For the first time ever, an NCAA national championship football title will be awarded in the spring - and a Texas team could win it.
Sam Houston (9-0) takes on South Dakota State (8-1) in the FCS National Championship at Toyota Stadium in Frisco on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Many teams from the Southland Conference, of which Sam Houston is exiting this summer, decided to play in the fall instead of the spring. But bypassing a spring season meant they wouldn't compete for a national championship. That wasn't an option for the Bearkats.
"It all came back to when was the championship," says K.C. Keeler, in his seventh season as the head coach at Sam Houston. "We've won 99 games in 10 years, second most in FCS football...but the only thing off our resume is not having a national championship."
While national championshp games are new to the school, the legendary Keeler has been involved in 11 title games: two as a player, and nine as a coach.
"Teams that prepare to just play in a championship game have this great energy, but they're all over the place," says Keeler. "Teams that prepare to win the championship game have the great energy, but they're locked in."
Keeler says the school from Huntsville, Texas (around three hours south of Frisco) has sold its alotment of tickets. Toyota Stadium will be filled to around 50% capacity for game, which will air on ABC.