1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season

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1983 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams83
DurationAugust–November
Playoff
DurationNovember 27–December 17
Championship dateDecember 17, 1983
Championship siteJohnson Hagood Stadium
Charleston, South Carolina
ChampionSouthern Illinois
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons

The 1983 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 1983, and concluded with the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 17, 1983, at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina. The Southern Illinois Salukis won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Western Carolina Catamounts by a score of 43−7.[1]

Conference changes and new programs[edit]

  • The eight members of the Mid-American Conference temporarily relegated to Division I-AA for the 1982 season returned to Division I-A in 1983.
School 1982 Conference 1983 Conference
Ball State MAC (I-AA) MAC (I-A)
Bowling Green MAC (I-AA) MAC (I-A)
Eastern Michigan MAC (I-AA) MAC (I-A)
Kent State MAC (I-AA) MAC (I-A)
Miami (OH) MAC (I-AA) MAC (I-A)
North Texas State I-AA Independent Southland
Northern Illinois MAC (I-AA) MAC (I-A)
Ohio MAC (I-AA) MAC (I-A)
Western Michigan MAC (I-AA) MAC (I-A)

Conference standings[edit]

1983 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Eastern Illinois $^ 3 0 0 9 3 0
Southwest Missouri State 2 1 0 6 5 0
Northern Iowa 1 2 0 6 5 0
Western Illinois 0 3 0 3 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1983 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 11 Nevada* $^ 6 1 0 10 4 0
No. 12 Idaho State ^ 5 2 0 8 4 0
Idaho 4 3 0 8 3 0
Boise State 4 3 0 6 5 0
Weber State 3 4 0 6 5 0
Montana 3 4 0 4 6 0
Northern Arizona 2 5 0 4 7 0
Montana State 1 6 0 1 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
  • * – Nevada was given a win on the Fremont Cannon after UNLV was forced to forfeit the game after an investigation found that ineligible players had participated in the 1983 and 1984 seasons.
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll
1983 Ivy League football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Harvard + 5 1 1 6 2 2
Penn + 5 1 1 6 3 1
Brown 4 2 1 4 5 1
Dartmouth 4 2 1 4 5 1
Cornell 3 3 1 3 6 1
Princeton 2 5 0 4 6 0
Columbia 1 5 1 1 7 2
Yale 1 6 0 1 9 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1983 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 18 South Carolina State $ 4 0 0 7 3 0
Delaware State 3 1 0 7 3 1
Bethune–Cookman 1 3 0 4 4 1
North Carolina A&T 1 3 0 3 7 1
Howard 1 3 0 1 9 0
Florida A&M 0 0 0 7 4 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
  • Florida A&M games did not count as conference games
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1983 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Tulsa $ 5 0 0 8 3 0
No. 1 Southern Illinois ^ 4 1 0 13 1 0
No. 5 Indiana State ^ 3 2 0 9 4 0
New Mexico State 3 2 0 5 6 0
Illinois State 2 2 1 6 4 1
Wichita State 3 3 0 3 8 0
Drake 1 6 0 1 10 0
West Texas State 0 5 1 0 10 1
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
  • The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA programs. New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State were I-A and the other teams were I-AA.
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1983 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 Eastern Kentucky $^ 6 1 0 7 2 1
No. 16 Middle Tennessee 5 2 0 8 2 0
Akron 5 2 0 8 3 0
Murray State 4 3 0 7 4 0
Austin Peay 3 4 0 6 5 0
Youngstown State 2 5 0 4 7 0
Tennessee Tech 2 5 0 2 8 0
Morehead State 1 6 0 2 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1983 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Furman $^ 6 0 1 10 2 1
No. 9 Western Carolina ^ 5 0 1 11 3 1
Chattanooga 5 2 0 7 4 0
Appalachian State 4 3 0 6 5 0
Marshall 3 4 0 4 7 0
VMI 1 5 0 2 9 0
The Citadel 1 6 0 3 8 0
East Tennessee State 1 6 0 3 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1983 Southland Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 13 Northeast Louisiana + 5 1 0 8 3 0
No. 4 North Texas State +^ 5 1 0 8 4 0
McNeese State 3 3 0 6 5 0
Arkansas State 3 3 0 5 5 1
Texas–Arlington 2 4 0 5 6 0
Louisiana Tech 2 4 0 4 7 0
Lamar 1 5 0 2 9 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1983 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Grambling State $ 6 0 1 8 1 2
No. 15 Jackson State 5 2 0 8 3 0
Southern 5 2 0 7 4 0
No. 19 Mississippi Valley State 4 2 1 7 2 1
Alcorn State 4 3 0 7 3 0
Texas Southern 2 5 0 4 6 0
Alabama State 0 6 0 2 9 0
Prairie View A&M 0 6 0 0 11 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1983 Yankee Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. T–13 Boston University +^ 4 1 0 9 4 0
Connecticut + 4 1 0 5 6 0
No. 20 New Hampshire 3 2 0 7 3 0
Rhode Island 2 3 0 6 4 0
UMass 2 3 0 3 8 0
Maine 0 5 0 4 6 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1983 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Holy Cross ^     9 1 1
No. 17 Tennessee State     8 2 1
No. 7 Colgate ^     8 3 0
Lehigh     8 3 0
Lafayette     6 4 0
Northeastern     6 4 1
Southeastern Louisiana     6 5 0
William & Mary     6 5 0
Nicholls State     5 6 0
Bucknell     4 5 1
Delaware     4 7 0
Northwestern State     4 7 0
James Madison     3 8 0
Richmond     3 8 0
Western Kentucky     2 8 1
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions[edit]

Conference champions

Big Sky Conference – Nevada
Ivy League – Harvard and Penn
Mid-Continent Conference – Eastern Illinois
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State
Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky
Southern Conference – Furman
Southland Conference – North Texas State and Northeast Louisiana
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State
Yankee Conference – Boston University and Connecticut

Postseason[edit]

The top four teams were seeded, and received first-round byes.[2]

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket[edit]

First Round
November 26
Campus sites
Quarterfinals
December 3
Campus sites
Semifinals
December 10
Campus sites
National Championship Game
December 17
Neutral Site
(1) Southern Illinois 23
Indiana State 16** Indiana State 7
Eastern Illinois 13 (1) Southern Illinois 23
Nevada 7
(4) North Texas State 17
Idaho State 20 Nevada 20*
Nevada 27 (1) Southern Illinois 43
Western Carolina 7
(2) Holy Cross 21
Western Carolina 24 Western Carolina 28
Colgate 23 Western Carolina 14
(3) Furman 7
(3) Furman 35
Eastern Kentucky 20 Boston University 16
Boston University 24

* indicates overtime period

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1983 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  2. ^ Sutton, Stan (November 21, 1983). "Eastern, minus a bye, to face Boston U. in playoff opener". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. D1. Retrieved May 8, 2019 – via newspapers.com.