1987 NCAA Division I-AA football season

The 1987 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 1987, and concluded with the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 19, 1987, at the Minidome in Pocatello, Idaho. The Northeast Louisiana Indians (known as the Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks since 2006) won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Marshall Thundering Herd by a final score of 43–42.[1]

1987 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
DurationAugust–November
Payton AwardKenny Gamble (RB, Colgate)
Playoff
DurationNovember 28–December 19
Championship dateDecember 19, 1987
Championship siteMinidome
Pocatello, Idaho
ChampionNortheast Louisiana
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons

Conference changes and new programs

  • The Gulf Star Conference folded after the 1986 season when four of its founding members, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, Southwest Texas State, and Stephen F. Austin, joined the Southland Conference. The Gulf Star's remaining football member, Nicholls State, opted to become an Independent. Three former Southland Conference members, Arkansas State, Lamar, and Louisiana Tech, moved to D-IAA Independent status following their joining the newly formed, non-football, American South Conference as charter members.
School1986 Conference1987 Conference
AkronOhio ValleyIndependent (I-A)
Arkansas StateSouthlandI-AA Independent
DavidsonSouthernColonial
Eastern WashingtonI-AA IndependentBig Sky
LamarSouthlandI-AA Independent
Louisiana TechSouthlandI-AA Independent
Nicholls StateGulf StarI-AA Independent
Northwestern StateGulf StarSouthland
Sam Houston StateGulf StarSouthland
Southwest Texas StateGulf StarSouthland
Stephen F. AustinGulf StarSouthland
Towson StateD-II IndependentI-AA Independent

Conference standings

1987 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 5 Idaho $^ 7 1 0  9 3 0
No. 10 Weber State ^ 7 1 0  10 3 0
Montana 5 3 0  6 5 0
Boise State 4 4 0  6 5 0
Nevada 4 4 0  5 6 0
Northern Arizona 4 4 0  7 4 0
Idaho State 3 5 0  3 7 1
Eastern Washington 2 6 0  4 7 0
Montana State 0 8 0  1 10 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll
1987 Colonial League football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Holy Cross $ 4 0 0  11 0 0
Lehigh 3 1 1  5 5 1
Colgate 2 2 0  7 4 0
Lafayette 2 3 0  4 7 0
Bucknell 1 3 1  4 5 1
Davidson 0 3 0  1 10 0
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1987 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 4 Northern Iowa $^ 6 0 0  10 4 0
Western Illinois 5 1 0  7 4 0
Eastern Illinois 3 3 0  5 6 0
SW Missouri State 3 3 0  5 6 0
Indiana State 2 4 0  5 6 0
Southern Illinois 2 4 0  3 8 0
Illinois State 0 6 0  3 7 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1987 Ivy League football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Harvard $ 6 1 0  8 2 0
Brown 5 2 0  7 3 0
Yale 5 2 0  7 3 0
Princeton 4 3 0  6 4 0
Cornell 4 3 0  5 5 0
Penn 3 4 0  4 6 0
Dartmouth 1 6 0  2 8 0
Columbia 0 7 0  0 10 0
  • $ Conference champion
1987 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 20 Delaware State $ 5 0 0  9 1 0
No. 18 Howard 4 1 0  8 2 0
South Carolina State 3 2 0  6 5 0
Bethune–Cookman 2 3 0  4 7 0
North Carolina A&T 1 4 0  3 8 0
Morgan State 0 5 0  1 9 0
Florida A&M 0 0 0  5 5 1
  • $ Conference champion
  • Florida A&M games did not count as conference games in 1987; records adjusted for Howard and Arkansas Pine–Bluff forfeits to Delaware State
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1987 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 7 Eastern Kentucky +^ 5 1 0  9 3 0
No. 15 Youngstown State +^ 5 1 0  8 4 0
Middle Tennessee 4 2 0  6 5 0
Murray State 3 3 0  6 5 0
Tennessee Tech 2 4 0  5 6 0
Morehead State 1 5 0  2 8 0
Austin Peay 1 5 0  2 9 0
  • + Conference co-champions
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1987 Southern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 2 Appalachian State $^  7 0     11 3  
No. 14 Marshall ^  4 2     10 5  
Furman  4 3     7 4  
Chattanooga  4 3     6 5  
VMI  2 4     4 7  
Western Carolina  2 4     4 7  
East Tennessee State  2 5     5 6  
The Citadel  1 5     4 7  
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
1987 Southland Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 3 Northeast Louisiana $^ 6 0 0  13 2 0
No. 19 Sam Houston State 5 1 0  8 3 0
No. 16 North Texas State ^ 5 1 0  7 5 0
Northwestern State 3 3 0  6 5 0
SW Texas State 2 4 0  4 7 0
Stephen F. Austin 1 5 0  3 7 1
McNeese State 1 5 0  2 9 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
  • Ranking is from the Sports Network Poll
1987 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 9 Jackson State $^ 7 0 0  8 3 1
Southern 5 2 0  7 4 0
Alcorn State 5 2 0  6 3 0
Alabama State 4 3 0  8 3 0
Grambling State 3 4 0  5 6 0
Texas Southern 3 4 0  5 6 0
Prairie View A&M 1 6 0  3 8 0
Mississippi Valley State 0 7 0  1 10 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from Div I-AA Football Committee poll
1987 Yankee Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 13 Maine +^ 6 1 0  8 4 0
No. 17 Richmond +^ 6 1 0  7 5 0
Connecticut 5 2 0  7 4 0
New Hampshire 4 3 0  7 3 0
Delaware 2 5 0  5 6 0
UMass 2 5 0  3 8 0
Boston University 2 5 0  3 8 0
Rhode Island 1 6 0  1 10 0
  • + Conference co-champions
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1987 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 6 Georgia Southern ^ 0 0 0  9 4 0
No. 8 James Madison ^ 0 0 0  9 3 0
No. 12 Arkansas State ^ 0 0 0  8 4 1
No. 11 Western Kentucky ^ 0 0 0  7 4 0
Villanova 0 0 0  6 4 0
Northeastern 0 0 0  6 5 0
Florida A&M 0 0 0  5 5 1
Nicholls State 0 0 0  5 5 1
William & Mary 0 0 0  5 6 0
Towson 0 0 0  4 6 0
Tennessee State 0 0 0  3 7 1
Lamar 0 0 0  3 8 0
Louisiana Tech 0 0 0  3 8 0
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from Div I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions

Conference Champions

Big Sky Conference – Idaho
Colonial League – Holy Cross
Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference – Northern Iowa
Ivy League – Harvard
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Howard
Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky and Youngstown State
Southern Conference – Appalachian State
Southland Conference – Northeast Louisiana
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State
Yankee Conference – Richmond

Postseason

Four teams were seeded in the 16-team bracket; Appalachian State, Northeast Louisiana, Northern Iowa, and Idaho, who were seeded first through fourth, respectively.[2] Undefeated and top-ranked Holy Cross,[3] featuring Heisman Trophy candidate Gordie Lockbaum, did not participate in the postseason, per the rules of their conference, the Colonial League[4] (known as the Patriot League since 1990).

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) conference champion Howard Bison, who finished their regular season with a 9–1 record but did not receive an invitation to the I-AA playoffs, filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and sought a temporary restraining order to delay the start of the playoffs.[5] The lawsuit asserted "unlawful and racially motivated reasons" for the team being passed over.[5] Two days later, the request for a temporary restraining order was rejected by United States federal judge John Garrett Penn.[6] Howard then advocated that they, plus three other teams, should be added to the second round of the playoffs; the proposal was rejected by the NCAA, who said that Howard had played a weak schedule.[7] In September 1989, MEAC stripped Howard of their 1987 conference championship, retroactively awarding it to Delaware State, after finding that Howard had used some players beyond their four years of NCAA eligibility.[8]

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

First Round
November 28
Campus sites
Quarterfinals
December 5
Campus sites
Semifinals
December 12
Campus sites
National Championship Game
December 19
Minidome
Pocatello, Idaho
        
Richmond 3
(1) Appalachian State* 20
(1) Appalachian State* 19
Georgia Southern 0
Maine 28
Georgia Southern* 31*
(1) Appalachian State* 10
Marshall 24
Weber State 59
(4) Idaho* 30
Weber State 23
Marshall* 51
James Madison 12
Marshall* 41
Marshall 42
(2) Northeast Louisiana 43
North Texas State 9
(2) Northeast Louisiana* 30
(2) Northeast Louisiana* 33
Eastern Kentucky 32
Western Kentucky 17
Eastern Kentucky* 40
(2) Northeast Louisiana* 44**
(3) Northern Iowa 41
Youngstown State 28
(3) Northern Iowa* 31
(3) Northern Iowa* 49
Arkansas State 28
Arkansas State 35
Jackson State* 32

* Next to team name denotes host institution
* Next to score denotes overtime periods

References

  1. "1987 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  2. "Southland foes meet in playoffs". The Town Talk. Alexandria, Louisiana. November 23, 1987. p. B-1. Retrieved February 13, 2019 via newspapers.com.
  3. "Div. I-AA poll". The San Francisco Examiner. November 24, 1987. p. F-6. Retrieved February 13, 2019 via newspapers.com.
  4. "Lockbaum now waits to hear from pros". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. AP. November 21, 1987. p. 12. Retrieved February 13, 2019 via newspapers.com.
  5. "Howard University files suit vs. NCAA". The Santa Fe New Mexican. AP. November 26, 1987. p. C-1. Retrieved February 13, 2019 via newspapers.com.
  6. "Judge Orders Playoffs In Division I-AA To Go On". St. Louis Post Dispatch. AP. November 28, 1997. p. 5C. Retrieved February 13, 2019 via newspapers.com.
  7. "Howard plans pursuing suit". Indianapolis News. December 1, 1987. p. B-6. Retrieved February 13, 2019 via newspapers.com.
  8. "MEAC strips Howard of Division I-AA title". Sun-Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. September 26, 1989. p. 2C. Retrieved February 13, 2019 via newspapers.com.
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