Butler, Snow to have championship rematch Dec. 6 in Salt Lake City

It’s official: the Butler Community College Grizzlies will battle the Snow (Utah) Badgers for the 2008 NJCAA football championship in the Zion Bank Top of the Mountains Bowl, which will be played at Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City Dec. 6.

The NJCAA poll, released Tuesday, has the undefeated Badgers unanimously as the top-ranked team in the nation, receiving all seven first-place votes, with the Grizzlies ranked second. Both teams moved up one spot from last week’s poll after the previous top-ranked team, Navarro (Texas), lost 49-24 to Blinn Saturday night.

This year’s Top of the Mountains Bowl will officially be recognized as the NJCAA National Championship Game. The Top of the Mountains Bowl committee successfully negotiated with the NJCAA for the right to have the contest declared the national championship under NJCAA bylaws.

“We are pleased that the NJCAA office has declared this the national championship game ahead of time,” said Butler Athletics Director Todd Carter. “We are extremely proud of our football program, which has the opportunity not only to play for a second straight national championship, but will also be making its seventh national title game appearance in the past 11 seasons.”

Butler defeated 15th-ranked Hutchinson 29-14 Sunday night to capture their third straight Region VI title. The Grizzlies are now 10-1, with their defeat coming in the season opener, 23-20, against Blinn, the same team which defeated Navarro to give Butler a chance to repeat as national champions.

Meanwhile, Snow wrapped up its schedule Saturday with a 65-20 win of Mesa (Arizona). The win puts the Badgers at 11-0 and gives them the nation’s top ranking, as they did last year. Butler defeated Snow in last year’s Top of the Mountains Bowl, 56-27, earning the Grizzlies a share of the national title.

That game was played in Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah. This year, the game will be played at the new 20,000-seat Rio Tinto Stadium, home of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. The bowl game will be the first football game played in the stadium, which was just completed last month.

“We are extremely excited to have a chance to defend our national championship,” said Butler head coach Troy Morrell. “We look forward to once again playing in a first-class bowl game in another first-rate venue.”

Other Butler bowl game notes:

—This is the 11th straight year Butler has played in a postseason bowl game. The current streak began in 1998, when the team played in the Real Dairy Bowl in Boise, Idaho. Overall, this will be 22nd bowl game in Butler history. In eight of those bowls, Butler has played for the national championship, winning five (1981, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2007).

—This will be the seventh time Butler has played in a bowl game in Utah. The Grizzlies played in the Dixie Rotary Bowl in St. George four times (1986, 1999, 2002, 2003), and this will be their third trip in four years to the Top of the Mountains Bowl (2005, 2007, 2008).

—Morrell is 4-4 in bowl games as Butler head coach, including 2-2 in national championship games. Morrell’s Grizzlies won the Dixie Rotary Bowl in 2003 and last year’s Top of the Mountains Bowl. They lost in the 2001 Golden Isles Bowl and the 2004 Dalton Defenders Bowl.

—This will be the fifth annual Top of the Mountains Bowl. Snow is 2-1 against Jayhawk Conference teams in the bowl, beating Butler in 2005 and Coffeyville in 2006 before losing to Butler last year.

—Butler is 65-5 over the past six seasons. The Grizzlies have won eight straight Jayhawk Conference championships and five of the past six Region VI championships.