1982 NCAA Division I-AA football season

The 1982 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-AA level, began in August 1982 and concluded with the 1982 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game in the Pioneer Bowl on December 18, at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Eastern Kentucky Colonels won their second I-AA championship, defeating the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens, 17−14.^[1][2][3]

1982 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	92
Duration	August–November
Playoff
Duration	November 27–December 18
Championship date	December 18, 1982
Championship site	Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas
Champion	Eastern Kentucky
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1981 1983»

Conference changes and new programs

Upon the expiration of the four-year limit for compliance with Division I-A football criteria (set in January 1978), 41 NCAA Division I-A teams were reclassified from Division I-A to Division I-AA:^[4]

• Ivy League — all eight members. Yale met the requirements to stay in I-A, but voluntarily chose to downgrade to I-AA to remain with the rest of the Ivy League.
• Southern Conference — all eight members
• Southland Conference — five members. McNeese State and Southwestern Louisiana met the requirements to remain in I-A; McNeese State voluntarily chose to downgrade to I-AA to remain with the rest of the Southland, while Southwestern Louisiana remained in Division I-A as an Independent.
• Missouri Valley Conference — five members, with New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State remaining in I-A but also remaining in the conference. This was the onset of a four-year period in which the MVC functioned as a hybrid I-A/I-AA conference.
• Mid-American Conference — eight members, with only Central Michigan and Toledo maintaining I-A status. Several of the demoted schools appealed the demotion, with the result that all eight MAC members involuntarily reclassified to I-AA for 1982 were returned to I-A as of 1983.^[5]
• Independent Cincinnati was reclassified to I-AA along with the MAC schools but filed an injunction against the NCAA to postpone their demotion until after the 1982 season, and was successful in remaining in I-A.^[6]

The successful appeals of Cincinnati (effective 1982) and the MAC schools (effective 1983) meant that 40 Division I-A members joined I-AA in 1982, of which 32 remained in 1983.

School	1981 Conference	1982 Conference
Alabama State	D-II Independent	SWAC (I-AA)
Appalachian State	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
Arkansas State	Southland (I-A)	Southland (I-AA)
Ball State	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Bowling Green	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Brown	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Chattanooga	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
Colgate	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Columbia	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Cornell	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Dartmouth	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Drake	Missouri Valley (I-A)	Missouri Valley (I-AA)
East Tennessee State	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
Eastern Michigan	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Furman	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
Harvard	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Holy Cross	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Illinois State	Missouri Valley (I-A)	Missouri Valley (I-AA)
Indiana State	Missouri Valley (I-A)	Missouri Valley (I-AA)
Kent State	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Lamar	Southland (I-A)	Southland (I-AA)
Northeast Louisiana	I-A Independent	Southland (I-AA)
Louisiana Tech	Southland (I-A)	Southland (I-AA)
Marshall	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
McNeese State	Southland (I-A)	Southland (I-AA)
Miami (OH)	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
North Texas State	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Northern Illinois	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Ohio	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Penn	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Princeton	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Richmond	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley (I-A)	Missouri Valley (I-AA)
Texas–Arlington	Southland (I-A)	Southland (I-AA)
The Citadel	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
VMI	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
West Texas State	Missouri Valley (I-A)	Missouri Valley (I-AA)
Western Carolina	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
Western Kentucky	Ohio Valley	I-AA Independent
Western Michigan	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
William & Mary	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Yale	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)

Conference standings

1982 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 5 Eastern Illinois +^ 2 – 0 – 1 11 – 1 – 1 Northern Iowa + 2 – 0 – 1 4 – 6 – 1 Southwest Missouri State 1 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Western Illinois 0 – 3 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1982 Big Sky Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 19 Montana $^ 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 6 – 0 No. 11 Idaho ^ 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 4 – 0 Montana State 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 No. 15 Boise State 4 – 3 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Nevada 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Northern Arizona 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Weber State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Idaho State 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll	1982 Ivy League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Harvard + 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Penn + 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Dartmouth + 5 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Princeton 3 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Yale 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Brown 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Cornell 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Columbia 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions
1982 Mid-American Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Bowling Green $ 7 – 2 – 0 7 – 5 – 0 Western Michigan 5 – 2 – 2 7 – 2 – 2 Miami (OH) 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Central Michigan 5 – 3 – 1 6 – 4 – 1 Ohio 5 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Toledo 5 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Northern Illinois 5 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Ball State 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Eastern Michigan 1 – 7 – 1 1 – 9 – 1 Kent State 0 – 9 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA programs. Central Michigan and Toledo were I-A while the other teams were classified as I-AA for the 1982 season only.	1982 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 7 South Carolina State $^ 4 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 Florida A&M 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Bethune–Cookman 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Howard 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Delaware State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 North Carolina A&T 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1982 Missouri Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Tulsa $ 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 0 Wichita State 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Southern Illinois 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Indiana State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Drake 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 New Mexico State 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 West Texas State 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Illinois State 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA programs. New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State were I-A and the other teams were I-AA.
1982 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Eastern Kentucky $^ 7 – 0 – 0 13 – 0 – 0 Akron 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Middle Tennessee 4 – 3 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Youngstown State 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Morehead State 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Murray State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Austin Peay 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Tennessee Tech 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1982 Southern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 6 Furman $^ 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 No. 17 Chattanooga 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Western Carolina 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 The Citadel 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Appalachian State 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 VMI 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 East Tennessee State 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Marshall 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Davidson 0 – 0 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1982 Southland Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Louisiana Tech $^ 5 – 0 – 0 10 – 3 – 0 No. 12 Northeast Louisiana 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Arkansas State 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 McNeese State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 1 Lamar 1 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 UT Arlington 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 North Texas State 0 – 0 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1982 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 8 Jackson State $^ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 Southern 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 No. 10 Grambling State 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Alcorn State 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Mississippi Valley State 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Texas Southern 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 9 – 1 Prairie View A&M 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 Alabama State 0 – 0 – 0 2 – 6 – 1 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1982 Yankee Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Maine + 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Boston University +^ 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Connecticut + 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 UMass + 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Rhode Island 2 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 New Hampshire 1 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant	1982 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 Delaware ^   –   12 – 2 – 0 No. 4 Tennessee State ^   –   10 – 1 – 1 No. 13 Holy Cross   –   8 – 3 – 0 James Madison   –   8 – 3 – 0 No. 9 Colgate ^   –   8 – 4 – 0 No. 20 Lafayette   –   7 – 3 – 0 Nicholls State   –   7 – 4 – 0 No. 18 Northwestern State   –   6 – 5 – 0 Western Kentucky   –   5 – 5 – 0 Bucknell   –   4 – 6 – 0 Lehigh   –   4 – 6 – 0 Southeastern Louisiana   –   4 – 7 – 0 Northeastern   –   3 – 6 – 0 William & Mary   –   3 – 8 – 0 Richmond   –   0 – 10 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee

Conference champions

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

Conference champions

Big Sky Conference – Montana (tiebreaker over Idaho, Montana State) Ivy League – Dartmouth, Harvard, and Penn Mid-Continent Conference – Eastern Illinois Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky Southern Conference– Furman Southland Conference – Louisiana Tech Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State Yankee Conference – Boston University, Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts

Postseason

The playoffs expanded from eight to twelve teams this season; four years later, in 1986, the field was expanded to sixteen teams.

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

The top four teams were seeded, and received first-round byes.^[7]

	First Round November 27 Campus sites					Quarterfinals December 4 Campus sites					Semifinals December 11 Campus sites					National Championship Game December 18 Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas
						(1) Eastern Kentucky*		38
	Idaho*		21			Idaho		30
	Montana		7								(1) Eastern Kentucky*		13
											(4) Tennessee State		7
						(4) Tennessee State*		20
	Eastern Illinois*		16			Eastern Illinois		19
	Jackson State		13													(1) Eastern Kentucky		17
																(3) Delaware		14
						(2) Louisiana Tech*		38
	Furman*		0			South Carolina State		3
	South Carolina State		17								(2) Louisiana Tech*		0
											(3) Delaware		17
						(3) Delaware*		20
	Colgate*		21			Colgate		13
	Boston University		7

* Next to team name denotes host institution^[8]