UW-River Falls to play for national football championship Sunday

CANTON, Ohio (WSCM) – The UW-River Falls Falcons football team is set to play for a national football championship Sunday night.

The NCAA Division III Football Championship, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, will pair UWRF with defending champion North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) in Canton, Ohio at 7 p.m. on Sunday.

It’s the first-ever appearance in the national championship in football for River Falls and the first time any D-3 school has played for both a women’s hockey and football championship in the same year.

The Falcons are 13-1 this year and won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 6-1 record, the lone loss coming to UW-Oshkosh.

North Central is 14-0 this year and went 9-0 in conference play. The Cardinals haven’t lost outside of a national championship game since 2019, winning the national championship in 2019, 2022, and 2024 with runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2023.

UWRF advanced to the national championship following an epic 48-41 win over Johns Hopkins in the semifinal game on Dec. 20.

📰 GAME PREVIEW@UWRFFootball Prepares for Nation’s Biggest Stage at Stagg Bowl vs. Defending Champion North Central » https://t.co/mhcrtyZWqF#FFT #d3fb pic.twitter.com/AHGisdY2L0

— UW-River Falls Athletics (@UWRFFalcons) December 31, 2025

The game will be broadcast on the free Civic Media app by searching for “WSCM.” You can also listen on 95.7 St. Croix Country WSCM or WLAK in Amery, or listen online at wscm.fm. For video, the game will air on ESPN.

Read a full preview of the game on the UW-River Falls athletics website.