1979 NCAA Division I-AA football season

The 1979 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 1979, and concluded with the 1979 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 15, 1979, at Orlando Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The Eastern Kentucky Colonels won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Lehigh Engineers by a final score of 30−7.[1]

1979 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams41
DurationAugust–November
Playoff
DurationDecember 8–December 15
Championship dateDecember 15, 1979
Championship siteOrlando Stadium
Orlando, Florida
ChampionEastern Kentucky
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons

Conference changes and new programs
School1978 Conference1979 Conference
Bethune–CookmanSIAC (II)MEAC (I-AA)
East Tennessee StateOhio Valley (I-AA)Southern (I-A)
Florida A&MSIAC (II)MEAC (I-AA)
Morgan StateMEAC (I-AA)D-II Independent
NevadaI-AA IndependentBig Sky
North Carolina CentralMEAC (I-AA)CIAA (D-II)

Conference standings
1979 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Boise State * 7 –0 –0  10 –1 –0
No. 9 Montana State $ 6 –1 –0  6 –4 –0
No. 5 Nevada ^ 5 –2 –0  8 –4 –0
Northern Arizona 3 –4 –0  7 –4 –0
Weber State 3 –4 –0  3 –8 –0
Idaho 2 –5 –0  4 –7 –0
Montana 2 –5 –0  3 –7 –0
Idaho State 0 –7 –0  0 –11 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
  • * – Boise State was ineligible for conference title or I-AA playoffs.
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA AP Poll
1979 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Morgan State $ 5 –0 –0  9 –2 –0
South Carolina State 4 –1 –0  8 –3 –0
North Carolina A&T 2 –2 –1  4 –6 –1
Howard 2 –3 –0  5 –6 –0
Delaware State 1 –4 –1  4 –5 –1
North Carolina Central 1 –4 –0  2 –8 –1
Maryland Eastern Shore 0 –0 –0  3 –7 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Maryland Eastern Shore games did not count as conference games in 1979
1979 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 2 Murray State $^ 6 –0 –0  9 –2 –1
No. 3 Eastern Kentucky ^ 5 –1 –0  11 –2 –0
Morehead State 3 –2 –1  5 –4 –1
Western Kentucky 3 –3 –0  5 –5 –0
Austin Peay 2 –4 –0  7 –4 –0
Middle Tennessee 1 –5 –0  1 –9 –0
Tennessee Tech 0 –5 –1  1 –8 –2
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from Associated Press poll
1979 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 1 Grambling State +  5 –1     8 –3  
No. 6 Alcorn State +  5 –1     8 –2  
No. 8 Jackson State  4 –2     8 –3  
No. T–10 Southern  4 –2     7 –4  
Mississippi Valley State  2 –4     4 –5  
Texas Southern  1 –5     3 –8  
Prairie View A&M  0 –6     0 –11  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from Associated Press poll
1979 Yankee Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 7 Boston University + 4 –1 –0  8 –1 –1
UMass + 4 –1 –0  6 –4 –0
Connecticut 3 –1 –1  3 –6 –2
New Hampshire 2 –2 –1  5 –4 –2
Maine 1 –4 –0  1 –9 –1
Rhode Island 0 –5 –0  2 –9 –0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from Associated Press poll
1979 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 4 Lehigh ^ 0 –0 –0  10 –3 –0
Portland State 0 –0 –0  6 –5 –0
Lafayette 0 –0 –0  5 –3 –2
Bucknell 0 –0 –0  4 –4 –2
Northwestern State 0 –0 –0  3 –6 –0
Northeastern 0 –0 –0  3 –7 –0
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from Associated Press poll

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

Big Sky Conference – Montana State
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Morgan State
Ohio Valley Conference – Murray State
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Alcorn State and Grambling State
Yankee Conference – Boston University and Massachusetts

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

The bracket consisted of three regional selections (West, East, and South) plus Eastern Kentucky as an at-large selection.[2]

Semifinals
December 8
Campus Sites 		National Championship Game
December 15
Orlando Stadium
Orlando, Florida
      
East Lehigh 28
South Murray State* 9
East Lehigh 7
AtLg Eastern Kentucky 30
West Nevada 30
AtLg Eastern Kentucky* 33**

* Next to name denotes host institution
* Next to score denotes overtimes

References
  1. "1979 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  2. "Eastern Kentucky Gains Football Playoff Berth". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. December 3, 1979. p. 36. Retrieved February 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
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