1982 NCAA Division I-AA football season

1982 NCAA Division I-AA season
1982 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	91
Duration	August–November
Playoff
Duration	November 27–December 18
Championship date	December 18, 1982
Championship site	Memorial Stadium; Wichita Falls, Texas
Champion	Eastern Kentucky
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
	«1981 1983»

The 1982 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 1982 and concluded with the 1982 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 18, 1982, at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Eastern Kentucky Colonels won their second I-AA championship, defeating the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens in the Pioneer Bowl, 17−14.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Conference changes and new programs

Upon the expiration of the four-year limit for compliance with Division I-A football criteria (set in January 1978), 41 NCAA Division I-A teams were reclassified from Division I-A to Division I-AA:^[4]

Ivy League — all eight members. Yale met the requirements to stay in I-A, but voluntarily chose to downgrade to I-AA to remain with the rest of the Ivy League.
Southern Conference — all eight members
Southland Conference — five members. McNeese State and Southwestern Louisiana met the requirements to remain in I-A; McNeese State voluntarily chose to downgrade to I-AA to remain with the rest of the Southland, while Southwestern Louisiana remained in Division I-A as an Independent.
Missouri Valley Conference — five members, with New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State remaining in I-A but also remaining in the conference. This was the onset of a four-year period in which the MVC functioned as a hybrid I-A/I-AA conference.
Mid-American Conference — eight members, with only Central Michigan and Toledo maintaining I-A status. Several of the demoted schools appealed the demotion, with the result that all eight MAC members reclassified to I-AA for 1982 were returned to I-A as of 1983.^[5]
Independent Cincinnati was reclassified to I-AA along with the MAC schools but filed an injunction against the NCAA to postpone their demotion until after the 1982 season, and was successful in remaining in I-A.^[6]

The successful appeals of Cincinnati (effective 1982) and the MAC schools (effective 1983) meant that 40 Division I-A members joined I-AA in 1982, of which 32 remained in 1983.

School	1981 Conference	1982 Conference
Alabama State	D-II Independent	SWAC (I-AA)
Appalachian State	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
Arkansas State	Southland (I-A)	Southland (I-AA)
Ball State	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Bowling Green	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Brown	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Chattanooga	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
Colgate	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Columbia	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Cornell	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Dartmouth	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Drake	Missouri Valley (I-A)	Missouri Valley (I-AA)
East Tennessee State	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
Eastern Michigan	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Furman	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
Harvard	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Holy Cross	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Illinois State	Missouri Valley (I-A)	Missouri Valley (I-AA)
Indiana State	Missouri Valley (I-A)	Missouri Valley (I-AA)
Kent State	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Lamar	Southland (I-A)	Southland (I-AA)
Northeast Louisiana	I-A Independent	Southland (I-AA)
Louisiana Tech	Southland (I-A)	Southland (I-AA)
Marshall	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
McNeese State	Southland (I-A)	Southland (I-AA)
Miami (OH)	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
North Texas State	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Northern Illinois	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Ohio	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
Penn	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Princeton	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)
Richmond	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley (I-A)	Missouri Valley (I-AA)
Texas–Arlington	Southland (I-A)	Southland (I-AA)
The Citadel	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
VMI	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
West Texas State	Missouri Valley (I-A)	Missouri Valley (I-AA)
Western Carolina	Southern (I-A)	Southern (I-AA)
Western Kentucky	Ohio Valley	I-AA Independent
Western Michigan	MAC (I-A)	MAC (I-AA)
William & Mary	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Yale	Ivy (I-A)	Ivy (I-AA)

Conference standings

1982 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Eastern Illinois +^	2	–	0	–	1	11	–	1	–	1
Northern Iowa +	2	–	0	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Southwest Missouri State	1	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Western Illinois	0	–	3	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

1982 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 19 Montana $^	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
No. 11 Idaho ^	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	4	–	0
Montana State	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
No. 15 Boise State	4	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Nevada	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Northern Arizona	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Weber State	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Idaho State	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

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

1982 Ivy League football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Harvard +	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Penn +	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Dartmouth +	5	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Princeton	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Yale	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Brown	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Cornell	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Columbia	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions

1982 Mid-American Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Bowling Green $	7	–	2	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Western Michigan	5	–	2	–	2	7	–	2	–	2
Miami (OH)	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Central Michigan	5	–	3	–	1	6	–	4	–	1
Ohio	5	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Toledo	5	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Northern Illinois	5	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Ball State	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Eastern Michigan	1	–	7	–	1	1	–	9	–	1
Kent State	0	–	9	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA programs. Central Michigan and Toledo were I-A while the other teams were classified as I-AA for the 1982 season only.

1982 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 7 South Carolina State $^	4	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Florida A&M	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Bethune–Cookman	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Howard	2	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Delaware State	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
North Carolina A&T	0	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

1982 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Tulsa $	6	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
Wichita State	4	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Southern Illinois	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Indiana State	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Drake	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
New Mexico State	1	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
West Texas State	1	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Illinois State	0	–	5	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA programs. New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State were I-A and the other teams were I-AA.

1982 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Eastern Kentucky $^	7	–	0	–	0	13	–	0	–	0
Akron	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Middle Tennessee	4	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Youngstown State	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Morehead State	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Murray State	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Austin Peay	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Tennessee Tech	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

1982 Southern Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Furman $^	6	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 17 Chattanooga	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Western Carolina	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
The Citadel	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Appalachian State	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
VMI	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
East Tennessee State	2	–	5	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Marshall	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

1982 Southland Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Louisiana Tech $^	5	–	0	–	0	10	–	3	–	0
No. 12 Northeast Louisiana	4	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Arkansas State	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
McNeese State	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	1
Lamar	1	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Texas–Arlington	1	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
North Texas State	0	–	0	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

1982 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 8 Jackson State $^	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Southern	5	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 10 Grambling State	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Alcorn State	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Mississippi Valley State	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Texas Southern	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	9	–	1
Prairie View A&M	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Alabama State	0	–	0	–	0	2	–	6	–	1

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

1982 Yankee Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Maine +	3	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Boston University +^	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Connecticut +	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
UMass +	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Rhode Island	2	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
New Hampshire	1	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant

1982 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 3 Delaware ^		–		12	–	2	–	0
No. 4 Tennessee State ^		–		10	–	1	–	1
No. 13 Holy Cross		–		8	–	3	–	0
James Madison		–		8	–	3	–	0
No. 9 Colgate ^		–		8	–	4	–	0
No. 20 Lafayette		–		7	–	3	–	0
Nicholls State		–		7	–	4	–	0
No. 18 Northwestern State		–		6	–	5	–	0
Western Kentucky		–		5	–	5	–	0
Bucknell		–		4	–	6	–	0
Lehigh		–		4	–	6	–	0
Southeastern Louisiana		–		4	–	7	–	0
Northeastern		–		3	–	6	–	0
William & Mary		–		3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		0	–	10	–	0

^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee

Conference champions

Conference champions
Big Sky Conference – Montana (tiebreaker over Idaho, Montana State) Ivy League – Dartmouth, Harvard, and Penn Mid-Continent Conference – Eastern Illinois Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky Southern Conference– Furman Southland Conference – Louisiana Tech Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State Yankee Conference – Boston University, Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts

Postseason

The playoffs expanded from eight to twelve teams this season; four years later, in 1986, the field was expanded to sixteen teams.

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

The top four teams were seeded, and received first-round byes.^[7]

First Round November 27 Campus sites		Quarterfinals December 4 Campus sites		Semifinals December 11 Campus sites		National Championship Game December 18 Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas

		(1) Eastern Kentucky*	38
Idaho*	21	Idaho	30
Montana	7			(1) Eastern Kentucky*	13
				(4) Tennessee State	7
		(4) Tennessee State*	20
Eastern Illinois*	16	Eastern Illinois	19
Jackson State	13					(1) Eastern Kentucky	17
						(3) Delaware	14
		(2) Louisiana Tech*	38
Furman*	0	South Carolina State	3
South Carolina State	17			(2) Louisiana Tech*	0
				(3) Delaware	17
		(3) Delaware*	20
Colgate*	21	Colgate	13
Boston University	7

* Next to team name denotes host institution^[8]

References

^ "1982 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
^ "Breaks seal Colonels' win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 19, 1982. p. 10F.
^ "E. Kentucky 17, Delaware 14". Beaver County Times. (Pennsylvania). December 19, 1982. p. C14.
^ "The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts on August 28, 1982 · 32".
^ "The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio on August 27, 1982 · Page 19".
^ "The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio on September 24, 1982 · Page 23".
^ "Blue Hens Get Berth; Earn Opening Bye". The Daily Times. Salisbury, Maryland. AP. November 22, 1982. p. 10. Retrieved February 6, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
^ "Playoffs, NCAA Div. I-AA". Detroit Free Press. November 27, 1982. p. 4D. Retrieved February 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

v t e NCAA football seasons
Pre-NCAA	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
NCAA pre-divisional	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 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961
NCAA University Division	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division I	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 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
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 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
NCAA College Division	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
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 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
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 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

1982 NCAA Division I-AA football season

Conference changes and new programs

Conference standings

Conference champions

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

References

Suggest as cover photo

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v t e 1982 NCAA Division I-AA football playoff participants
Colgate Boston U Delaware Eastern Illinois Eastern Kentucky Furman Idaho Jackson State Louisiana Tech Montana South Carolina State Tennessee State
Champion – Eastern Kentucky Colonels