1986 NCAA Division I-AA football season

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1986 NCAA Division I-AA season
NCAA logo.svg
Regular season
DurationAugust–November
Playoff
DurationNovember 29–December 19
Championship dateDecember 19, 1986
Championship siteTacoma Dome
Tacoma, Washington
ChampionGeorgia Southern
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
1987»

The 1986 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 1986, and concluded with the 1986 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 19, 1986,[1][2] at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. The Georgia Southern Eagles won their second consecutive I-AA championship, defeating the Arkansas State Indians by a score of 48–21.[3]

Conference changes and new programs[]

  • Prior to the season, the Colonial League, now known as the Patriot League, was established as a six-member, football-only league for teams in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. The Colonial League, however, was totally separate from the current Colonial Athletic Association.
  • Prior to the 1986 season, the Gateway Conference was formed out of the four remaining members of the disbanded Association of Mid-Continent Universities (Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Western Illinois, Southwest Missouri State) and two former members of the Missouri Valley Conference (Illinois State and Southern Illinois). The MVC stopped sponsoring football after the 1985 season.
School 1985 Conference 1986 Conference
Bucknell I-AA Independent Colonial
Colgate I-AA Independent Colonial
Delaware I-AA Independent Yankee
Drake Missouri Valley Dropped Program
Eastern Illinois AMCU Gateway
Florida A&M I-AA Independent MEAC
Holy Cross I-AA Independent Colonial
Illinois State Missouri Valley Gateway
Indiana State I-AA Independent Gateway
Lafayette I-AA Independent Colonial
Lehigh I-AA Independent Colonial
Northern Iowa AMCU Gateway
Richmond I-AA Independent Yankee
Southern Illinois Missouri Valley Gateway
Southwest Missouri State AMCU Gateway
Texas–Arlington Southland Dropped Program
Western Illinois AMCU Gateway
West Texas State Missouri Valley Division II

Conference standings[]

1986 Big Sky Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Nevada $^ 7 – 0 – 0 13 – 1 – 0
No. 16 Idaho ^ 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Northern Arizona 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Montana* 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Boise State 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Weber State 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Montana State 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Idaho State* 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
  • * – Montana and Idaho State played twice.
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll
1986 Colonial League football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Holy Cross $ 4 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 0
Lafayette 2 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Lehigh 2 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Colgate 1 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Bucknell 1 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Davidson (0–9) was a Colonial League member but did not participate in league play. It competed in the Southern Conference, though it did play non-league games against Bucknell and Lafayette.
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Eastern Illinois $^ 5 – 1 – 0 11 – 2 – 0
No. 17 Southern Illinois 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Northern Iowa 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 1
Illinois State 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Western Illinois 2 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
SW Missouri State 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Indiana State 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 Gulf Star Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 11 Sam Houston State $^ 3 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
No. 12 Nicholls State ^ 2 – 2 – 0 10 – 3 – 0
Northwestern State 2 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 1
Southwest Texas State 2 – 2 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Stephen F. Austin 1 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 Ivy League football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Penn $ 7 – 0 – 0 10 – 0 – 0
Cornell 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Brown 4 – 2 – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Dartmouth 3 – 3 – 1 3 – 6 – 1
Harvard 3 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Yale 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Princeton 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Columbia 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 20 North Carolina A&T $^ 4 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Howard 3 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Delaware State 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
South Carolina State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Bethune–Cookman 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Morgan State 0 – 5 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Eastern Kentucky ^ 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 3 – 1
No. 18 Murray State $^ 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 1
Akron 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Middle Tennessee 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Morehead State 3 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Austin Peay 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Youngstown State 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Tennessee Tech 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 Southern Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Appalachian State $^ 6 – 0 – 1 9 – 2 – 1
Western Carolina 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
No. 15 Furman ^ 4 – 2 – 1 7 – 3 – 2
East Tennessee State 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Marshall 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 1
Chattanooga 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
VMI 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
The Citadel 0 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Davidson 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
1986 Southland Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Arkansas State $^ 5 – 0 – 0 12 – 2 – 1
North Texas State 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Louisiana Tech 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 1
Northeast Louisiana 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
McNeese State 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Lamar 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 9 Jackson State $^ 7 – 0 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Alcorn State 5 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Grambling State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Southern 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 1
Mississippi Valley State 3 – 3 – 1 4 – 4 – 1
Alabama State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Texas Southern 1 – 5 – 1 2 – 8 – 1
Prairie View A&M 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from Div I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 Yankee Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 13 Delaware +^ 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 4 – 0
No. 19 Connecticut + 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
UMass + 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
New Hampshire 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Maine 3 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Richmond 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Boston University 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Rhode Island 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Georgia Southern ^   –   13 – 2 – 0
No. 14 Tennessee State ^   –   10 – 2 – 1
No. 8 William & Mary ^   –   9 – 3 – 0
Eastern Washington   –   5 – 5 – 0
James Madison   –   5 – 5 – 1
Florida A&M   –   4 – 6 – 0
Northeastern   –   4 – 6 – 0
Western Kentucky   –   4 – 6 – 1
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions[]

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

Big Sky Conference – Nevada
Colonial League – Holy Cross
Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference – Eastern Illinois
Ivy League – Penn
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina A&T
Ohio Valley Conference – Murray State
Southern Conference – Appalachian State
Southland Conference – Arkansas State
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State
Yankee Conference – Connecticut, Delaware, and Massachusetts

Postseason[]

The playoffs expanded from twelve to sixteen teams this season, eliminating the bye for the top four seeds.

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket[]

The top four teams were seeded,[4] with remaining teams placed in the bracket based on geographical considerations.

First Round
November 29
Campus sites 		Quarterfinals
December 6
Campus sites 		Semifinals
December 13
Campus sites 		National Championship Game
December 19 [1][2]
Tacoma Dome
Tacoma, Washington
            
Idaho 7
1 Nevada* 27
1 Nevada* 33
Tennessee State 6
Tennessee State 32
Jackson State* 23
1 Nevada* 38
4 Georgia Southern 48
North Carolina A&T 21
4 Georgia Southern* 52
4 Georgia Southern* 55
Nicholls State 31
Nicholls State 28
Appalachian State* 26
4 Georgia Southern 48
2 Arkansas State 21
Sam Houston State 7
2 Arkansas State* 48
2 Arkansas State 55
Delaware* 14
Delaware 51
William & Mary* 21
2 Arkansas State* 24
Eastern Kentucky 10
Murray State 21
3 Eastern Illinois* 28
3 Eastern Illinois* 22
Eastern Kentucky 24
Eastern Kentucky 23
Furman* 10

* Denotes host institution

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Georgia Southern goes for 2nd-straight title". The News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. AP. December 19, 1986. p. 5C. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b "Georgia Southern wins I-AA football crown". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. December 20, 1986. p. 1B. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "1986 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  4. ^ "I-AA playoffs". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. November 24, 1986. p. C5. Retrieved February 6, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
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