1982 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
DurationAugust–November
Playoff
DurationNovember 27–December 18
Championship dateDecember 18, 1982
Championship siteMemorial Stadium
Wichita Falls, Texas
ChampionEastern Kentucky
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons

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

Before the 1982 season, a total of 41 NCAA Division I-A teams, including three conferences and all of their members, were shifted from Division I-A to Division I-AA:[4]

Most of the Missouri Valley Conference football schools were also reclassified. This began the few years where the MVC hosted both 1-A and 1-AA teams. Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, and West Texas State did not meet 1-A standards and were reclassified to 1-AA. New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State remained in 1-A.

School 1981 Conference 1982 Conference
Alabama State D-II Independent SWAC (I-AA)
Colgate I-A Independent I-AA Independent
Georgia Southern Revived Program I-AA Independent
Holy Cross I-A Independent I-AA Independent
Northeast Louisiana I-A Independent Southland
North Texas State I-A Independent 1-AA Independent
Richmond I-A Independent I-AA Independent
Western Kentucky Ohio Valley I-AA Independent
William & Mary I-A Independent I-AA Independent

Independent Cincinnati and MAC schools Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Ohio, and Western Michigan were all reclassified as well.

The University of Cincinnati filed an injunction against the NCAA to postpone their demotion until after the 1982 season, and was successful in remaining in 1-A.[5]

Of the ten schools in the MAC, initially only Central Michigan and Toledo maintained 1-A status. Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Miami, and Western Michigan all made appeals and the conference as a whole was granted the ability to remain at the 1-A level.[6]

Conference standings

1982 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings
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
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
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-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
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
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
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
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
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
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
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from Div I-AA Football Committee poll
1982 Yankee Conference football standings
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
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
SE Louisiana   –   4 – 7 – 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

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

Big Sky Conference – Montana (tiebreaker over Idaho, Montana State)
Ivy League – Dartmouth, Harvard, and Penn
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 Pioneer Bowl
    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

  1. ^ "1982 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  2. ^ "Breaks seal Colonels' win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 19, 1982. p. 10F.
  3. ^ "E. Kentucky 17, Delaware 14". Beaver County Times. (Pennsylvania). December 19, 1982. p. C14.
  4. ^ "The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts on August 28, 1982 · 32".
  5. ^ "The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio on September 24, 1982 · Page 23".
  6. ^ "The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio on August 27, 1982 · Page 19".
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "Playoffs, NCAA Div. I-AA". Detroit Free Press. November 27, 1982. p. 4D. Retrieved February 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
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