1979 NCAA Division I-AA football season

1979 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams39[1]
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.[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
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
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
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
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
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
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

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.
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