1981 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams50
DurationAugust–November
Playoff
DurationDecember 5–December 19
Championship dateDecember 19, 1981
Championship siteMemorial Stadium
Wichita Falls, Texas
ChampionIdaho State
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons

The 1981 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 1981 and concluded with the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 19, 1981, at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Idaho State Bengals won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in the Pioneer Bowl, 34−23.[1][2][3]

Conference changes and new programs

School 1980 Conference 1981 Conference
Eastern Illinois Mid-Continent (D-II) Mid-Continent (I-AA)
Northern Iowa Mid-Continent (D-II) Mid-Continent (I-AA)
Portland State I-AA Independent D-II Independent
Southwest Missouri State Mid-Continent (D-II) Mid-Continent (I-AA)
Tennessee State I-A Independent I-AA Independent
Western Illinois Mid-Continent (D-II) Mid-Continent (I-AA)
Youngstown State Mid-Continent (D-II) Ohio Valley (I-AA)

Conference standings

1981 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Eastern Illinois + 2 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Northern Iowa + 2 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Western Illinois + 2 – 1 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Southwest Missouri State 0 – 3 – 0 3 – 5 – 2
  • + – Conference co-champions
1981 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Idaho State $^ 6 – 1 – 0 12 – 1 – 0
No. 5 Boise State ^ 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 3 – 0
Montana 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Nevada 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Weber State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Northern Arizona 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Montana State 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Idaho 0 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Committee poll
1981 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 South Carolina State $^ 5 – 0 – 0 10 – 3 – 0
Florida A&M 4 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Bethune–Cookman 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Howard 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Delaware State 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
North Carolina A&T 0 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1981 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Eastern Kentucky $^ 8 – 0 – 0 12 – 2 – 0
No. 9 Murray State 5 – 3 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Youngstown State 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Tennessee Tech 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Middle Tennessee 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Western Kentucky 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Akron 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Austin Peay 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Morehead State 0 – 8 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1981 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Jackson State $^ 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 1
Grambling State 4 – 1 – 1 6 – 4 – 1
Texas Southern 3 – 2 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
Alcorn State 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Mississippi Valley State 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 1
Southern 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Prairie View A&M 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1981 Yankee Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Rhode Island +^ 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 6 – 0
No. T–10 UMass + 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Boston University 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
No. T–10 New Hampshire 2 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Connecticut 1 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Maine 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 1
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1981 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 Lafayette   –   9 – 2 – 0
No. 7 Delaware ^   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 6 Tennessee State ^   –   9 – 3 – 0
Southeastern Louisiana   –   8 – 3 – 0
Lehigh   –   8 – 3 – 0
Nicholls State   –   5 – 5 – 1
Northwestern State   –   4 – 6 – 0
Bucknell   –   4 – 6 – 0
Northeastern   –   3 – 7 – 0
James Madison   –   3 – 8 – 0
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions

See also: List of NCAA Division I-AA/FCS football seasons
Conference champions

Big Sky Conference – Idaho State
Mid-Continent Conference – Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, Northern Iowa
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State
Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State
Yankee Conference – Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Postseason

After holding four-team playoffs after the first three I-AA seasons, the NCAA increased the bracket size to eight this postseason. It grew to twelve in 1982 and sixteen in 1986. The eight-team field was determined via automatic bids to five conference champions (Idaho State, South Carolina State, Eastern Kentucky, Jackson State, and Rhode Island), a bid to the top-ranked independent team (Tennessee State), and two at-large bids (Boise State and Delaware).[4]

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

First Round
December 5
Campus sites 		Semifinals
December 12
Campus sites 		National Championship Game
Pioneer Bowl
December 19
 Memorial Stadium—Wichita Falls, TX 
         
7 Delaware 28
1 Eastern Kentucky* 35
1 Eastern Kentucky 23
4 Boise State* 17
4 Boise State 19
5 Jackson State* 7
1 Eastern Kentucky 23
2 Idaho State 34
8 Rhode Island 0
2 Idaho State* 51
2 Idaho State* 41
3 South Carolina State 12
6 Tennessee State 25
3 South Carolina State* 26*

* Next to team name denotes host institution
* Next to score denotes overtime
Source:[5]

References

  1. ^ "1981 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  2. ^ "Bengals win I-AA crown". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 20, 1981. p. 6D.
  3. ^ "Bengals ride like the wind". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. December 20, 1981. p. 2D.
  4. ^ Cooper, Barry (May 1, 1981). "MEAC gets berth in I-AA football playoffs". Tallahassee Democrat. p. 23. Retrieved February 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "NCAA sets playoffs for I-AA teams". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. UPI. November 29, 1981. p. 29. Retrieved February 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
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