1979 NCAA Division I-AA football season

1979 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	39 [1]
Duration	August–November
Playoff
Duration	December 8–December 15
Championship date	December 15, 1979
Championship site	Orlando Stadium Orlando, Florida
Champion	Eastern Kentucky
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
« 1978 1980 »

The 1979 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 1979, and concluded with the 1979 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 15, 1979, at Orlando Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The Eastern Kentucky Colonels won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Lehigh Engineers by a final score of 30−7. ^[2]

Conference changes and new programs

School	1978 Conference	1979 Conference
East Tennessee State	Ohio Valley (I-AA)	Southern (I-A)
Nevada	I-AA Independent	Big Sky

Conference standings

1979 Big Sky Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Boise State * 7 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 0 No. 9 Montana State $ 6 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 No. 5 Nevada ^ 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 No. T–10 Northern Arizona 3 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Weber State 3 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Idaho 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Montana 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Idaho State 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant * – Boise State was on probation Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA AP Poll	1979 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Morgan State $ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 South Carolina State 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 North Carolina A&T 2 – 2 – 1 4 – 6 – 1 Howard 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Delaware State 1 – 4 – 1 4 – 5 – 1 North Carolina Central 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 8 – 1 Maryland Eastern Shore 0 – 0 – 0 3 – 7 – 1 $ – Conference champion Maryland Eastern Shore games did not count as conference games in 1979	1979 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Murray State $^ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 1 No. 3 Eastern Kentucky ^ 5 – 1 – 0 11 – 2 – 0 Morehead State 3 – 2 – 1 5 – 4 – 1 Western Kentucky 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Austin Peay 2 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Middle Tennessee 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 Tennessee Tech 0 – 5 – 1 1 – 8 – 2 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll
1979 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 6 Alcorn State + 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 No. 1 Grambling State + 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 No. 8 Jackson State 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 No. T–10 Southern 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Mississippi Valley State 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Texas Southern 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Prairie View A&M 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 + – Conference co-champions This conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-AA and Division II and programs. Prairie View was classified as Division II. All the other teams were I-AA. Rankings from Associated Press poll	1979 Yankee Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 7 Boston University + 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 1 UMass + 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Connecticut 3 – 1 – 1 3 – 6 – 2 New Hampshire 2 – 2 – 1 5 – 4 – 2 Maine 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 9 – 1 Rhode Island 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions Rankings from Associated Press poll	1979 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 4 Lehigh ^   –   10 – 3 – 0 Florida A&M   –   7 – 4 – 0 Portland State   –   6 – 5 – 0 Lafayette   –   5 – 3 – 2 Bucknell   –   4 – 4 – 2 Northwestern State   –   3 – 6 – 0 Northeastern   –   3 – 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 – Montana State Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Morgan State Ohio Valley Conference – Murray State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Alcorn State and Grambling State Yankee Conference – Boston University and Massachusetts

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

The bracket consisted of three regional selections (West, East, and South) plus Eastern Kentucky as an at-large selection. ^[3]

	Semifinals December 8 Campus sites					National Championship Game December 15 Orlando Stadium Orlando, Florida
	East	Lehigh	28
	South	Murray State*	9
						East	Lehigh	7
						AtLg	Eastern Kentucky	30
	West	Nevada	30
	AtLg	Eastern Kentucky *	33**

*Next to name denotes host institution
*Next to score denotes overtimes

See also

• 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season
• 1979 NCAA Division II football season
• 1979 NCAA Division III football season
• 1979 NAIA Division I football season
• 1979 NAIA Division II football season

References

1. "Standings for the 1979 FCS Season" . Retrieved February 25, 2025.
2. "1979 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
3. "Eastern Kentucky Gains Football Playoff Berth". The Tennessean . Nashville, Tennessee. December 3, 1979. p. 36. Retrieved February 9, 2019– via newspapers.com.