1984 NCAA Division I-AA football season

1984 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	87 [1]
Duration	August–November
Playoff
Duration	November 24–December 15
Championship date	December 15, 1984
Championship site	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, South Carolina
Champion	Montana State
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
« 1983 1985 »

The 1984 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 1984, and concluded with the 1984 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 15, 1984, at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina. The Montana State Bobcats won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs by a score of 19−6. ^[2]

Conference changes and new programs

• Prior to the season, the Gulf Star Conference was formed by three I-AA Independents and three reclassifying Division II institutions from Louisiana and Texas.

School	1983 Conference	1984 Conference
Eastern Washington	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Florida A&M	MEAC	I-AA Independent
Georgia Southern	Revived Program	I-AA Independent
Nicholls State	I-AA Independent	Gulf Star
Northwestern State	I-AA Independent	Gulf Star
Southeastern Louisiana	I-AA Independent	Gulf Star
Southwest Texas State	Lone Star (D-II)	Gulf Star (I-AA)

Conference standings

1984 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 18 Northern Iowa + 2 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Eastern Illinois + 2 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Southwest Missouri State 1 – 1 – 1 6 – 3 – 1 Western Illinois 0 – 2 – 1 6 – 4 – 1 + – Conference co-champions Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1984 Big Sky Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Montana State $^ 6 – 1 – 0 12 – 2 – 0 Nevada 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Boise State 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Idaho 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Idaho State 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Weber State 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Northern Arizona 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Montana 0 – 7 – 0 2 – 8 – 1 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll	1984 Gulf Star Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Northwestern State + 4 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Nicholls State + 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Sam Houston State 3 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Southwest Texas State 2 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Stephen F. Austin 1 – 3 – 1 7 – 3 – 1 Southeastern Louisiana 0 – 4 – 1 2 – 8 – 1 $ – Conference champion The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-AA and Division II programs. Stephen F. Austin was classified NCAA Division II. [3] Sam Houston State was classified as Division II. [4] All the other teams were I-AA. All the other teams were Division I-AA.
1984 Ivy League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Penn $ 7 – 0 – 0 8 – 1 – 0 Yale 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Harvard 5 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Brown 4 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Princeton 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Cornell 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 Dartmouth 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 Columbia 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1984 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Bethune–Cookman $ 4 – 0 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Delaware State 3 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 South Carolina State 2 – 2 – 0 4 – 6 – 1 North Carolina A&T 1 – 3 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Howard 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Morgan State 0 – 0 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion Morgan State games did not count as conference games. Morgan State was NCAA Division II [5] [6] . All the other teams were classified as I-AA.	1984 Missouri Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Tulsa $ 5 – 0 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 No. 5 Indiana State ^ 4 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 Illinois State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 West Texas State 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Wichita State 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Drake 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Southern Illinois 0 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Indiana State's game against Louisville and West Texas State and Wichita State's games against New Mexico State counted in the conference standings. The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA programs. Tulsa and Wichita State were I-A and the other teams were I-AA. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1984 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 8 Eastern Kentucky $^ 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 No. 7 Middle Tennessee ^ 5 – 2 – 0 11 – 3 – 0 No. 13 Murray State 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Youngstown State 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Austin Peay 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Akron 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Morehead State 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Tennessee Tech 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1984 Southern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 17 Chattanooga $^ 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 No. 14 Western Carolina 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 The Citadel 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 No. 16 Furman 3 – 3 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 East Tennessee State 2 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Marshall 2 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Appalachian State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 VMI 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 Davidson 0 – 2 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1984 Southland Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 9 Louisiana Tech $^ 5 – 1 – 0 10 – 5 – 0 No. 10 Arkansas State ^ 4 – 1 – 1 8 – 4 – 1 UT Arlington 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Northeast Louisiana 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 No. 20 McNeese State 2 – 3 – 1 7 – 3 – 1 Lamar 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 North Texas State 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1984 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Alcorn State $^ 7 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0 No. 6 Mississippi Valley State ^ 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Grambling State 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Southern 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Jackson State 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 1 Texas Southern 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Alabama State 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Prairie View A&M 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1984 Yankee Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 Rhode Island +^ 4 – 1 – 0 10 – 3 – 0 No. 4 Boston University +^ 4 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 No. 11 New Hampshire 3 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Maine 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Connecticut 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 UMass 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1984 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Tennessee State   –   11 – 0 – 0 Eastern Washington   –   7 – 2 – 1 Georgia Southern   –   8 – 3 – 0 No. 15 Holy Cross   –   8 – 3 – 0 No. 19 Delaware   –   8 – 3 – 0 No. 12 Richmond ^   –   8 – 4 – 0 James Madison   –   6 – 5 – 0 William & Mary   –   6 – 5 – 0 Bucknell   –   5 – 5 – 0 Colgate   –   5 – 5 – 0 Lafayette   –   5 – 5 – 0 Lehigh   –   5 – 6 – 0 Florida A&M   –   3 – 6 – 1 Northeastern   –   3 – 7 – 0 Western Kentucky   –   2 – 9 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions

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

Conference champions

Big Sky Conference – Montana State Gulf Star Conference – Nicholls State and Northwestern State Ivy League – Penn Mid-Continent Conference – Eastern Illinois and Northern Iowa Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Bethune-Cookman Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky Southern Conference – Chattanooga Southland Conference – Louisiana Tech Southwestern Athletic Conference – Alcorn State Yankee Conference – Boston University and Rhode Island

Postseason

The top four teams were seeded, and received first-round byes. ^[7] Undefeated Tennessee State was disqualified from the postseason due to the use of ineligible players. ^[8]

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

	First Round November 24 Campus sites					Quarterfinals December 1 Campus sites					Semifinals December 8 Campus sites					National Championship Game December 15 Neutral Site
						(1) Alcorn State		21
	Louisiana Tech		66			Louisiana Tech		44
	Mississippi Valley State		19								Louisiana Tech		21
											Middle Tennessee		13
						(4) Indiana State		41
	Eastern Kentucky		10			Middle Tennessee		42***
	Middle Tennessee		27													Louisiana Tech		6
																(3) Montana State		19
						(2) Rhode Island		23
	Richmond		35			Richmond		17
	Boston University		33								(2) Rhode Island		20
											(3) Montana State		32
						(3) Montana State		31
	Arkansas State		37			Arkansas State		14
	Chattanooga		10

*indicates overtime period

References

1. "Standings for the 1984 FCS Season" . Retrieved June 26, 2025.
2. "1984 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
3. "NCAA Statistics" . Retrieved January 6, 2025.
4. "NCAA Statistics" . Retrieved January 25, 2025.
5. "NCAA Statistics" . Retrieved December 19, 2024.
6. "Standings for the 1984 Season" . Retrieved February 25, 2025.
7. "ISU gets first round bye". Palladium-Item . Richmond, Indiana. AP. November 19, 1984. p. A7. Retrieved May 5, 2019– via newspapers.com.
8. "Top-rated Tennessee State finds 14 players ineligible". Alabama Journal. Montgomery, Alabama. November 19, 1984. p. 17. Retrieved May 5, 2019– via newspapers.com.