The 1981 Bucknell Bison football team was an American football team that represented Bucknell University as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season.

In their sixth year under head coach Bob Curtis, the Bison compiled a 4–6 record.^[1] Ken Jenkins and Jeff Miller were the team captains.^[2]

Bucknell played its home games at Memorial Stadium on the university campus in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	Connecticut	Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	L 7–27	4,500	[3]
September 19	at Merchant Marine	Tomb Field Kings Point, NY	W 35–6	3,015	[4]
September 26	Rochester	Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	W 27–0		[1]
October 3	Davidson^	Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	W 23–3	6,200	[5]
October 10	at No. 10 Lafayette	Fisher Field Easton, PA	L 0–37	11,500	[6]
October 17	at West Chester	John A. Farrell Stadium West Chester, PA	W 20–14		[1]
October 24	No. 9 Lehigh	Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	L 0–18	8,800	[7]
October 31	at Cornell	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	L 15–22	4,100	[8]
November 7	at Colgate	Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY	L 6–24		[1]
November 14	at Boston University	Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	L 0–27	3,214	[9]
Homecoming ^ Parents Weekend Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game