• FCS Semifinals: Five-Time Defending National Champion North Dakota State in Prime Time on Friday Night; Eastern Washington Hosts Bo Pelini and Youngstown State on “The Inferno”

• Women’s Volleyball: No. 1 Seed Nebraska Goes for Second Consecutive Championship, Stanford Goes for a Record-Tying Seventh

ESPN televises the Football Championship Subdivision Semifinals, the Division II and Division III Football Championship games and the Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship Semifinals and Finals this week (Dec. 15-17) as the fall season nears conclusion. ESPN’s telecast of the FCS Championship game on Saturday, January 7, (noon ET on ESPN2) from Frisco, Texas, concludes the fall championship coverage, which included the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s College Cup earlier this month.

FCS Semifinals and Division II and Division III Football
Five-time defending national champion North Dakota State Bison advanced to the the FCS Semifinals for the seventh consecutive year and hosts James Madison on Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.  Anish Shroff, Ahmad Brooks, and Cole Cubelic will be in Fargo, N.D., to call the game from the Fargodome. The Bison were the No. 1 seed heading into the tournament while the Dukes were the No. 4 seed.

Second-seeded Eastern Washington welcomes in Youngstown State in the other FCS Semifinal on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.  The game will be played on the Eagles’ famous red-turfed field — “The Inferno”. Former Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini is the head coach of Youngstown State, who were unranked coming into the Championship.  Mike Couzens and Rene Ingoglia will be in Cheney, Wash., for the contest from Roos Field.

Mary Hardin-Baylor plays Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the Division III Football Championship game on Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.  Kevin Brown, Craig Haubert and Alex Corddry will be in Salem Stadium in Salem, Va. for the matchup. No. 1 Northwest Missouri State University takes on No. 3 North Alabama in the Division II Football Championship game on Saturday, at 4 p.m.  on ESPN2. Dave Neal, Tom Luginbill, Olivia Harlan will have the call from Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship
The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship Semifinals will be played on Thursday as No. 6 Stanford takes on No. 2 Minnesota (7 p.m.) and No. 4 Texas plays No. 1 Nebraska (9:30 p.m.) from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on ESPN. The winners of the semifinals will advance to play in the national championship title game Saturday, Dec. 17, at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.

The Cornhuskers are looking to win back-to-back national championships for their first time ever and their fifth championship overall. Stanford is going for its seventh championship, which would tie Penn State for the most by any school. The Longhorns have won two national championships and Minnesota is seeking its first ever. Play by play commentator Paul Sunderland, analyst Karch Kiraly and reporter Holly Rowe will call all three matches.

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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner