1992 NCAA Division I-AA football season

1992 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	89
Duration	September 5–November 21
Payton Award	Michael Payton
Playoff
Duration	November 28–December 19
Championship date	December 19, 1992
Championship site	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia
Champion	Marshall
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
« 1991 1993 »

The 1992 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 on September 5, 1992, and concluded with the 1992 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 19, 1992, in Huntington, West Virginia. The Marshall Thundering Herd defeated the Youngstown State Penguins by a score of 31–28. ^[1] It was the second consecutive year that Marshall and Youngstown State faced off in the I-AA title game.

Conference changes and new programs

Prior to the season, the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference, otherwise a women's sports league but sponsoring football as its only men's sport since the 1985 collapse of the football side of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), merged into the MVC. The football league became the standalone Gateway Football Conference, forerunner of the present-day Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC).

School	1991 Conference	1992 Conference
Arkansas State	I-AA Independent	I-A Independent
Nevada	Big Sky (I-AA)	Big West (I-A)
Tennessee–Martin	D-II Independent	Ohio Valley

Conference standings

1992 Big Sky Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 5 Idaho +^ 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 No. 14 Eastern Washington +^ 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Montana 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Weber State 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Boise State 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Montana State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Northern Arizona 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Idaho State 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1992 Gateway Football Conference standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 Northern Iowa $^ 5 – 1 – 0 12 – 2 – 0 No. 20 Western Illinois 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Southwest Missouri State 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Eastern Illinois 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Illinois State 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Indiana State 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Southern Illinois 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1992 Ivy League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Dartmouth + 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Princeton + 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Penn 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Cornell 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Harvard 3 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Yale 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Columbia 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Brown 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 10 – 0 + – Conference co-champions
1992 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 17 North Carolina A&T $^ 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 No. 15 Florida A&M 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 South Carolina State 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Howard 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Delaware State 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Bethune–Cookman 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Morgan State 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1992 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 4 Middle Tennessee $^ 8 – 0 – 0 10 – 3 – 0 No. 12 Eastern Kentucky ^ 7 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 Tennessee Tech 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Tennessee State 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Morehead State 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Austin Peay 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Tennessee–Martin 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Southeast Missouri State 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Murray State 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1992 Patriot League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Lafayette $ 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Holy Cross 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Colgate 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Lehigh 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Bucknell 1 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Fordham 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1992 Southern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 The Citadel $^ 6 – 1 – 0 11 – 2 – 0 No. 6 Marshall ^ 5 – 2 – 0 12 – 3 – 0 No. 16 Appalachian State ^ 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 5 – 0 Western Carolina 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Furman 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 East Tennessee State 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 VMI 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Chattanooga 0 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1992 Southland Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Northeast Louisiana $^ 7 – 0 – 0 10 – 3 – 0 No. 11 McNeese State ^ 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 4 – 0 Northwestern State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Sam Houston State 3 – 2 – 2 6 – 3 – 2 North Texas 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Southwest Texas State 2 – 4 – 1 5 – 5 – 1 Stephen F. Austin 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Nicholls State 0 – 6 – 1 1 – 9 – 1 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1992 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 18 Alcorn State $^ 7 – 0 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Grambling State 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 Jackson State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Alabama State 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Southern 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Texas Southern 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Mississippi Valley State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 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
1992 Yankee Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 8 Delaware $^ 7 – 1 – 0 11 – 3 – 0 No. 10 Villanova ^ 6 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 UMass 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Richmond 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Maine 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Connecticut 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 New Hampshire 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 1 Boston University 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Rhode Island 0 – 8 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1992 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 13 William & Mary   –   9 – 2 – 0 No. 7 Youngstown State ^   –   9 – 2 – 1 No. 9 Samford ^   –   9 – 3 – 0 Georgia Southern   –   7 – 4 – 0 No. 19 Liberty   –   7 – 4 – 0 UCF   –   6 – 4 – 0 Northeastern   –   5 – 5 – 1 Towson State   –   5 – 5 – 0 Western Kentucky   –   4 – 6 – 0 James Madison   –   4 – 7 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions

This is a listing of conference champions. ^[2]

Conference	Champion
Atlantic 10 Conference	Delaware
Big Sky Conference	Idaho and Eastern Washington
Ivy League	Dartmouth and Princeton
Gateway Football Conference	Northern Iowa
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	North Carolina A&T
Ohio Valley Conference	Middle Tennessee
Patriot League	Lafayette
Southern Conference	The Citadel
Southland Conference	Northeast Louisiana
Southwestern Athletic Conference	Alcorn State

Postseason

Only the top four teams in the field were seeded, and thus assured of home games in their first-round games. ^[3] The site of the title game, Marshall University Stadium, had been predetermined months before the playoffs began. ^[4]

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

	First Round November 28 Campus sites					Quarterfinals December 5 Campus sites					Semifinals December 12 Campus sites					National Championship Game December 19 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia
		Alcorn State	27
	1	Northeast Louisiana *	78
						1	Northeast Louisiana*	18
							Delaware	41
	Samford		21
	Delaware *		56
											Delaware		7
											Marshall*		28
		Appalachian State	10
	4	Middle Tennessee *	35
						4	Middle Tennessee	21
							Marshall*	35
	Eastern Kentucky		0
	Marshall *		44
																Marshall		31
																Youngstown State		28
		North Carolina A&T	0
	2	The Citadel *	44
						2	The Citadel*	17
							Youngstown State	42
	Villanova		20
	Youngstown State *		23
												Youngstown State	19
											3	Northern Iowa*	7
		Eastern Washington	14
	3	Northern Iowa *	17
						3	Northern Iowa*	29
							McNeese State	7
	McNeese State		23
	Idaho*		20

*Next to team name denotes host institution
Source: ^[5]

Final poll standings

For the full rankings, see 1992 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings.

NCAA [6]
Ranking	Team
1	The Citadel
1	Northeast Louisiana
3	Northern Iowa
4	Middle Tennessee
5	Idaho
6	Marshall
7	Youngstown State
8	Delaware
9	Samford
10	Villanova
11	McNeese State
12	Eastern Kentucky
13	William & Mary
14	Eastern Washington
15	Florida A&M
16	Appalachian State
17	North Carolina A&T
18	Alcorn State
19	Liberty
20	Western Illinois

References

1. "1992 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 15. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
2. "NCAA Football Records" (PDF). NCAA. p. 13. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
3. Jensen, Mike (November 23, 1992). "'Nova girds for playoff on Youngstown's turf". The Philadelphia Inquirer . p. C10. Retrieved April 15, 2019– via newspapers.com.
4. Nielsen, Brian (September 9, 1992). "Here's the Word about The Herd". Journal Gazette. Mattoon, Illinois. p. B3. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
5. "Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. p. 15. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
6. "2013 NCAA Football Records" (PDF). NCAA. p. 50. Retrieved November 13, 2013.