1979 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams41
DurationAugust–November
Playoff
DurationDecember 8–December 15
Championship dateDecember 15, 1979
Championship siteOrlando Stadium
Orlando, Florida
ChampionEastern Kentucky
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons

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.[1]

Conference changes and new programs

School1978 Conference1979 Conference
Bethune–CookmanSIAC (II)MEAC (I-AA)
East Tennessee StateOhio Valley (I-AA)Southern (I-A)
Florida A&MSIAC (II)MEAC (I-AA)
Morgan StateMEAC (I-AA)D-II Independent
NevadaI-AA IndependentBig Sky
North Carolina CentralMEAC (I-AA)CIAA (D-II)

Conference standings

1979 Big Sky Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Boise State * 7 0 010 1 0
No. 9 Montana State $ 6 1 06 4 0
No. 5 Nevada ^ 5 2 08 4 0
No. T–10 Northern Arizona 3 4 07 4 0
Weber State 3 4 03 8 0
Idaho 2 5 04 7 0
Montana 2 5 03 7 0
Idaho State 0 7 00 11 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
  • * – Boise State was ineligible for conference title
         or I-AA playoffs.
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA AP Poll
1979 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Morgan State $ 5 0 09 2 0
South Carolina State 4 1 08 3 0
North Carolina A&T 2 2 14 6 1
Howard 2 3 05 6 0
Delaware State 1 4 14 5 1
North Carolina Central 1 4 02 8 1
Maryland Eastern Shore 0 0 03 7 1
  • $ Conference champion
  • Maryland Eastern Shore games did not count as conference games in 1979
1979 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 2 Murray State $^ 6 0 09 2 1
No. 3 Eastern Kentucky ^ 5 1 011 2 0
Morehead State 3 2 15 4 1
Western Kentucky 3 3 05 5 0
Austin Peay 2 4 07 4 0
Middle Tennessee 1 5 01 9 0
Tennessee Tech 0 5 11 8 2
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from Associated Press poll
1979 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 6 Alcorn State + 5 1 08 2 0
No. 1 Grambling State + 5 1 08 3 0
No. 8 Jackson State 4 2 08 3 0
No. T–10 Southern 4 2 07 4 0
Mississippi Valley State 2 4 04 5 0
Texas Southern 1 5 03 8 0
Prairie View A&M 0 6 00 11 0
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from Associated Press poll
1979 Yankee Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 7 Boston University + 4 1 08 1 1
UMass + 4 1 06 4 0
Connecticut 3 1 13 6 2
New Hampshire 2 2 15 4 2
Maine 1 4 01 9 1
Rhode Island 0 5 02 9 0
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from Associated Press poll
1979 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW 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

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.[2]

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

References

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