1980 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings

The 1980 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings are from the Associated Press. This is for the 1980 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 24 [1]	Week 2 Oct 1 [2]	Week 3 Oct 8 [3]	Week 4 Oct 15 [4]	Week 5 Oct 22 [5]	Week 6 Oct 29 [6]	Week 7 Nov 5 [7]	Week 8 Nov 12 [8]	Week 9 Nov 19 [9]	Week 10 Nov 26 [10]
1.	Murray State (3–0)	Murray State (4–0)	Murray State (5–0) т	Murray State (6–0) т	Murray State (7–0)	Murray State (8–0) т	South Carolina State (9–0)	South Carolina State (10–0)	Lehigh (8–0–2) т	Lehigh (9–0–2)	1.
2.	Connecticut (3–0) т	Delaware (3–0)	South Carolina State (5–0) т	South Carolina State (6–0) т	South Carolina State (7–0)	South Carolina State (8–0) т	Lehigh (6–0–2)	Lehigh (7–0–2)	Western Kentucky (9–0) т	Grambling State (9–1)	2.
3.	South Carolina State (3–0) т	South Carolina State (4–0)	UMass (3–0) т	Lehigh (3–0–2)	Lehigh (4–0–2)	Lehigh (5–0–2)	Western Kentucky (8–0)	Western Kentucky (9–0)	Grambling State (9–1)	Eastern Kentucky (9–2) т	3.
4.	Delaware (2–0)	Boston University (3–0) т	Lehigh (3–0–1) т	Western Kentucky (5–0)	Western Kentucky (6–0)	Western Kentucky (7–0)	Boston University (7–1)	Boston University (8–1)	Eastern Kentucky (8–2)	South Carolina State (10–1) т	4.
5.	Alcorn State (2–0)	Northwestern State (4–0) т	Western Kentucky (4–0)	Weber State (4–1)	Connecticut (5–1) т	Connecticut (6–1)	Eastern Kentucky (6–2) т	Boise State (7–2) т	South Carolina State (10–1)	Western Kentucky (9–1)	5.
6.	Nevada (2–0–1)	Western Kentucky (4–0)	Weber State (3–1)	Delaware (4–1)	Eastern Kentucky (5–1) т	Boise State (6–2)	Grambling State (7–1) т	Eastern Kentucky (7–2) т	Delaware (8–2)	Delaware (9–2)	6.
7.	Boston University (2–0)	Alcorn State (2–0)	Connecticut (4–1)	Eastern Kentucky (4–1)	Boise State (5–2)	Boston University (6–1) т	Boise State (6–2)	Grambling State (8–1) т	Boston University (8–2) т	Boise State (8–3)	7.
8.	Western Kentucky (3–0)	UMass (2–0)	Eastern Kentucky (3–1)	Connecticut (4–1)	Boston University (5–1)	Grambling State (6–1) т	Murray State (8–1)	Delaware (7–2)	UMass (7–2) т	Northwestern State (8–3)	8.
9.	Northwestern State (3–0)	Weber State (2–1)	Idaho (3–1)	Boise State (4–2)	UMass (4–1)	Delaware (5–2)	Delaware (6–2)	UMass (6–2)	Boise State (7–3)	Boston University (9–2)	9.
10.	Boise State (2–1) т	Lehigh (2–0)	Delaware (3–1) т	Alcorn State (3–1) т	Alcorn State (4–1) т	Bethune–Cookman (4–1–1) т	Alcorn State (5–2) т	Connecticut (6–3) т	Connecticut (7–3) т	Connecticut (7–3) т	10.
11.	Portland State (2–0) т		Northwestern State (4–1) т	Boston University (4–1) т	Delaware (4–2) т	Eastern Kentucky (5–2) т	Connecticut (6–2) т	Murray State (8–2) т	Idaho State (6–4) т	UMass (7–3) т	11.
12.	UMass (1–0) т [note 1]		Alcorn State (2–1) т	UMass (3–1) т	Grambling State (5–1–0) т	UMass (4–2) т	UMass (5–2) т	New Hampshire (6–3) т	Murray State (8–2) т	Murray State (9–2) т	12.
13.				Northwestern State (5–1) т	Nevada (4–1–1) т	Nevada (4–2–1) т		North Carolina A&T (7–2) т	Northwestern State (7–3) т		13.
	Week 1 Sept 24 [11]	Week 2 Oct 1 [12]	Week 3 Oct 8 [13]	Week 4 Oct 15 [14]	Week 5 Oct 22 [15]	Week 6 Oct 29 [16]	Week 7 Nov 5 [17]	Week 8 Nov 12 [18]	Week 9 Nov 19 [19]	Week 10 Nov 26 [20]
		Dropped: 2 Connecticut 6 Nevada 10 Boise State 10 Portland State	Dropped: 4 Boston University	Dropped: 9 Idaho	Dropped: 5 Weber State 10 Northwestern State	Dropped: 10 Alcorn State	Dropped: 10 Bethune–Cookman 10 Nevada	Dropped: 10 Alcorn State	Dropped: 10 New Hampshire 10 North Carolina A&T	Dropped: 10 Idaho State

Notes

1. In the actual printed polls, UMass was listed as Massachusetts

References

1. "NCAA Division I-AA Top 10". The Pensacola News. Pensacola, Florida. September 24, 1980. p. 2B. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
2. "NCAA Division I-AA". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. October 2, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Division I-AA". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. October 9, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Division I-AA". Pensacola News Journal. Pensacola, Florida. October 17, 1980. p. 2B. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
5. "NCAA Division I-AA". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. October 23, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
6. "NCAA Division I-AA". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. October 31, 1980. p. D6. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Division I-AA". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. November 5, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Division I-AA". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. November 13, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Division I-AA". Florida Today. Cocoa, Florida. November 19, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Final I-AA poll". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee, Florida. November 26, 1980. p. 8B. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
11. "NCAA Division I-AA Top 10". The Pensacola News. Pensacola, Florida. September 24, 1980. p. 2B. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
12. "NCAA Division I-AA". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. October 2, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Division I-AA". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. October 9, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
14. "Division I-AA". Pensacola News Journal. Pensacola, Florida. October 17, 1980. p. 2B. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
15. "NCAA Division I-AA". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. October 23, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
16. "NCAA Division I-AA". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. October 31, 1980. p. D6. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
17. "Division I-AA". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. November 5, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
18. "Division I-AA". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. November 13, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
19. "Division I-AA". Florida Today. Cocoa, Florida. November 19, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
20. "Final I-AA poll". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee, Florida. November 26, 1980. p. 8B. Retrieved May 19, 2017– via Newspapers.com.