1978 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings

The 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings are from the Associated Press. This is for the 1978 season.

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(#–#)		Win–loss record
(Italics)		Number of first place votes
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Associated Press Poll

	Week 1 Sept 20[1]	Week 2 Sept 27[2]	Week 3 Oct 4[3]	Week 4 Oct 11[4]	Week 5 Oct 18[5]	Week 6 Oct 25[6]	Week 7 Nov 1[7]	Week 8 Nov 8[8]	Week 9 Nov 15[9]	Week 10 Nov 22[10]
1.	Lehigh (2–0) т	Lehigh (3–0)	South Carolina State (5–0)	South Carolina State (6–0)	Montana State (6–0)	Montana State (7–0)	Nevada (8–0)	Nevada (9–0)	Nevada (10–0)	Nevada (11–0)	1.
2.	South Carolina State (3–0) т	South Carolina State (4–0)	Montana State (4–0)	Montana State (5–0)	Jackson State (6–0)	Nevada (7–0)	Jackson State (7–1)	Jackson State (8–1)	Jackson State (9–1)	Jackson State (10–1)	2.
3.	Boise State (2–0)	Boise State (3–0)	Nevada (4–0)	Nevada (5–0)	Nevada (6–0)	Lehigh (6–1)	Florida A&M (6–1)	Florida A&M (7–1)	Florida A&M (7–1)	Florida A&M (8–1)	3.
4.	Jackson State (3–0)	Nevada (3–0)	Jackson State (4–0)	Jackson State (5–0)	Florida A&M (5–0)	Jackson State (6–1)	UMass (5–2) т	South Carolina State (8–1–1)	Western Kentucky (7–2)	UMass (7–3) т	4.
5.	Nevada (2–0)	Jackson State (4–0)	Boston University (3–0)	Boston University (4–0)	Lehigh (5–1)	Florida A&M (5–1)	South Carolina State (7–1–1) т	Western Kentucky (7–2) т	Northern Arizona (7–2)	Western Kentucky (8–2) т	5.
6.	Montana State (2–0)	Montana State (3–0)	Lehigh (3–1)	Lehigh (4–1)	South Carolina State (6–0–1)	UMass (4–2)	Montana State (7–1) т	Lehigh (7–2) т	South Carolina State (8–2–1)	South Carolina State (8–2–1)	6.
7.	Florida A&M (1–0)	Florida A&M (2–0)	Florida A&M (3–0)	Florida A&M (4–0)	Eastern Kentucky (4–1)	South Carolina State (6–1–1)	Western Kentucky (6–2)	Northern Arizona (6–2)	Rhode Island (7–2)	Northern Arizona (8–2)	7.
8.	Northwestern State (2–0) [note 1]	Northwestern State (3–0)	Boise State (3–1)	Eastern Kentucky (3–1)	Rhode Island (4–1)	Western Kentucky (5–2)	Lehigh (6–2)	Eastern Kentucky (6–2)	Eastern Kentucky (7–2)	Eastern Kentucky (8–2)	8.
9.	Northern Arizona (2–1)	Northern Arizona (3–1)	Northern Arizona (4–1)	Northern Arizona (5–1)	Northern Arizona (5–1)	Eastern Kentucky (4–2) т	Eastern Kentucky (5–2)	Boise State (7–2) т	UMass (6–3)	Lehigh (8–3) т	9.
10.	Austin Peay (1–0)	Boston University (2–0) т	Rhode Island (2–1) т	Rhode Island (3–1)	UMass (3–2) [note 2]	Boston University (4–2) т	Northern Arizona (6–2)	Rhode Island (6–2) т	Montana State (8–2)	Rhode Island (7–3) т	10.
11.		Grambling State (2–0) т	Western Kentucky (4–0) т							Montana State (8–2) т	11.
12.			Eastern Kentucky (4–0) т								12.
	Week 1 Sept 20[11]	Week 2 Sept 27[12]	Week 3 Oct 4[13]	Week 4 Oct 11[14]	Week 5 Oct 18[15]	Week 6 Oct 25[16]	Week 7 Nov 1[17]	Week 8 Nov 8[18]	Week 9 Nov 15[19]	Week 10 Nov 22[20]
		Dropped: 10 Austin Peay	Dropped: 8 Northwestern State 11 Grambling State	Dropped: 8 Boise State 11 Western Kentucky	Dropped: 5 Boston University	Dropped: 8 Rhode Island 9 Northern Arizona	Dropped: 10 Boston University	Dropped: 4 UMass 6 Montana State	Dropped: 6 Lehigh 9 Boise State	None

Notes

1. In the actual printed polls, Northwestern State was listed as Northwestern Louisiana
2. In the actual printed polls, UMass was listed as Massachusetts