2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season

2002 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	123
Duration	August–November
Payton Award	Tony Romo (QB, Eastern Illinois)
Buchanan Award	Rashean Mathis (FC, Bethune-Cookman)
Playoff
Duration	November 30–December 20
Championship date	December 20, 2002
Championship site	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee
Champion	Western Kentucky
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
« 2001 2003 »

The 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I-AA level, began in August 2002, and concluded with the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 20, 2002, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers won their first I-AA championship, defeating the McNeese State Cowboys by a final score of 34−14. ^[1]

Conference changes and new programs

• Prior to the 2002 season, the Big South Conference began to sponsor football at the Division I-AA level.

School	2001 Conference	2002 Conference
Cal State Northridge	I-AA Independent	Dropped Program
Charleston Southern	I-AA Independent	Big South
Elon	I-AA Independent	Big South
FIU	New Program	I-AA Independent
Gardner-Webb	D-II Independent	Big South
Liberty	I-AA Independent	Big South
St. John's (NY)	Northeast	MAAC

Conference standings

2002 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 6 Maine $^   7 – 2     11 – 3   No. 11 Northeastern $^   7 – 2     10 – 3   No. 4 Villanova ^   6 – 3     11 – 4   UMass   6 – 3     8 – 4   William & Mary   5 – 4     6 – 5   Richmond   4 – 5     4 – 7   Delaware   4 – 5     6 – 6   Hofstra   4 – 5     6 – 6   James Madison   4 – 6     5 – 7   New Hampshire   2 – 7     3 – 8   Rhode Island   1 – 8     3 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2002 Big Sky Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 7 Montana +^   5 – 2     11 – 3   No. 19 Montana State +^   5 – 2     7 – 6   No. 18 Idaho State +   5 – 2     8 – 3   Eastern Washington   3 – 4     6 – 5   Northern Arizona   3 – 4     6 – 5   Portland State   3 – 4     6 – 5   Sacramento State   3 – 4     5 – 8   Weber State   1 – 6     3 – 8   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2002 Big South Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 22 Gardner–Webb $   3 – 0     9 – 1   Elon   2 – 1     4 – 7   Liberty   1 – 2     2 – 9   Charleston Southern   0 – 3     4 – 8   $ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2002 Gateway Football Conference standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 Western Kentucky +^   6 – 1     12 – 3   No. 5 Western Illinois +^   6 – 1     11 – 2   Youngstown State   4 – 3     7 – 4   Illinois State   4 – 3     6 – 5   Indiana State   3 – 4     5 – 7   Northern Iowa   2 – 5     5 – 6   Southern Illinois   2 – 5     4 – 8   Southwest Missouri State   1 – 6     4 – 7   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2002 Ivy League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 17 Penn $   7 – 0     9 – 1   Harvard   6 – 1     7 – 3   Princeton   4 – 3     6 – 4   Yale   4 – 3     6 – 4   Cornell   3 – 4     4 – 6   Dartmouth   2 – 5     3 – 7   Brown   2 – 5     2 – 8   Columbia   0 – 7     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2002 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Duquesne $   8 – 0     11 – 1   Marist   5 – 3     7 – 4   Saint Peter's   5 – 3     6 – 5   Fairfield   5 – 3     5 – 6   Iona   4 – 4     5 – 6   Siena   3 – 5     3 – 7   St. John's   2 – 6     2 – 8   Canisius   2 – 6     2 – 9   La Salle   2 – 6     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion
2002 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 15 Bethune–Cookman $^   7 – 1     11 – 2   Florida A&M   5 – 3     7 – 5   Hampton   5 – 3     7 – 5   Morgan State   5 – 3     7 – 5   South Carolina State   4 – 4     7 – 5   Howard   4 – 4     6 – 5   Norfolk State   2 – 6     5 – 6   North Carolina A&T   2 – 6     4 – 8   Delaware State   2 – 6     4 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2002 Northeast Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Albany $   6 – 1     8 – 4   Stony Brook   5 – 2     8 – 2   Sacred Heart   5 – 2     7 – 3   Wagner   4 – 3     7 – 4   Central Connecticut State   3 – 4     5 – 6   Robert Morris   2 – 5     3 – 4   Monmouth   2 – 5     2 – 8   Saint Francis (PA)   1 – 6     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion	2002 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 13 Eastern Illinois +^   5 – 1     8 – 4   No. 20 Murray State +^   5 – 1     7 – 5   No. 21 Eastern Kentucky   4 – 2     8 – 4   No. 24 Southeast Missouri State   4 – 2     8 – 4   Tennessee Tech   2 – 4     5 – 7   Tennessee State   1 – 5     2 – 10   Tennessee–Martin   0 – 6     2 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2002 Patriot League football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 12 Fordham +^   6 – 1     10 – 3   No. 25 Colgate +   6 – 1     9 – 3   Lafayette   5 – 2     7 – 5   Lehigh   4 – 3     8 – 4   Towson   3 – 4     6 – 5   Georgetown   2 – 5     5 – 6   Holy Cross   2 – 5     4 – 8   Bucknell   0 – 7     2 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2002 Pioneer Football League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North Division Dayton xy$   4 – 0     11 – 1   San Diego   3 – 1     5 – 5   Butler   2 – 2     4 – 6   Drake   1 – 3     5 – 6   Valparaiso   0 – 4     1 – 10   South Division Morehead State xy   3 – 0     9 – 3   Davidson   2 – 1     7 – 3   Austin Peay   1 – 2     7 – 5   Jacksonville   0 – 3     3 – 7   Championship: Dayton 28, Morehead State 0 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant	2002 Southern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 3 Georgia Southern $^   7 – 1     11 – 3   No. 14 Wofford   6 – 2     9 – 3   No. 10 Appalachian State ^   6 – 2     8 – 4   No. 9 Furman ^   6 – 2     8 – 4   VMI   3 – 5     6 – 6   Western Carolina   3 – 5     5 – 6   East Tennessee State   2 – 6     4 – 8   Chattanooga   2 – 6     2 – 10   The Citadel   1 – 7     3 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll
2002 Southland Football League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 McNeese State $^   6 – 0     13 – 2   No. 16 Northwestern State ^   4 – 2     9 – 4   No. 23 Nicholls State   3 – 3     7 – 4   Stephen F. Austin   3 – 3     6 – 5   Jacksonville State   2 – 4     5 – 6   Sam Houston State   2 – 4     4 – 7   Southwest Texas State   1 – 5     4 – 7   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2002 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Alabama A&M xy   6 – 1     8 – 4   Jackson State   5 – 2     7 – 4   Alcorn State   3 – 4     6 – 5   Mississippi Valley State   3 – 4     5 – 6   Alabama State   2 – 5     6 – 6   West Division No. 8 Grambling State xy$   6 – 1     11 – 2   Southern   5 – 2     6 – 6   Texas Southern   3 – 4     4 – 7   Arkansas–Pine Bluff   2 – 5     3 – 8   Prairie View A&M   0 – 7     1 – 10   Championship: Grambling State 31, Alabama A&M 19 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from The Sports Network Poll	2002 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Saint Mary's   –     6 – 6   FIU   –     5 – 6   Samford   –     4 – 7   Cal Poly   –     3 – 8   Florida Atlantic   –     2 – 9   Savannah State   –     1 – 8   Southern Utah   –     1 – 10   Morris Brown   –     1 – 11

Conference champions

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

Conference Champions

Atlantic 10 Conference – Maine and Northeastern Big Sky Conference – Idaho State, Montana, and Montana State Big South Conference – Gardner-Webb Gateway Football Conference – Western Illinois and Western Kentucky Ivy League – Penn Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Duquesne Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Bethune-Cookman Northeast Conference – Albany (NY) Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Illinois and Murray State Patriot League – Colgate and Fordham Pioneer Football League – Dayton Southern Conference – Georgia Southern Southland Football League – McNeese State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

The top four teams in the tournament were seeded; ^[2] seeded teams were assured of hosting games in the first two rounds. ^{[3] [4]}

	First Round November 30 Campus sites					Quarterfinals December 7 Campus sites					Semifinals December 14 Campus sites					National Championship Game December 20 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN
	1	McNeese State *	21
		Montana State	14
						1	McNeese State*	24
							Montana	20
	Montana *		45
	Northwestern State		14
											1	McNeese State*	39
												Villanova	28
	Villanova *		45
	Furman		38
						Villanova*		24
						Fordham		10
	4	Northeastern*	24
		Fordham	29
																1	McNeese State	14
																	Western Kentucky	34
	3	Georgia Southern *	34
		Bethune–Cookman	0
						3	Georgia Southern*	31
							Maine	7
	Appalachian State*		13
	Maine		14
											3	Georgia Southern*	28
												Western Kentucky	31
	Western Kentucky *		59
	Murray State		20
							Western Kentucky	31
						2	Western Illinois*	28
	2	Western Illinois *	48
		Eastern Illinois	9

*Denotes host institution

Awards and honors

Source: ^[5]

Walter Payton Award voting

The Walter Payton Award is given to the year's most outstanding player

Player	School	Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Total
Tony Romo	Eastern Illinois	QB	24	15	18	12	10	268
Brett Gordon	Villanova	QB	18	18	17	10	12	245
Bruce Eugene	Grambling State	QB	21	16	7	17	10	234
John Edwards	Montana	QB	12	11	13	13	8	177
Willie Ponder	Southeast Missouri State	WR	1	7	7	14	12	94
Chas Gessner	Brown	WR	5	6	6	7	9	90
Carl Morris	Harvard	WR	6	4	5	7	6.5	81.5
Chaz Williams	Georgia Southern	RB	3	8	6	5	5	80
Allen Suber	Bethune–Cookman	QB	7	4	4	2	4	71
Kirwin Watson	Fordham	RB	3	5	6	2	10	67
P. J. Mays	Youngstown State	RB	2	5	2	5	6	52
Billy Napier	Furman	QB	2	4	5	2	2	47
Stephan Lewis	New Hampshire	RB	1	4	4	4	4	45
David Corley Jr.	Furman	QB	1	1	4	3	5	32
Ryan Johnson	Montana State	RB	2	0	3	1	2	23
Ryan Fuqua	Portland State	RB	0	1	2	3	2.5	18.5
Jay Bailey	Austin Peay	RB	1	0	0	0	0	5
Doug Baughman	Idaho State	QB	0	0	0	1	0	2

References

1. "2002 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 16. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
2. Nielsen, Brian (November 25, 2002). "Eastern to go to Western in I-AA playoff matchup". Journal Gazette. Mattoon, Illinois. p. B5. Retrieved February 2, 2019– via newspapers.com.
3. Kasper, Jon (November 12, 2001). "NCAA changes format for playoff pairings". Missoulian . Missoula, Montana. p. D1. Retrieved February 2, 2019– via newspapers.com.
4. Kasper, Jon (November 12, 2001). "NCAA changes format for playoff pairings (cont'd)". Missoulian . Missoula, Montana. p. D6. Retrieved February 2, 2019– via newspapers.com.
5. "EIU's Romo Wins Walter Payton Award". Ohio Valley Conference. OVCSports.com. December 20, 2002. Retrieved January 7, 2026.