1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season

This article is about the first Division I-AA (now FCS) season. For the first Division I-A (now FBS) season, see 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season.

The 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season was the first season of Division I-AA college football. Division I-AA was created in January 1978 when Division I was subdivided into Division I-A and Division I-AA for football only.^[3] It was anticipated that 65 Division I football schools would transition to Division I-AA.^[4] Instead, just eight programs (seven teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which had just joined Division I a year before, plus independent Northwestern State) voluntarily opted for Division I-AA for the 1978 season. They were joined by 35 schools that had reclassified from Division II.

1978 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	38[1]
Duration	August 2–November 25[2]
Playoff
Duration	December 9–December 16
Championship date	December 16, 1978
Championship site	Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas
Champion	Florida A&M
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1977 (Division I) 1979»

The season began in August 1978 and concluded with the Division I-AA Football Championship Game, played in the Pioneer Bowl on December 16 at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Florida A&M Rattlers won the first I-AA championship, defeating the UMass Minutemen 35–28.^[5] Florida A&M of 1978 remains the only HBCU program to play in (and win) the I-AA/FCS national championship game.

Initial membership

• The Southwestern Athletic was the only conference competing in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season to join Division I-AA in 1978.
• Four conferences, the Big Sky, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Ohio Valley, and Yankee, transitioned from Division II to Division I, classifying their football programs in Division I-AA.
• Of the eight programs moving to Division I-AA as independents, one came from Division I and seven came from Division II.

School	1977 Conference	1978 Conference
Alcorn State	SWAC (D-I)	SWAC (I-AA)
Austin Peay	Ohio Valley (D-II)	Ohio Valley (I-AA)
Boise State	Big Sky (D-II)	Big Sky (I-AA)
Boston University	Yankee (D-II)	Yankee (I-AA)
Bucknell	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Connecticut	Yankee (D-II)	Yankee (I-AA)
Delaware State	MEAC (D-II)	MEAC (I-AA)
Eastern Kentucky	Ohio Valley (D-II)	Ohio Valley (I-AA)
Florida A&M	SIAC (D-II)	I-AA Independent
Grambling State	SWAC (D-I)	SWAC (I-AA)
Howard	MEAC (D-II)	MEAC (I-AA)
Idaho ^	Big Sky (D-II)	Big Sky (I-AA)
Idaho State	Big Sky (D-II)	Big Sky (I-AA)
Jackson State	SWAC (D-I)	SWAC (I-AA)
Lafayette	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Lehigh	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Maine	Yankee (D-II)	Yankee (I-AA)
Middle Tennessee State	Ohio Valley (D-II)	Ohio Valley (I-AA)
Montana	Big Sky (D-II)	Big Sky (I-AA)
Montana State	Big Sky (D-II)	Big Sky (I-AA)
Morehead State	Ohio Valley (D-II)	Ohio Valley (I-AA)
Murray State	Ohio Valley (D-II)	Ohio Valley (I-AA)
New Hampshire	Yankee (D-II)	Yankee (I-AA)
Northeastern	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Nevada	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
North Carolina A&T	MEAC (D-II)	MEAC (I-AA)
Northern Arizona	Big Sky (D-II)	Big Sky (I-AA)
Northwestern State	D-I Independent	I-AA Independent
Portland State	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Prairie View A&M	SWAC (D-I)	SWAC (I-AA)
Rhode Island	Yankee (D-II)	Yankee (I-AA)
South Carolina State	MEAC (D-II)	MEAC (I-AA)
Southern	SWAC (D-I)	SWAC (I-AA)
Tennessee Tech	Ohio Valley (D-II)	Ohio Valley (I-AA)
Texas Southern	SWAC (D-I)	SWAC (I-AA)
UMass	Yankee (D-II)	Yankee (I-AA)
Weber State	Big Sky (D-II)	Big Sky (I-AA)
Western Kentucky	Ohio Valley (D-II)	Ohio Valley (I-AA)

^ Idaho was previously in Division I for football, but also a member of the Big Sky Conference (D-II for football only)

Conference standings

1978 Big Sky Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 7 Northern Arizona $ 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 No. T–9 Montana State 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Montana 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Boise State 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Weber State 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Idaho 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Idaho State 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA AP Poll	1978 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 6 South Carolina State $ 5 – 0 – 1 8 – 2 – 1 North Carolina A&T 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 6 – 0 Delaware State 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Morgan State 2 – 3 – 1 4 – 6 – 1 Howard 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Maryland Eastern Shore 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 North Carolina Central 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-AA and Division II programs. Morgan State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, and North Carolina Central were classified as NCAA Division II. All the other teams were Division I-AA.[6][7][8] Rankings from Associated Press poll	1978 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. T–4 Western Kentucky $ 7 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 No. 8 Eastern Kentucky 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Tennessee Tech 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Austin Peay 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Murray State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Morehead State 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 6 – 1 Middle Tennessee 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 1 $ – Conference champion Rankings from Associated Press poll
1978 Southern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Furman + 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Chattanooga + 4 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 1 Appalachian State 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Western Carolina 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 The Citadel 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 VMI 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Marshall 0 – 5 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 Davidson 0 – 0 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 East Tennessee State 0 – 0 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 + – Conference co-champions The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA teams. Davidson was classified as I-AA. All the other teams were classified as I-A. Davidson and East Tennessee State were ineligible for the conference title. VMI's games against William & Mary and Richmond and Chattanooga's game against Richmond were designated as conference games and counted in the SoCon standings.	1978 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Grambling State $ 5 – 0 – 1 9 – 1 – 1 No. 2 Jackson State ^ 5 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 Mississippi Valley State 3 – 2 – 1 6 – 3 – 1 Alcorn State 2 – 3 – 1 5 – 4 – 1 Southern 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Texas Southern 1 – 4 – 1 3 – 7 – 1 Prairie View A&M 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-AA and II programs. Mississippi Valley State and Prairie View were classified as NCAA Division II for the 1978 season.[9][10] All the other teams were Division I-AA. Rankings from Associated Press poll	1978 Yankee Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. T–4 UMass $^ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 4 – 0 No. 7 Rhode Island 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Connecticut 3 – 2 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Boston University 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 New Hampshire 1 – 3 – 1 6 – 4 – 1 Maine 0 – 4 – 1 3 – 7 – 1 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll
1978 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Nevada ^   –   11 – 1 – 0 No. 9 Lehigh   –   8 – 3 – 0 Northeastern   –   6 – 5 – 0 Bucknell   –   5 – 5 – 0 Northwestern State   –   5 – 6 – 0 Portland State   –   5 – 6 – 0 Lafayette   –   4 – 7 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll

Conference champions

See also: List of NCAA Division I-AA/FCS football seasons

Conference champions
Big Sky Conference – Northern Arizona Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State Ohio Valley Conference – Western Kentucky Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State Yankee Conference – UMass

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

The bracket consisted of three regional selections (West, East, and South) plus an at-large team.^[11] Florida A&M (FAMU) of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) was the at-large selection.^[12] While the SIAC was a Division II conference, FAMU had successfully petitioned the NCAA for Division I classification (Division I-AA in football), which took effect on September 1, 1978.^[13]

	Semifinals December 9 Campus sites					National Championship Game December 17 Pioneer Bowl Memorial Stadium–Wichita Falls, TX
	AtLg	Florida A&M	15
	South	Jackson State*	10
						AtLg	Florida A&M	35
						East	UMass	28
	East	UMass	44
	West	Nevada*	21

* Denotes host institution

Notes

1.^ The Gold Bowl was a postseason game that was separate from the playoffs and took place on December 2.^[14]

See also

• 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings
• 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season
• 1978 NCAA Division II football season
• 1978 NCAA Division III football season
• 1978 NAIA Division I football season
• 1978 NAIA Division II football season