1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season

1978 NCAA Division I-AA season
Duration	August – November 1978
Playoff
Duration	December 9–16, 1978
Championship site	Pioneer Bowl Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, TX
Champion	Florida A&M Rattlers
Division I-AA football season
«1977 1979»

The 1978 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 1978 and concluded with the championship game on December 16 at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. This was the first season of Division I-AA football.^[1]

The Florida A&M Rattlers won their first I-AA championship, defeating Massachusetts Minutemen 35–28 in the Pioneer Bowl.^[2]

As of 2016, Florida A&M of 1978 remains the only team from an HBCU to play in the I-AA/FCS national championship game.

Conference changes and new programs

School	1977 Conference	1978 Conference
Bucknell	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Lafayette	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Lehigh	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Nevada	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Northwestern State	D-I Independent	I-AA Independent
Portland State	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent

Conference standings

1978 Big Sky football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
#7 Northern Arizona $		6	–	0		8	–	2
#7 Montana State		4	–	2		8	–	2
Montana		4	–	2		5	–	6
Boise State		3	–	3		7	–	4
Weber State		2	–	4		4	–	7
Idaho		2	–	4		2	–	9
Idaho State		0	–	6		2	–	9

$ – Conference champion No Big Sky teams were selected for I-AA playoffs. Rankings from NCAA Poll

Template:1978 MEAC football standings

Template:1978 Ohio Valley football standings

Template:1978 SWAC football standings

1978 Yankee Conference football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#4 UMass $^	5	–	0	–	0	9	–	4	–	0
#7 Rhode Island	3	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Connecticut	3	–	2	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Boston University	2	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
New Hampshire	1	–	3	–	1	6	–	4	–	1
Maine	0	–	4	–	1	3	–	7	–	1

$ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA I-AA Poll

1978 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
Nevada ^		0	–	0		11	–	1
Lehigh		0	–	0		8	–	3
Northwestern State		0	–	0		5	–	6
Portland State		0	–	0		5	–	6
Bucknell		0	–	0		5	–	5
Lafayette		0	–	0		4	–	7

$ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant

Conference champions

Conference champions
Big Sky Conference – Northern Arizona Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State Ohio Valley Conference – Western Kentucky Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State Yankee Conference – UMass

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

Semifinals Campus Sites December 9		Championship Game Pioneer Bowl Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, TX December 17


Florida A&M	15

Jackson State*	10
		Florida A&M	35

		UMass	28
UMass	44

Nevada-Reno*	21

* Denotes host institution

References

↑ "Big schools win battle". St. Petersburg Independent. (Florida). Associated Press. January 13, 1978. p. 5C.
↑ "1978 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 20, 2013.

1978 NCAA Division I-AA football playoff participants
Florida A&M Jackson State Nevada UMass
Champion – Florida A&M Rattlers

NCAA football seasons
Pre-regulation	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905
IAAUS/NCAA	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
NCAA University Division/ Division I	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
NCAA Division II	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
NCAA Division III	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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