| Year Game Played: | 1996 |
| Game Name: | NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship |
| Subheader: | I-AA National Championship Game |
| Visitor Name Short: | Montana |
| Visitor Nickname: | Grizzlies |
| Home Nickname: | Thundering Herd |
| Visitor School: | Big Sky Conference |
| Home Name Short: | Marshall |
| Football Season: | 1996 |
| Home School: | Marshall University |
| Visitor Record: | 14–0 |
| Home Record: | 14–0 |
| Visitor Conference: | Big Sky |
| Home Conference: | SoCon |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 1Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 6 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 23 |
| Home 2Q: | 9 |
| Home 3Q: | 16 |
| Home 4Q: | 10 |
| Visitor Coach: | Mick Dennehy |
| Home Coach: | Bob Pruett |
| Visitor Rank Tsn: | 2 |
| Visitor Seed: | 1 |
| Home Rank Tsn: | 1 |
| Home Seed: | 2 |
| Date Game Played: | December 21 |
| Stadium: | Marshall University Stadium |
| City: | Huntington, West Virginia |
| Odds: | Marshall by 6.5[1] |
| Referee: | Chuck Feevey[2] |
| Attendance: | 30,052 |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers: | Brad Nessler (play-by-play) and Gary Danielson (analyst) |
| Different Previous: | 1995 |
| Different Next: | 1997 |
The 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Montana Grizzlies. The game was played on December 21, 1996, and was the last I-AA title game contested at Marshall University Stadium, now known as Joan C. Edwards Stadium, in Huntington, West Virginia. The culminating game of the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was a rematch of the prior season's final, and was won by Marshall, 49–29.[3] It was also Marshall's final game in Division I-AA, now known as Division I FCS; the Herd would move to Division I-A (now Division I FBS) the following July, joining the Mid-American Conference.
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1996 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.[4] The location of the title game, Marshall University Stadium, was determined before the playoffs started.[5]
See main article: 1996 Montana Grizzlies football team. Montana finished their regular season with a 14–0 record (8–0 in conference).[6] Seeded first in the playoffs, the Grizzlies defeated 16-seed Nicholls State, sixth-seed East Tennessee State, and fourth-seed Troy State to reach the final. This was the second appearance for Montana in a Division I-AA championship game, as the team was the defending champion from 1995.
See main article: 1996 Marshall Thundering Herd football team. Marshall also finished their regular season with a 14–0 record (8–0 in conference).[7] The Thundering Herd, seeded second, defeated 15-seed Delaware, tenth-seed Furman, and third-seed Northern Iowa to reach the final. This was the sixth appearance for Marshall in a Division I-AA championship game, having one prior win (1992) and four prior losses (1987, 1991, 1993, and 1995).