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1979 NCAA Division I-AA football season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1979 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams42
DurationAugust–November
Playoff
DurationDecember 8–December 15
Championship dateDecember 15, 1979
Championship siteOrlando Stadium
Orlando, Florida
ChampionEastern Kentucky
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons

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]

Conference changes and new programs

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School 1978 Conference 1979 Conference
East Tennessee State Ohio Valley (I-AA) Southern (I-A)
Nevada I-AA Independent Big Sky

Conference standings

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1979 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   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
No. T–10 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 on probation
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA AP Poll
1979 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   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
Team W   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   T W   L   T
No. 6 Alcorn State + 5 1 0 8 2 0
No. 1 Grambling State + 5 1 0 8 3 0
No. 8 Jackson State 4 2 0 8 3 0
No. T–10 Southern 4 2 0 7 4 0
Mississippi Valley State 2 4 0 4 5 0
Texas Southern 1 5 0 3 8 0
Prairie View A&M 0 6 0 0 11 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from Associated Press poll
1979 Yankee Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   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
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Lehigh ^     10 3 0
Florida A&M     7 4 0
Portland State     6 5 0
Lafayette     5 3 2
Bucknell     4 4 2
Northwestern State     3 6 0
Northeastern     3 7 0
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from Associated Press poll

Conference champions

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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

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NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

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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

See also

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References

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  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.