1986 NCAA Division I-AA season

Regular season
Number of teams	85
Duration	August–November
Playoff
Duration	November 29–December 19
Championship date	December 19, 1986
Championship site	Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington
Champion	Georgia Southern
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1985 1987»

The 1986 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 1986, and concluded with the 1986 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 19, 1986,^[1]^[2] at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. The Georgia Southern Eagles won their second consecutive I-AA championship, defeating the Arkansas State Indians by a score of 48–21.^[3]

Conference changes and new programs

Prior to the season, the Colonial League was established as a five-member, football-only league for teams in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. The Colonial League was a forerunner of today's Patriot League and has no connection to the later Colonial Athletic Association (today's Coastal Athletic Association).

School	1985 Conference	1986 Conference
Bucknell	I-AA Independent	Colonial
Colgate	I-AA Independent	Colonial
Delaware	I-AA Independent	Yankee
Drake	Missouri Valley (I-AA)	D-III Independent
Florida A&M	I-AA Independent	MEAC
Holy Cross	I-AA Independent	Colonial
Indiana State	Missouri Valley	Gateway
Lafayette	I-AA Independent	Colonial
Lehigh	I-AA Independent	Colonial
Richmond	I-AA Independent	Yankee
Southesastern Louisiana	Gulf Star	Dropped Program
Texas–Arlington	Southland	Dropped Program
West Texas State	Missouri Valley (I-AA)	Lone Star (II)

Conference standings

1986 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Nevada $^	7	–	0	–	0	13	–	1	–	0
No. 16 Idaho ^	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Northern Arizona	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Montana*	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Boise State	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Weber State	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Montana State	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Idaho State*	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant * – Montana and Idaho State played twice. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll

1986 Colonial League football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Holy Cross $	4	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
Lafayette	2	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Lehigh	2	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Colgate	1	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Bucknell	1	–	3	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

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

1986 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Eastern Illinois $^	5	–	1	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
No. 17 Southern Illinois	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Northern Iowa	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	1
Illinois State	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Western Illinois	2	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
SW Missouri State	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Indiana State	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

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

1986 Gulf Star Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 11 Sam Houston State $^	3	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 12 Nicholls State ^	2	–	2	–	0	10	–	3	–	0
Northwestern State	2	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	1
Southwest Texas State	2	–	2	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Stephen F. Austin	1	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0

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

1986 Ivy League football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 7 Penn $	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	0	–	0
Cornell	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Brown	4	–	2	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Dartmouth	3	–	3	–	1	3	–	6	–	1
Harvard	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Yale	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Princeton	2	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Columbia	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

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

1986 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 20 North Carolina A&T $^	4	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Howard	3	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Delaware State	3	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
South Carolina State	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Bethune–Cookman	2	–	3	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Morgan State	0	–	5	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

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

1986 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Eastern Kentucky ^	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	3	–	1
No. 18 Murray State $^	6	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	1
Akron	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Middle Tennessee	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Morehead State	3	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Austin Peay	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Youngstown State	2	–	5	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Tennessee Tech	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

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

1986 Southern Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Appalachian State $^	6	–	0	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
Western Carolina	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
No. 15 Furman ^	4	–	2	–	1	7	–	3	–	2
East Tennessee State	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Marshall	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Chattanooga	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
VMI	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
The Citadel	0	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

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

1986 Southland Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Arkansas State $^	5	–	0	–	0	12	–	2	–	1
North Texas State	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Louisiana Tech	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Northeast Louisiana	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
McNeese State	1	–	4	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Lamar	0	–	5	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

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

1986 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 9 Jackson State $^	7	–	0	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Alcorn State	5	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Grambling State	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Southern	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	1
Mississippi Valley State	3	–	3	–	1	4	–	4	–	1
Alabama State	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Texas Southern	1	–	5	–	1	2	–	8	–	1
Prairie View A&M	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

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

1986 Yankee Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 13 Delaware +^	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	4	–	0
No. 19 Connecticut +	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
UMass +	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
New Hampshire	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Maine	3	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Richmond	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Boston University	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Rhode Island	0	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

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

1986 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 4 Georgia Southern ^		–		13	–	2	–	0
No. 14 Tennessee State ^		–		10	–	2	–	1
No. 8 William & Mary ^		–		9	–	3	–	0
Eastern Washington		–		5	–	5	–	0
James Madison		–		5	–	5	–	1
Florida A&M		–		4	–	6	–	0
Northeastern		–		4	–	6	–	0
Western Kentucky		–		4	–	6	–	1

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

Conference champions

Conference Champions
Big Sky Conference – Nevada Colonial League – Holy Cross Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference – Eastern Illinois Gulf Star Conference – Sam Houston State Ivy League – Penn Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina A&T Ohio Valley Conference – Murray State Southern Conference – Appalachian State Southland Conference – Arkansas State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State Yankee Conference – Connecticut, Delaware, and Massachusetts

Postseason

The playoffs expanded from twelve to sixteen teams this season, eliminating the bye for the top four seeds.

The I-AA playoff field remained at sixteen through the 2009 season, expanding to twenty in 2010 and 24 in 2013.

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

The top four teams were seeded,^[4] with remaining teams placed in the bracket based on geographical considerations.

First Round November 29 Campus sites			Quarterfinals December 6 Campus sites			Semifinals December 13 Campus sites			National Championship Game December 19 ^[1]^[2] Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington

	Idaho	7

1	Nevada*	27
			1	Nevada*	33

				Tennessee State	6
Tennessee State		32

Jackson State*		23
						1	Nevada*	38

						4	Georgia Southern	48
	North Carolina A&T	21

4	Georgia Southern*	52
			4	Georgia Southern*	55

				Nicholls State	31
Nicholls State		28

Appalachian State*		26
									4	Georgia Southern	48

									2	Arkansas State	21
	Sam Houston State	7

2	Arkansas State*	48
			2	Arkansas State	55

				Delaware*	14
Delaware		51

William & Mary*		21
						2	Arkansas State*	24

							Eastern Kentucky	10
	Murray State	21

3	Eastern Illinois*	28
			3	Eastern Illinois*	22

				Eastern Kentucky	24
Eastern Kentucky		23

Furman*		10

* Denotes host institution

References

^ ^a ^b "Georgia Southern goes for 2nd-straight title". The News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. AP. December 19, 1986. p. 5C. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b "Georgia Southern wins I-AA football crown". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. December 20, 1986. p. 1B. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
^ "1986 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
^ "I-AA playoffs". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. November 24, 1986. p. C5. Retrieved February 6, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

v t e 1986 NCAA Division I-AA football playoff participants
Appalachian State Arkansas State Delaware Eastern Illinois Eastern Kentucky Furman Georgia Southern Idaho Jackson State Murray State Nevada Nicholls State North Carolina A&T Sam Houston State Tennessee State William & Mary
Champion – Georgia Southern Eagles

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
NCAA University Division	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 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	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 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

1986–87 NCAA Division I championships