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.

1978 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	39 [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 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.

The season began in August 1978 and concluded with the Division I-AA Football Championship Game, played 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 in the Pioneer Bowl. ^[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)
East Tennessee State	Ohio Valley (D-II)	Ohio Valley (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 East Tennessee State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Middle Tennessee 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 1 $ – Conference champion Rankings from Associated Press poll
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. 3 Florida A&M ^   –   12 – 1 – 0 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

References

1. "Standings for the 1978 FCS Season" . Retrieved February 25, 2025.
2. "1978 (Admin)" . Retrieved February 24, 2025.
3. "Big schools win battle". St. Petersburg Independent. (Florida). Associated Press. January 13, 1978. p. 5C.
4. Underwood, John (January 23, 1978). "The NCAA splits its decision". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
5. "1978 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
6. "Ncaa 1978".
7. "Ncaa 1978".
8. "Ncaa 1978".
9. "NCAA Statistics" . Retrieved January 15, 2025.
10. "NCAA Statistics" . Retrieved January 15, 2025.
11. Climer, David (July 22, 1978). "I-AA Finals Set At Pioneer Bowl". The Tennessean . Nashville, Tennessee. p. 20. Retrieved February 9, 2019– via newspapers.com.
12. "FAMU Gains I-AA Playoffs". Fort Lauderdale News . Fort Lauderdale, Florida. December 4, 1978. p. 19. Retrieved February 9, 2019– via newspapers.com.
13. Cooper, Barry (August 31, 1978). "Florida A&M granted Division 1 status". Tallahassee Democrat . Tallahassee, Florida. p. 1B. Retrieved May 13, 2019– via newspapers.com.
14. "1978 (Admin)" . Retrieved February 24, 2025.