CONWAY, Ark. — An overtime field goal by North Alabama's Yuta Fukuda seemingly killed any championship dreams the University of Central Arkansas football team may have had – but after seven months, the Bears can put those fears to rest. While they came up a little short on the field, the Bears have been named 2005 NCAA Division II National Champions, the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer reports.

"What this does, is validate the quality of this program, of these young people, of our assistant coaches, this university, this town and most importantly, this fan base," head coach Clint Conque said. "We may have been outscored slightly by North Alabama back in the fall, but sometimes football is about more than Xs, Os and points. That's something we try to stress, and now we are reaping the benefits of doing the right thing and running a reputable program that UCA and Conway, and the state of Arkansas, can be proud of."

While Grand Valley State and Northwest Missouri State battled it out on the field in Florence, Ala. for what was seemingly the national championship game – thanks to a ruling by the NCAA, the Lakers' victory has been discredited and the title turned over to the Bears.

"We felt, at this juncture, it was the appropriate thing to do," NCAA President Myles Brand said. "While we have a tremendous respect for the tradition of the Grand Valley State football program, we felt they'd had their time in the sun and as UCA transitions from Division II to I-AA, we wanted to send them out a winner."

The 2005 Bears reunite to put on their uniforms and hoist a trophy
in honor of their new national championship.

The Lakers have won three of the last four Division II championship games, and have appeared in four of the last five. The Bears, in their time as an NCAA Division II team, never advanced further than the national quarterfinals.

"It was a tough decision, and one I'm sure isn't popular among the Grand Valley State faithful, but it's for the greater good of the NCAA," Brand said. "In trying to build awareness for our I-AA brand of football, it was only logical to have one of our higher profile newcomers come in with an inflated resume that would allow for better stories to be told. What better than saying 'Welcome UCA – the defending D-II champs – to I-AA.'"

With the Southland Conference looking to make inroads to Arkansas and the NCAA's aggressive I-AA promotional efforts, UCA – a solid program on its own merit – is set to benefit greatly from its newfound title.

"The NCAA stepped up and took ownership on this issue, they had an idea in mind that would accomplish the goals they had set forth and, at the same time, benefit our football program," Conque said. "Myles Brand is a highly educated gentleman, and I have a tremendous respect for his ideals and vision for the NCAA. This is a growing institution right in the middle of the Little Rock market, a couple hours from Memphis, a couple hours from the Northwest Arkansas boom, and football is still getting bigger here. Once we get more spring practice, it will get even bigger and better. By providing us this title and drawing some attention to this program and these young people, the NCAA is drawing attention to this state, this region, and this conference. What that's going to do is really get the interest going in small-college football.

"The Arkansas', Texases, A&Ms, LSUs, Louisiana Techs, and Oklahomas of the world have and will always have incredible fan bases," Conque said. "But there's a lot of people out there who don't recognize the Central Arkansas', the Stephen F. Austins, the Sam Houston States. These are people who like football, who need a team to get behind, a team to support both in the stands and financially."

Brand said he was approached with the idea by new UCA athletic director John Thompson.

"John came to me with this idea and, honestly, I was a little hesitant at first," Brand said. "I've never gone in and stripped a team of a title without them having committed violations, so this was unchartered territory. But John explained to me the benefits, and I mulled it over for a week or so, and decided to run with it."

The longstanding relationship between the two helped make Brand's decision a little easier.

"I have a great deal of respect for John," Brand said. "We've been friends a long time. He worked for me at Indiana for six hours, and we really got to know, understand, and appreciate one another. I have complete confidence he'll do wonderful things at Central Arkansas, particularly given this national championship."

The story, unearthed by Christa Turner, Troy Johnson and David Ching at the Ledger-Enquirer, came out of the blue.

"We really didn't know that UCA had won the title prior to writing that article," Turner said. "We just kind of stumbled upon it when we weren't researching our story."

Johnson was happy to get the scoop.

"Some people spend way too much time on the small things, they're too concerned with things the average reader doesn't care about – like AP style and fact checking," he said. "What we do is go out and get the story. That's where our efforts lie."

Ching, who is filming a documentary on the Atlanta Braves' 1970s dynasty, could not be reached for comment.

A host of staff writers, a couple of unidentified sources, a message board, an active imagination and some free time contributed to this completely made-up report. The author(s) cannot be reached at any phone number or email address. Do not try.