The Victory Bowl was the annual championship game for football-playing members of the National Christian College Athletic Association. It was contested every season from 1997 through 2022 except for cancellations in 2016 and 2020, in the latter case because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NCCAA membership is not exclusive, and many of its institutions belong either to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA); thus, its top football-playing schools were candidates to participate in the Victory Bowl only if they did not qualify for the NCAA or NAIA playoffs. It was possible for schools from the NCAA and NAIA to meet each other in the game. Such matchups happened ten times.
The 48 participants in the game included 30 members of the NAIA, one member of NCAA Division I-AA (today's FCS), 6 members of Division II, and 11 members of Division III.
The first four Victory Bowls (1997 through 2000) were held at a neutral site, Canton, Ohio. The other games were held at the home field of one of the participating teams, except for the 2013 contest, for which Rome, Georgia, served as a neutral site.
Over the years, the expansion of the postseason brackets of Division II, Division III, and the NAIA reduced the number of eligible teams available to compete in the Victory Bowl. In 2016, the bowl title was awarded by default, when just one available team submitted its qualifications for the game. The last Victory Bowl was in 2022; attempts to schedule the game in 2023 and 2024 were unsuccessful due to a lack of available qualified teams. As of 2025, the NCCAA no longer sponsors football.
In addition to the game, other Victory Bowl activities typically included community service projects that involved players and coaches from both teams.
History Date Winning team Losing team StadiumNovember 29, 1997 (NAIA) 56 (NAIA) 42 Fawcett StadiumNovember 28, 1998 (NAIA) 27 (NAIA) 6 Fawcett StadiumNovember 27, 1999 (NAIA) 31 (NAIA) 26 Fawcett StadiumNovember 18, 2000 (NAIA) 35 (NCAA DIII) 27 Fawcett StadiumNovember 17, 2001 (NCAA D I-AA) 54 (NAIA) 14 Ernest W. Spangler StadiumNovember 22, 2002 (NAIA) 19 (NAIA) 9 Hubert H. Humphrey MetrodomeNovember 21, 2003 (NAIA) 37 (NCAA DII) 14 Reeves FieldNovember 20, 2004 (NAIA) 24 (NAIA) 14 Reynolds FieldNovember 19, 2005 (NAIA) 29 (NAIA) 13 Ward FieldNovember 18, 2006 (NCAA DII) 56 (NAIA) 28 Younts StadiumNovember 17, 2007 Malone (NAIA) 45 (NCAA DIII) 17 Reeves FieldNovember 21, 2008 (NCAA DIII) 49 Malone (NAIA) 44 Hubert H. Humphrey MetrodomeNovember 21, 2009 Geneva (NCAA DIII) 29 (NCAA DIII) 28 Francis FieldNovember 20, 2010 North Greenville (NCAA DII) 42 (NAIA) 16 Younts StadiumNovember 19, 2011 (NAIA) 21 (NCAA DIII) 7 Finley StadiumNovember 17, 2012 (NCAA DIII)28 (NCAA DIII)27Francis FieldNovember 23, 2013 (NCAA DII) 67 (NCAA DIII) 0 Barron StadiumNovember 22, 2014 North Greenville (NCAA DII) 42 (NCAA DII) 16 Barron StadiumNovember 21, 2015 (NAIA) 10 (NCAA DIII) 7Lumpkins StadiumDecember 3, 2016 (NAIA)- No opponent--November 18, 2017 (NAIA) 41 (NAIA)28Finley StadiumNovember 30, 2018 (NAIA)38 (NAIA) 35Spirit FieldNovember 23, 2019 (NAIA) 69 (NCAA DIII) 8 Francis Field2020Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemicNoneNovember 20, 2021 (NAIA) 31 (NAIA) 14 Lumpkins StadiumNovember 18, 2022 (NAIA) 21 (NAIA) 16 Lumpkins Stadium2023Canceled due to lack of qualifying teamsNone2024
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References
External links Victory Bowl at the NCCAA website