The 1993 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 1993, and concluded with the 1993 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 18, 1993, at Marshall University Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia. The Youngstown State Penguins won their second I-AA championship, defeating the Marshall Thundering Herd by a score of 17−5.[1] It was the third consecutive year that Marshall and Youngstown State faced off in the I-AA title game.
A 1991 NCAA rule change required athletic programs maintain all of their sports at the same division level by the 1993 season. As such, many Division I programs with football teams at the Division II and Division III levels were forced to upgrade their programs to the Division I-AA level.
The rule change directly led to the establishment of the Pioneer Football League, a non-scholarship football conference at the Division I-AA level with six founding members, all formerly in Division III: Butler, Dayton, Drake, Evansville, San Diego, and Valparaiso.
It also led to the creation of the American West Conference, initially a football-only conference at the Division I-AA level with five founding members, all formerly in Division II: UC Davis, Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Sacramento State, and Southern Utah.[2]
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, an existing Division I conference, also began sponsoring football in order to accommodate these new I-AA football programs.
Note: The UC Davis Aggies, although a member of the new American West Conference, were listed in Division II polls,[3] and participated in the Division II postseason.[4]
Conference standings[]
1993 American West Conference football standings
v
t
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
T
W
L
T
No. 7 UC Davis +^
3
–
1
–
0
10
–
2
–
0
Southern Utah +
3
–
1
–
0
3
–
7
–
1
Sacramento State
2
–
2
–
0
4
–
6
–
0
Cal Poly
1
–
3
–
0
6
–
4
–
0
Cal State Northridge
1
–
3
–
0
4
–
6
–
0
+ – Conference co-champions
^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Although UC Davis was a conference member, they participated in NCAA Division II polls and postseason.
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
See also: List of NCAA Division I-AA/FCS football seasons
Conference champions
American West Conference – Southern Utah and UC Davis
Big Sky Conference – Montana
Gateway Football Conference – Northern Iowa
Ivy League – Penn Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Iona
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Howard
Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky
Patriot League – Lehigh Pioneer Football League – Dayton
Southern Conference – Georgia Southern
Southland Conference – McNeese State
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Southern
Yankee Conference – Boston University
Postseason[]
NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket[]
Only the top four teams in the field were seeded, with the NCAA placing others teams in the bracket to avoid early round matchups between teams from the same conference.[5] This was the first season that the NCAA did not use an in-house poll process for I-AA ranking purposes; independent polling by The Sports Network wire service was used.[6] The site of the title game, Marshall University Stadium, had been predetermined months earlier.[7]
^Senior, Ryan (July 16, 1993). "Cal Poly moving to Division I". Santa Maria Times. Santa Maria, California. p. C-1. Retrieved February 10, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
^"College polls, NCAA Division II". Waterloo Courier. Waterloo, Iowa. November 2, 1993. p. D2. Retrieved February 10, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
^"NCAA Division II Playoffs". St. Louis Post Dispatch. November 28, 1993. p. 8F. Retrieved February 10, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
^Fairbank, Dave (November 23, 1993). "Many factors put W&M on the road". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. D3. Retrieved February 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
