Page 149 - (FINAL!) UPDATED 13.0) 2020-2021 HANDBOOK - SEPTEMBER 2020 EDITION_Neat

15. FOOTBALL
Section 1. Important Dates for 2020-21 (TBD due to COVID-19)
August 14 NJCAA Bowl Host form due
August 20 First game date
August 31 Weekly poll release begins
November 15 All regular season games must be completed by the Sunday following the second Saturday in November
November 16 Final regular season poll released
November 17 12:00 pm ET. - date for selection of teams for postseason
November 27 All American Nominations due to NJCAA
December 5-6 Postseason Bowl Games
December 14 Following completion of all Bowl Games - Championship Poll will be released
December 15 All-American selections released
June 3 National Championship
Section 2. Official Game Ball
A. Team Issue is the official football of the NJCAA and will be used exclusively at all sanctioned bowl games.
B. It is recommended that all NJCAA colleges playing football adopt the Team Issue Football as their official football.
Section 3. National Championship Game
A. Contact the NJCAA National Office for the policies and procedures involved in conducting such a game.
B. All inquiries should be sent to the attention of the Executive Director of the NJCAA.
C. The NJCAA Football Championship Game will be held on Thursday, June 3 at TBD; TBD
D. The No. 1 ranked team and the No. 2 ranked team in the final poll of the regular season will advance to the NJCAA Football
Championship Game. Should the No. 1 or No. 2 ranked team decline to participate, the next highest ranked team(s) will be invited to
participate.
Section 4. Postseason Bowl Games
A. All Bowl Game Hosts must fill out the NJCAA Bowl Host form and send a Certificate of Insurance that would meet the NJCAA

insurance policy requirements prior to August 15of each year. Requirements for the Certificate of Insurance are as follows:
1. Name of Bowl Host shall be responsible for procuring and maintaining comprehensive general public liability insurance
covering the NJCAA and the Name of Bowl or Host, against claims for bodily injury and property damage with a minimum of
$1,000,000.00 LSL. The policy shall name the NJCAA as an additional insured. Host further agrees to indemnify and hold
harmless the NJCAA from and against all claims of liability to third parties for injury to or death of persons or loss or damage to
property arising out of or in connection with the performance of this contract and Bowl Game.
2. All Bowl Game Hosts must identify and submit direct contact information for its organized bowl committee and head event

director to the NJCAA prior to August 15 of each year.
B. The earliest date for the selection of teams for postseason games and classics shall be 12:00 PM ET, November 17, 2020. Bowl
games scheduled prior to Thanksgiving shall select teams for participation no earlier than October 31, 2020 at 12:00 PM ET.
Inquiries and contacts may be made to interested colleges by bowl game representatives prior to October 31 or November 17;
however, any attempt to negotiate and or finalize agreements prior to these dates shall not be allowed. Violations of this rule
will result in a sanction of the offending bowl game for the following year. TBD due to COVID-19
C. All dates for postseason bowl games must be finalized no later than August 1 of the year in which the game is to be played.

Any request for date changes after June 1shall be directed to the NJCAA National Office with appropriate rationale.

D. Selection procedures and criteria for determining bowl game participants, financial arrangements and all special requirements for

participating colleges must be on file with the NJCAA National Office by August 1of each year.
E. It is recommended that Bowl Committees make an effort to select At-Large Teams from among the top 20 teams listed in the final
regular season poll.
F. A team may play in only one postseason bowl game.
G. A Sanction Fee of $250 is assessed the host of any postseason football game and for any All-Star Football Game not sponsored by
the NJCAA. Fees are payable to the NJCAA National Office no later than 20 days prior to the date of the contest.
Section 5. Football Poll
A. In order to be ranked in the weekly ratings, the college must have filed a Certification of Eligibility of its squad members with the
Office of Eligibility and the Regional Director.
B. The football voting panel will consist of 16 total human voters – seven identified committee members, two at-large representatives
from two different conferences each year, and one identified representative from each of the seven conferences along with a
representative from the independent schools. The four-year at-large voter rotation is: 2020: TBD; 2021: TBD; 2022: TBD. Each
conference will identify to the NJCAA National Office, prior to the start of the football season, the individual responsible in their
respective conference that will serve on the voting panel.
C. Rating is accomplished as follows: Each member of the voting panel casts one ballot for the top 20 teams in the country each poll
week. Points are awarded for the 20 picks on the basis of 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. The
tabulation of these ballots constitutes the ‘Top 20’ in the weekly NJCAA Football Poll. This portion of the NJCAA Football Poll will
make up 75.0% of the rankings. Each week the highest and lowest vote (two total, no vote considered a low vote) for each team will
be omitted.
D. The NJCAA Football Computer Ranking (FCR) will make up 25.0% of the poll based on each team’s overall record, strength
of opponents’ record, and strength of opponents-opponents’ record.
1. Football Computer Ranking (FCR) strength of schedule point system will award a member college 1.0 points for playing the
following opponents:
i. One of the three (3) Military Prep Schools, (USNAPS, USMAPS, USAFAPS)
ii. Member of the California Community College Association (CCCAA)
iii. A non-scholarship NJCAA member school that plays a least five (5) games during the season against NJCAA scholarship
schools.
E. In the event of a tie for the No. 1 position in the poll, the number of overall first place votes from all 16 members of the voting
panel will be used to break the tie. If a tie should still exist, all football panel members shall be immediately polled again by NJCAA
National Office and asked to rank only the teams that were tied.
F. Football coaches are to input their scores and stats to the NJCAA PrestoSports Stats System. The voting panel will then submit
their vote of the Top 20 teams in the country to the NJCAA National Office by Monday at 1:00 PM ET.
G. NJCAA National Office will begin weekly football poll releases on August 31, 2020. The first four rankings will be done exclusively by the
voting panel. Beginning in Week 5, the FCR component will be included.