1988 NCAA Division I-AA football season

The 1988 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 1988, and concluded with the 1988 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 17, 1988, at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho. The Furman Paladins won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Georgia Southern Eagles by a score of 17−12.[1]

1988 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams88
DurationAugust–November
Payton AwardDave Meggett (RB, Towson State)
Playoff
DurationNovember 26–December 17
Championship dateDecember 17, 1988
Championship siteHolt Arena
Pocatello, Idaho
ChampionFurman
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons

Conference changes and new programs

edit
School 1987 Conference 1988 Conference
Liberty D-II Independent I-AA Independent
Tennessee State I-AA Independent Ohio Valley
Villanova I-AA Independent Yankee
Youngstown State Ohio Valley I-AA Independent

Conference standings

edit
1988 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Idaho $^ 7 1 0 11 2 0
No. 16 Montana ^ 6 2 0 8 4 0
No. 12 Boise State ^ 5 3 0 8 4 0
Nevada 4 4 0 7 4 0
Northern Arizona 4 4 0 6 5 0
Weber State 4 4 0 5 6 0
Montana State 4 4 0 4 7 0
Eastern Washington 2 6 0 2 8 0
Idaho State 0 8 0 0 11 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll
1988 Colonial League football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Lafayette $ 5 0 0 8 2 1
No. 19 Holy Cross 3 1 0 9 2 0
Lehigh 2 3 0 6 5 0
Bucknell 2 3 0 3 7 0
Colgate 2 3 0 2 9 0
Davidson 0 4 0 0 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Western Illinois $^ 6 0 0 10 2 0
Southwest Missouri State 4 2 0 5 5 0
Indiana State 4 2 0 5 6 0
Northern Iowa 3 3 0 5 6 0
Eastern Illinois 2 4 0 5 6 0
Southern Illinois 2 4 0 4 7 0
Illinois State 0 6 0 1 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 Ivy League football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Penn + 6 1 0 9 1 0
Cornell + 6 1 0 7 2 1
Princeton 4 3 0 6 4 0
Dartmouth 4 3 0 5 5 0
Yale 3 3 1 3 6 1
Columbia 2 5 0 2 8 0
Harvard 2 5 0 2 8 0
Brown 0 6 1 0 9 1
  • + – Conference co-champions
1988 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Bethune–Cookman $ 4 2 0 5 6 0
No. 18 Florida A&M 4 2 0 6 4 1
Delaware State 4 2 0 5 5 0
Howard 3 3 0 7 4 0
South Carolina State 3 3 0 4 7 0
North Carolina A&T 2 4 0 2 9 0
Morgan State 0 6 0 1 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Both Delaware State and Florida A&M received forfeit losses for the same game. Bethune–Cookman was awarded the conference title, although the MEAC website lists Bethune, Delaware State, and Florida A&M as co-champions.[2]
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Eastern Kentucky $^ 6 0 0 11 3 0
No. 17 Middle Tennessee 4 2 0 7 4 0
Murray State 4 2 0 4 6 0
Tennessee State 2 4 0 3 7 1
Austin Peay 2 4 0 3 8 0
Morehead State 2 4 0 3 8 0
Tennessee Tech 1 5 0 1 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Furman +^ 6 1 0 13 2 0
No. 6 Marshall +^ 6 1 0 11 2 0
No. 14 The Citadel ^ 5 2 0 8 4 0
Appalachian State 4 3 0 6 4 1
Chattanooga 3 3 0 4 7 0
VMI 1 5 0 2 9 0
East Tennessee State 1 6 0 2 9 0
Western Carolina 1 6 0 2 9 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 Southland Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 Northwestern State $^ 6 0 0 10 3 0
No. 9 Stephen F. Austin ^ 5 1 0 10 3 0
No. 10 North Texas ^ 4 2 0 8 4 0
McNeese State 3 3 0 6 5 0
Northeast Louisiana 2 4 0 5 6 0
SW Texas State 1 5 0 4 7 0
Sam Houston State 0 6 0 3 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Jackson State $^ 7 0 0 8 1 2
No. 20 Grambling State 5 2 0 8 3 0
Alabama State 4 3 0 7 3 0
Alcorn State 4 3 0 6 4 0
Southern 4 3 0 6 5 0
Prairie View A&M 3 4 0 5 5 0
Mississippi Valley State 1 6 0 3 8 0
Texas Southern 0 7 0 0 11 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 Yankee Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. T–10 UMass +^ 6 2 0 8 4 0
No. 15 Delaware +^ 6 2 0 7 5 0
Connecticut 4 4 0 7 4 0
Maine 4 4 0 7 4 0
New Hampshire 4 4 0 6 5 0
Villanova 4 4 0 5 5 1
Boston University 3 5 0 4 7 0
Rhode Island 3 5 0 3 8 0
Richmond 2 6 0 4 7 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Georgia Southern ^     10 2 0
No. 13 Western Kentucky ^     9 4 0
Liberty     8 3 0
Nicholls State     7 4 0
William & Mary     6 4 1
Towson     5 5 0
Arkansas State     5 6 0
James Madison     5 6 0
Louisiana Tech     4 7 0
Northeastern     4 7 0
Youngstown State     4 7 0
Lamar     3 8 0
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions

edit
Conference Champions

Big Sky Conference – Idaho
Colonial League – Lafayette
Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference – Western Illinois
Ivy League – Cornell and Penn
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Bethune-Cookman, Delaware State, and Florida A&M
Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky
Southern Conference – Furman and Marshall
Southland Conference – Northwestern State
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State
Yankee Conference – Delaware and Massachusetts

Postseason

edit

The top four teams were seeded, and thus assured of home games in the first round.[3]

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
Holt Arena
Pocatello, Idaho
        
Montana 19
(1) Idaho* 38
(1) Idaho* 38
Northwestern State 30
Northwestern State 22
Boise State* 13
(1) Idaho 7
(4) Furman* 38
Delaware 7
(4) Furman* 21
(4) Furman 13
Marshall* 9
North Texas 0
Marshall* 7
(4) Furman 17
(2) Georgia Southern 12
The Citadel 20
(2) Georgia Southern* 38
(2) Georgia Southern* 27
Stephen F. Austin 6
Jackson State 0
Stephen F. Austin* 24
(2) Georgia Southern* 21
Eastern Kentucky 17
Western Kentucky 35
(3) Western Illinois* 32
Western Kentucky 24
Eastern Kentucky* 41
UMass 17
Eastern Kentucky* 28

* Next to team name denotes host institution
Source:[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "1988 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  2. ^ https://meacsports.com/sports/2012/7/13/205502278.aspx
  3. ^ Hardesty, Abe (November 21, 1988). "Citadel, Furman get I-AA berths". The Greenville News. Greenville, South Carolina. p. 5D. Retrieved April 27, 2019 – via newspapers.com.