the semifinal matches. The semifinal matchups are hosted by the team with the highest seed.

Bowl games

Attendances

2016 NCAA Division II football teams with an average home attendance of at least 10,000:

References

{{NCAA football season navbox