1996 NCAA Division I-AA season

Regular season
Number of teams	117
Duration	August–November
Payton Award	Archie Amerson (RB, Northern Arizona)
Buchanan Award	Dexter Coakley (LB, Appalachian State)
Playoff
Duration	November 30–December 21
Championship date	December 21, 1996
Championship site	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia
Champion	Marshall
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1995 1997»

The 1996 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 1996, and concluded with the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 21, 1996, at Marshall University Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia. The Marshall Thundering Herd won their second I-AA championship, defeating the defending national champion Montana Grizzlies by a score of 49–29.^[1]

Conference changes and new programs

The American West Conference disbanded following the 1995 season and its four remaining members either became independents (Cal Poly, Sacramento State, and Southern Utah) or joined the Big Sky (Cal State Northridge).
Prior to the season, the Northeast Conference, a preexisting Division I conference, announced it would add football for its five members that sponsored the sport.

School	1995 Conference	1996 Conference
Boise State	Big Sky	Big West (I-A)
Cal State Northridge	American West	Big Sky
Cal Poly	American West	I-AA Independent
Central Connecticut State	I-AA Independent	Northeast
Central Florida	I-AA Independent	I-A Independent
Eastern Illinois	Gateway	Ohio Valley
Fairfield	New Program	MAAC
Idaho	Big Sky	Big West (I-A)
Jacksonville State	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Monmouth	I-AA Independent	Northeast
Morehead State	Ohio Valley	I-AA Independent
Portland State	D-II Independent	Big Sky (I-AA)
Robert Morris	I-AA Independent	Northeast
Sacramento State	American West	I-AA Independent
St. Francis (PA)	I-AA Independent	Northeast
Southern Utah	American West	I-AA Independent
Troy State	I-AA Independent	Southland
UAB	I-AA Independent	I-A Independent
Wagner	I-AA Independent	Northeast

Conference standings

1996 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Montana $^	7	–	0	14	–	1
No. 6 Northern Arizona ^	6	–	1	9	–	3
Cal State Northridge	4	–	3	7	–	4
Weber State	4	–	3	7	–	4
Eastern Washington	3	–	4	6	–	5
Montana State	3	–	4	6	–	5
Idaho State	1	–	6	4	–	7
Sacramento State	0	–	7	1	–	10
Portland State	0	–	0	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Portland State games did not count in conference standings Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1996 Gateway Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Northern Iowa $^	5	–	0	12	–	2
No. 10 Western Illinois ^	3	–	2	9	–	3
No. 21 Southwest Missouri State	3	–	2	7	–	4
Indiana State	3	–	2	6	–	5
Southern Illinois	1	–	4	5	–	6
Illinois State	0	–	5	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1996 Ivy League football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 17 Dartmouth $	7	–	0	10	–	0
Columbia	5	–	2	8	–	2
Brown	4	–	3	5	–	5
Cornell	4	–	3	4	–	6
Penn	3	–	4	5	–	5
Harvard	2	–	5	4	–	6
Princeton	2	–	5	3	–	7
Yale	1	–	6	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1996 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Duquesne $	8	–	0	10	–	1
Georgetown	7	–	1	7	–	3
Marist	6	–	2	7	–	3
St. John's	5	–	3	6	–	4
Canisius	4	–	4	5	–	4
Saint Peter's	2	–	6	2	–	7
Siena	2	–	6	2	–	7
Fairfield	1	–	7	1	–	8
Iona	1	–	7	1	–	9

$ – Conference champion

1996 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 12 Florida A&M $^	7	–	0	9	–	3
No. 20 Howard	6	–	1	10	–	2
North Carolina A&T	4	–	3	8	–	3
South Carolina State	4	–	3	4	–	6
Hampton	3	–	4	5	–	6
Morgan State	2	–	5	4	–	7
Delaware State	2	–	5	3	–	8
Bethune–Cookman	0	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1996 Northeast Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Robert Morris +	3	–	1	9	–	2
Monmouth +	3	–	1	7	–	3
Central Connecticut	2	–	2	3	–	7
Wagner	2	–	2	5	–	5
Saint Francis (PA)	0	–	4	3	–	7

+ – Conference co-champions

1996 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Murray State $^	8	–	0	11	–	2
No. 16 Eastern Illinois ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
Eastern Kentucky	6	–	2	6	–	5
Middle Tennessee	4	–	4	6	–	5
Tennessee Tech	4	–	4	5	–	6
Tennessee State	3	–	5	4	–	7
Southeast Missouri State	3	–	5	3	–	8
Austin Peay	1	–	7	1	–	10
Tennessee–Martin	1	–	7	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1996 Patriot League football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Bucknell $	4	–	1	6	–	5
Colgate	3	–	2	6	–	5
Lehigh	3	–	2	5	–	6
Lafayette	2	–	2	5	–	5
Fordham	1	–	3	2	–	8
Holy Cross	1	–	4	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion

1996 Pioneer Football League standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 24 Dayton $	5	–	0	11	–	0
Drake	4	–	1	8	–	3
Evansville	2	–	3	5	–	5
Butler	2	–	3	3	–	7
San Diego	1	–	4	4	–	6
Valparaiso	1	–	4	4	–	6

$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1996 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 Marshall $^	8	–	0	15	–	0
No. T–8 East Tennessee State ^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 13 Furman ^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 25 Appalachian State	5	–	3	7	–	4
The Citadel	3	–	5	4	–	7
Georgia Southern	2	–	6	4	–	7
VMI	2	–	6	3	–	8
Chattanooga	2	–	6	3	–	8
Western Carolina	1	–	7	4	–	7

$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1996 Southland Football League standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 5 Troy State $^	5	–	1	12	–	2
No. 19 Nicholls State ^	4	–	2	8	–	4
No. 22 Stephen F. Austin	3	–	3	7	–	4
Northwestern State	3	–	3	6	–	5
Sam Houston State	3	–	3	4	–	7
Southwest Texas State	2	–	4	5	–	6
McNeese State	1	–	5	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1996 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. T–8 Jackson State $^	6	–	1	10	–	2
Southern	5	–	2	7	–	5
Mississippi Valley State	5	–	2	7	–	4
Texas Southern	5	–	2	7	–	4
Alcorn State	3	–	4	4	–	7
Grambling State	2	–	5	3	–	8
Alabama State	2	–	5	3	–	8
Prairie View A&M	0	–	7	0	–	11

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

1996 Yankee Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
New England Division
No. 18 New Hampshire x	6	–	2	8	–	3
Maine	5	–	3	7	–	4
UMass	4	–	4	6	–	5
Connecticut	3	–	5	4	–	6
Rhode Island	2	–	6	4	–	6
Boston University	0	–	8	1	–	10
Mid-Atlantic Division
No. 7 William & Mary x$^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 14 Villanova ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 11 Delaware ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 23 James Madison	5	–	3	7	–	4
Northeastern	3	–	5	6	–	5
Richmond	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1996 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Buffalo		–		8	–	3
No. 15 Youngstown State		–		8	–	3
Saint Mary's		–		7	–	3
Western Kentucky		–		7	–	4
Davidson		–		6	–	4
Towson		–		6	–	4
Samford		–		6	–	5
Wofford		–		6	–	5
Cal Poly		–		5	–	6
Hofstra		–		5	–	6
Liberty		–		5	–	6
Southern Utah		–		4	–	7
Charleston Southern		–		2	–	8
Morehead State		–		2	–	8
Jacksonville State		–		1	–	9

^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Conference champions

Conference Champions
Big Sky Conference – Montana Gateway Football Conference – Northern Iowa Ivy League – Dartmouth Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Duquesne Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Florida A&M Northeast Conference – Monmouth and Robert Morris Ohio Valley Conference – Murray State Patriot League – Bucknell Pioneer Football League – Dayton Southern Conference – Marshall Southland Football League – Troy State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State Yankee Conference – William & Mary

Postseason

The location of the title game, Marshall University Stadium, was determined before the playoffs started.^[2]

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

First Round November 30 Campus sites			Quarterfinals December 7 Campus sites			Semifinals December 14 Campus sites			National Championship Game December 21 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia

16	Nicholls State	3

1	Montana*	48
			1	Montana*	44

			6	East Tennessee State	14
11	Villanova	29

6	East Tennessee State*	35
						1	Montana*	70

						4	Troy State	7
13	Florida A&M	25

4	Troy State*	29
			4	Troy State*	31

			5	Murray State	3
12	Western Illinois	6

5	Murray State*	34
									1	Montana	29

									2	Marshall	49
15	Delaware	14

2	Marshall*	59
			2	Marshall*	54

			10	Furman	0
10	Furman	42

7	Northern Arizona*	31
						2	Marshall*	31

						3	Northern Iowa	14
14	Eastern Illinois	14

3	Northern Iowa*	21
			3	Northern Iowa*	38

			8	William & Mary	35
9	Jackson State	6

8	William & Mary*	45

* Denotes host institution
Source:^[3]

References

^ "1996 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 15. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
^ "Griz No. 2 in latest I-AA poll". Great Falls Tribune. Great Falls, Montana. November 12, 1996. p. 1C. Retrieved April 17, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
^ "Division I-AA tournament". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. November 25, 1996. p. B7. Retrieved February 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

v t e 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football playoff participants
Delaware East Tennessee State Eastern Illinois Florida A&M Furman Jackson State Marshall Montana Murray State Nicholls State Northern Arizona Northern Iowa Troy State Villanova Western Illinois William & Mary
Champion – Marshall Thundering Herd

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