1986 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game
The 1986 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Arkansas State Indians (now the Arkansas State Red Wolves) and the Georgia Southern Eagles. The game was played on December 19, 1986, at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. The culminating game of the 1986 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Georgia Southern, 48–21. Georgia Southern, the defending champion from 1985, became the first program to win consecutive Division I-AA titles.
| 1986 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| I-AA National Championship Game Diamond Bowl II | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 19, 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Tacoma Dome | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Tacoma, Washington | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Gary Peters | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 4,419 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Tim Brando and Kevin Kiley | ||||||||||||||||||||
Contemporary news reports also referred to this game as Diamond Bowl II, as the NCAA had introduced Diamond Bowl branding for the Division I-AA championship game in 1985. The on-field logo at midfield included "1986 Diamond Bowl" wording. NCAA records list the game date as Saturday, December 20, 1986; however, contemporary news reports are clear that the game was played on the evening of Friday, December 19, 1986.