2005 NCAA Division I-AA season
2005 I-AA National Championship trophy (left).
Regular season
Number of teams	120
Duration	September 1 – November 25
Payton Award	Erik Meyer^[1]
Buchanan Award	Chris Gocong^[2]
Playoff
Duration	November 26 – December 16
Championship date	December 16, 2005
Championship site	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee
Champion	Appalachian State
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«2004 2006»

The 2005 NCAA Division I-AA football season, the 2005 season of college football for teams in Division I-AA, began on September 1, 2005, and concluded on December 16, 2005. In the 2005 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game, played in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Appalachian State Mountaineers defeated the Northern Iowa Panthers.^[3]

Rule changes for 2005

There are several rules that have changed for the 2005 season.^[4] Following are some highlights:

In an effort to bring spearing under control, the word "intentional" was removed from the rules.
A listing of examples for unsportsmanlike acts was developed in order to encourage more consistent application of the rule. Examples of such acts include, but are not limited to:
- Imitating a slash of the throat;
- Resembling the firing of a weapon;
- Bowing at the waist;
- Punching one’s own chest excessively;
- Crossing one’s arms in front of the chest;
- Placing one’s hand by the ear as if to indicate that the player cannot hear the spectators;
- Diving into the end zone when unchallenged by an opponent;
- Entering the end zone with an unnatural stride (e.g., high stepping);
- Going significantly beyond the end line to interact with spectators;
- Standing over a prone player in a taunting manner;
- Attempting to make the ball spin as if it were a top;
- Performing a choreographed act with a teammate(s) (e.g., pretending to take a photo, falling down in unison); and
- Entering the field of play by coaches or substitutes in protest of officials' calls.
Additionally, the committee added language to the rule that reads: "Spontaneous celebrating with teammates on the field of play, provided it is not prolonged, taunting or intended to bring attention to the individual player, is allowed."

Conference changes and new programs

School	2004 Conference	2005 Conference
Florida Atlantic	I-AA Independent	Sun Belt (I-A)
FIU	I-AA Independent	Sun Belt (I-A)
Southeastern Louisiana	I-AA Independent	Southland

I-AA team wins over I-A teams

September 1 – Northwestern State 27, Louisiana–Monroe 23
September 17 – UC Davis 20, Stanford 17

Conference standings

2005 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
No. 5 New Hampshire x+^	7	–	1	11	–	2
No. 19 UMass	6	–	2	7	–	4
Hofstra	5	–	3	8	–	4
Maine	3	–	5	5	–	6
Northeastern	2	–	6	3	–	9
Rhode Island	2	–	6	4	–	7
South Division
No. 8 Richmond x+^	7	–	1	9	–	4
No. 25 James Madison	5	–	3	7	–	4
Towson	3	–	5	7	–	4
Delaware	3	–	5	6	–	5
William & Mary	3	–	5	5	–	6
Villanova	2	–	6	4	–	7

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

2005 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 13 E. Washington $^	5	–	2	7	–	5
No. 12 Montana ^	5	–	2	8	–	4
No. 18 Montana State	5	–	2	7	–	4
Portland State	4	–	3	6	–	5
Weber State	4	–	3	6	–	5
Idaho State	3	–	4	5	–	6
Sacramento State	1	–	6	2	–	9
Northern Arizona	1	–	6	3	–	8

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

2005 Big South Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 24 Coastal Carolina +	3	–	1	9	–	2
Charleston Southern +	3	–	1	7	–	4
Gardner–Webb	2	–	2	5	–	6
VMI	2	–	2	3	–	8
Liberty	0	–	4	1	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2005 Gateway Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Northern Iowa +^	5	–	2	11	–	4
No. 7 Southern Illinois +^	5	–	2	9	–	4
No. 14 Youngstown State +	5	–	2	8	–	3
No. 22 Illinois State	4	–	3	7	–	4
Western Kentucky	4	–	3	6	–	5
Western Illinois	3	–	4	5	–	6
Missouri State	2	–	5	4	–	6
Indiana State	0	–	7	0	–	11

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

2005 Great West Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 Cal Poly +^	4	–	1	9	–	4
UC Davis +	4	–	1	6	–	5
North Dakota State	3	–	2	7	–	4
South Dakota State	3	–	2	6	–	5
Southern Utah	1	–	4	1	–	9
Northern Colorado	0	–	5	4	–	7

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

2005 Ivy League football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 15 Brown $	6	–	1	9	–	1
Princeton	5	–	2	7	–	3
Harvard	5	–	2	7	–	3
Yale	4	–	3	4	–	6
Cornell	4	–	3	6	–	4
Penn	3	–	4	5	–	5
Dartmouth	1	–	6	2	–	8
Columbia	0	–	7	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2005 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Duquesne $	4	–	0	7	–	3
Marist	3	–	1	7	–	4
La Salle	2	–	2	4	–	7
Iona	1	–	3	3	–	7
Saint Peter's	0	–	4	1	–	9

$ – Conference champion

2005 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 Hampton $^	8	–	0	11	–	1
No. 20 South Carolina State	7	–	1	9	–	2
Delaware State	6	–	2	7	–	4
Florida A&M	5	–	3	6	–	5
Bethune–Cookman	4	–	4	7	–	4
Norfolk State	2	–	6	4	–	7
North Carolina A&T	2	–	6	3	–	8
Howard	1	–	7	4	–	7
Morgan State	1	–	7	2	–	9

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

2005 Northeast Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Central Connecticut +	5	–	2	7	–	4
Stony Brook +	5	–	2	6	–	5
Monmouth	4	–	3	6	–	4
Albany	4	–	3	5	–	6
Wagner	3	–	4	6	–	5
Sacred Heart	3	–	4	4	–	6
Saint Francis (PA)	3	–	4	3	–	8
Robert Morris	1	–	6	2	–	8

+ – Conference co-champions

2005 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 16 Eastern Illinois $^	8	–	0	9	–	3
Eastern Kentucky	7	–	1	7	–	4
Jacksonville State	6	–	2	6	–	5
Tennessee–Martin	4	–	4	6	–	5
Samford	4	–	4	5	–	6
Tennessee Tech	3	–	5	4	–	7
Southeast Missouri State	2	–	6	2	–	9
Tennessee State	1	–	6	2	–	9
Murray State	0	–	7	2	–	9

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

2005 Patriot League football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 21 Lafayette +^	5	–	1	8	–	4
No. 23 Colgate +^	5	–	1	8	–	4
Lehigh	4	–	2	8	–	3
Holy Cross	3	–	3	6	–	5
Georgetown	2	–	4	4	–	7
Fordham	2	–	4	2	–	9
Bucknell	0	–	6	1	–	10

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

2005 Pioneer Football League standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
San Diego xy$	4	–	0	11	–	1
Dayton	3	–	1	9	–	1
Drake	2	–	2	6	–	4
Valparaiso	1	–	3	3	–	8
Butler	0	–	4	0	–	11
South Division
Morehead State xy	3	–	0	8	–	4
Jacksonville	2	–	1	4	–	4
Davidson	1	–	2	4	–	6
Austin Peay	0	–	3	2	–	9
Championship: San Diego 47, Morehead State 40
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

2005 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 Appalachian State $^	6	–	1	12	–	3
No. 3 Furman ^	5	–	2	11	–	3
No. 9 Georgia Southern ^	5	–	2	8	–	4
Western Carolina	4	–	3	5	–	4
Wofford	3	–	4	6	–	5
Chattanooga	3	–	4	6	–	5
The Citadel	2	–	5	4	–	7
Elon	0	–	7	3	–	8

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

2005 Southland Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Texas State +^	5	–	1	11	–	3
No. 17 Nicholls State +^	5	–	1	6	–	4
McNeese State	3	–	3	5	–	4
Northwestern State	3	–	3	5	–	5
Southeastern Louisiana	2	–	4	4	–	6
Sam Houston State	2	–	4	3	–	7
Stephen F. Austin	1	–	5	5	–	6

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

2005 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Alabama A&M xy	7	–	2	9	–	3
Alabama State	6	–	3	6	–	5
Mississippi Valley State	5	–	4	6	–	5
Alcorn State	5	–	4	6	–	5
Jackson State	2	–	7	2	–	9
West Division
No. 11 Grambling State xy$	9	–	0	11	–	1
Southern	4	–	5	4	–	5
Prairie View A&M	3	–	6	5	–	6
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	3	–	6	3	–	8
Texas Southern	1	–	8	1	–	10
Championship: Grambling State 45, Alabama A&M 6
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from The Sports Network Poll

2005 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Savannah State		–		0	–	11

Conference champions

Automatic berths

Conference	Champion
Atlantic 10 Conference	New Hampshire and Richmond
Big Sky Conference	Eastern Washington, Montana, and Montana State
Gateway Football Conference	Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, and Youngstown State
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	Hampton
Ohio Valley Conference	Eastern Illinois
Patriot League	Colgate and Lafayette
Southern Conference	Appalachian State
Southland Conference	Nicholls State and Texas State

Invitation

Conference	Champion
Big South Conference	Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina
Great West Football Conference	Cal Poly and UC Davis
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference	Duquesne
Northeast Conference	Central Connecticut State and Stony Brook
Pioneer Football League	San Diego

Abstains

Conference	Champion
Ivy League	Brown
Southwestern Athletic Conference	Grambling State

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

First Round^[5] November 26 Campus sites			Quarterfinals December 3 Campus sites			Semifinals December 9 and December 10 Campus sites			National Championship Game December 16 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee

	Colgate	21

1	New Hampshire*	55
			1	New Hampshire*	21

				Northern Iowa	24
Eastern Washington		38

Northern Iowa*		41
							Northern Iowa	40

						4	Texas State*	37
	Georgia Southern	35

4	Texas State*	50
			4	Texas State*	14

				Cal Poly	7
Cal Poly		35

Montana*		21
									6	Northern Iowa*	16

									2	Appalachian State	21
	Lafayette	23

2	Appalachian State*	34
			2	Appalachian State*	38

				Southern Illinois	24
Southern Illinois		21

Eastern Illinois*		6
						2	Appalachian State*	29

							Furman	23
	Richmond	38

3	Hampton*	10
			Richmond*		20

			Furman		24
Nicholls State		12

Furman*		14

* Host institution

SWAC Championship Game

Date	Location	Venue	West Div. Champion	East Div. Champion	Result
December 10	Birmingham, Alabama	Legion Field	Grambling State	Alabama A&M	Grambling State, 45–6^[6]

Final poll standings

Standings are from The Sports Network final 2005 poll.

Rank^[7]	Team	Record
1	Appalachian State Mountaineers	12–3
2	Northern Iowa Panthers	11–4
3	Furman Paladins	11–3
4	Texas State Bobcats	11–3
5	New Hampshire Wildcats	11–2
6	Cal Poly Mustangs	9–4
7	Southern Illinois Salukis	9–4
8	Richmond Spiders	9–4
9	Georgia Southern Eagles	8–4
10	Hampton Pirates	11–1
11	Grambling State Tigers	11–1
12	Montana Grizzlies	8–4
13	Eastern Washington Eagles	7–5
14	Youngstown State Penguins	8–3
15	Brown Bears	9–1
16	Eastern Illinois Panthers	9–3
17	Nicholls State Colonels	6–4
18	Montana State Bobcats	7–4
19	Massachusetts Minutemen	7–4
20	South Carolina State Bulldogs	9–2
21	Lafayette Leopards	8–4
22	Illinois State Redbirds	7–4
23	Colgate Raiders	8–4
24	Coastal Carolina Chanticleers	9–2
25	James Madison Dukes	7–4

References

^ "Erik Meyer wins 2005 Walter Payton Award". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on April 4, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
^ "Chris Gocong wins 2005 Buck Buchanan Award". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on April 4, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
^ Elizabeth A. Davis (December 16, 2005). "Appalachian State takes fumble and I-AA title from N. Iowa". USA Today. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
^ Sal Ruibal and Gary Mihoces (August 14, 2005). "NCAA wants spearing on the endangered species list". USA Today. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
^ "2005 Playoff Bracket". NCAA. Retrieved December 20, 2008.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Associated Press (December 10, 2005). "Alabama A&M 6, Grambling State 45". ESPN. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
^ "Final Sports Network's 2005 FCS College Football Poll". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2008.

v t e 2005 NCAA Division I-AA football playoff participants
Appalachian State Cal Poly Colgate Eastern Illinois Eastern Washington Furman Georgia Southern Hampton Lafayette Montana New Hampshire Nicholls State Northern Iowa Richmond Southern Illinois Texas State
Champion – Appalachian State Mountaineers

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