2000 NCAA Division I-AA season

Regular season
Number of teams	121
Duration	August–November
Payton Award	Louis Ivory (RB, Furman)
Buchanan Award	Edgerton Hartwell (LB, Western Illinois)
Playoff
Duration	November 25–December 16
Championship date	December 16, 2000
Championship site	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee
Champion	Georgia Southern
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1999 2001»

The 2000 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I-AA level, began in August 2000, and concluded with the 2000 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 16, 2000, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Georgia Southern Eagles won their sixth I-AA championship, defeating the Montana Grizzlies by a score of 27–25.^[1]

Conference changes and new programs

School	1999 Conference	2000 Conference
Connecticut	Atlantic 10 (I-AA)	I-A Independent
Georgetown	MAAC	I-AA Independent
St. John's (NY)	I-AA Independent	Northeast

Conference standings

2000 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Delaware +^	7	–	1	12	–	2
No. 6 Richmond +^	7	–	1	10	–	3
UMass	5	–	3	7	–	4
James Madison	4	–	4	6	–	5
New Hampshire	4	–	4	6	–	5
William & Mary	4	–	4	5	–	6
Maine	3	–	5	5	–	6
Villanova	3	–	5	5	–	6
Rhode Island	2	–	6	3	–	8
Northeastern	1	–	7	4	–	7

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2000 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Montana $^	8	–	0	13	–	2
No. 15 Portland State ^	5	–	3	8	–	4
No. 18 Weber State	5	–	3	7	–	4
Sacramento State	5	–	3	7	–	4
Eastern Washington	5	–	3	6	–	5
Idaho State	4	–	4	6	–	5
Cal State Northridge	2	–	6	4	–	7
Northern Arizona	2	–	6	3	–	8
Montana State	0	–	8	0	–	11

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

2000 Gateway Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 12 Western Illinois $^	5	–	1	9	–	3
No. 11 Youngstown State ^	4	–	2	9	–	3
No. 24 Illinois State	4	–	2	7	–	4
No. 19 Northern Iowa	3	–	3	7	–	4
Southwest Missouri State	2	–	4	5	–	6
Southern Illinois	2	–	4	3	–	8
Indiana State	1	–	5	1	–	10

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

2000 Ivy League football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Penn $	6	–	1	7	–	3
Cornell	5	–	2	5	–	5
Yale	4	–	3	7	–	3
Harvard	4	–	3	5	–	5
Princeton	3	–	4	3	–	7
Columbia	1	–	6	3	–	7
Dartmouth	1	–	6	2	–	8
Brown *	4	–	3	7	–	3

$ – Conference champion * Ineligible for conference championship

2000 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Duquesne $	7	–	0	10	–	1
Fairfield	6	–	1	8	–	2
Marist	5	–	2	6	–	4
La Salle	4	–	3	7	–	4
Iona	3	–	4	4	–	7
Saint Peter's	2	–	5	4	–	7
Siena	1	–	6	1	–	9
Canisius	0	–	7	0	–	10

$ – Conference champion

2000 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 14 Florida A&M $^	7	–	1	9	–	3
No. 20 Bethune–Cookman	6	–	2	9	–	2
No. 21 North Carolina A&T	6	–	2	8	–	3
Delaware State	5	–	3	7	–	4
Hampton	5	–	3	7	–	4
Howard	3	–	5	3	–	8
Norfolk State	2	–	6	3	–	8
South Carolina State	2	–	6	3	–	8
Morgan State	0	–	8	1	–	10

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

2000 Northeast Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Robert Morris $	8	–	0	10	–	0
Sacred Heart	7	–	1	10	–	1
Wagner	6	–	2	6	–	5
Albany	5	–	3	5	–	6
Monmouth	4	–	4	5	–	6
Central Connecticut	3	–	5	4	–	6
St. John's	2	–	6	5	–	6
Stony Brook	1	–	7	2	–	8
Saint Francis (PA)	0	–	8	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion

2000 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 5 Western Kentucky $^	7	–	0	11	–	2
No. 17 Eastern Illinois ^	6	–	1	8	–	4
No. 22 Tennessee Tech	5	–	2	8	–	3
Murray State	4	–	3	6	–	5
Eastern Kentucky	3	–	4	6	–	5
Tennessee State	2	–	5	3	–	8
Southeast Missouri State	1	–	6	3	–	8
Tennessee–Martin	0	–	7	2	–	9

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

2000 Patriot League football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 8 Lehigh $^	6	–	0	12	–	1
Colgate	4	–	2	7	–	4
Holy Cross	4	–	2	7	–	4
Towson	3	–	3	7	–	4
Bucknell	2	–	4	6	–	5
Fordham	1	–	5	3	–	8
Lafayette	1	–	5	2	–	9

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

2000 Pioneer Football League standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Dayton +	3	–	1	8	–	3
Drake +	3	–	1	7	–	4
Valparaiso +	3	–	1	7	–	4
San Diego	1	–	3	4	–	6
Butler	0	–	4	2	–	8

+ – Conference co-champions

2000 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 Georgia Southern $^	7	–	1	13	–	2
No. 4 Appalachian State ^	6	–	2	10	–	4
No. 10 Furman ^	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 23 Wofford	5	–	3	7	–	4
East Tennessee State	4	–	4	6	–	5
Chattanooga	3	–	5	5	–	6
Western Carolina	3	–	5	4	–	7
The Citadel	1	–	7	2	–	9
VMI	1	–	7	2	–	9

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

2000 Southland Football League standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 9 Troy State $^	7	–	0	10	–	2
No. 16 McNeese State ^	5	–	2	8	–	4
No. 25 Southwest Texas State	5	–	2	7	–	4
Sam Houston State	4	–	3	7	–	4
Stephen F. Austin	3	–	4	6	–	5
Jacksonville State	2	–	5	4	–	6
Northwestern State	1	–	6	4	–	7
Nicholls State	1	–	6	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Northwestern State forfeited conference wins over Troy State and Nicholls State. Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2000 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Alabama A&M xy	5	–	2	7	–	5
Alabama State x	5	–	2	6	–	5
Jackson State	4	–	3	7	–	4
Mississippi Valley State	1	–	6	2	–	9
Alcorn State	0	–	7	0	–	11
West Division
No. 13 Grambling State xy$	6	–	1	10	–	2
Texas Southern	5	–	2	8	–	3
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	4	–	3	6	–	5
Southern	4	–	3	6	–	5
Prairie View A&M	1	–	6	1	–	10
Championship: Grambling State 14, Alabama A&M 6
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from The Sports Network Poll

2000 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Davidson		–		10	–	0
No. 7 Hofstra ^		–		9	–	4
Southern Utah		–		7	–	4
South Florida		–		7	–	4
Elon		–		7	–	4
Morehead State		–		6	–	3
Saint Mary's		–		6	–	5
Charleston Southern		–		5	–	6
Georgetown		–		5	–	6
Jacksonville		–		3	–	8
Samford		–		4	–	7
Cal Poly		–		3	–	8
Liberty		–		3	–	8
Austin Peay		–		2	–	9

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

Conference champions

Conference Champions
Atlantic 10 Conference – Delaware and Richmond Big Sky Conference – Montana Gateway Football Conference – Western Illinois Ivy League – Penn Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Duquesne Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Florida A&M Northeast Conference – Robert Morris Ohio Valley Conference – Western Kentucky Patriot League – Lehigh Pioneer Football League – Dayton and Valparaiso Southern Conference – Georgia Southern Southland Football League – Troy State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

First Round November 25 Campus sites			Quarterfinals December 2 Campus sites			Semifinals December 9 Campus sites			National Championship Game December 16 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN

1	Montana*	45

16	Eastern Illinois	13
			1	Montana*	34

			8	Richmond	20
8	Richmond*	10

9	Youngstown State	3
						1	Montana*	19*

						13	Appalachian State	16
5	Western Kentucky*	27

12	Florida A&M	0
			5	Western Kentucky*	14

			13	Appalachian State	17
4	Troy State*	30

13	Appalachian State	33
									1	Montana	25

									3	Georgia Southern	27
3	Georgia Southern*	42

14	McNeese State	17
			3	Georgia Southern*	48

			11	Hofstra	20
6	Furman*	24

11	Hofstra	31
						3	Georgia Southern	27

						2	Delaware*	18
7	Western Illinois*	7

10	Lehigh	37
			10	Lehigh	22

			2	Delaware*	47
2	Delaware*	49

15	Portland State	14

* By team name denotes host institution
* By score denotes overtime
Source:^[2]

References

^ "2000 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 16. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
^ "Division I-AA Football Playoff Bracket". The Montana Standard. Butte, Montana. November 20, 2000. p. B4. Retrieved February 6, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

v t e 2000 NCAA Division I-AA football playoff participants
Appalachian State Delaware Eastern Illinois Florida A&M Furman Georgia Southern Hofstra Lehigh McNeese State Montana Portland State Richmond Troy State Western Illinois Western Kentucky Youngstown State
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