The 1978 season significantly changed the landscape of Division I college football. 1978 marked the split of Division I into I-A and I-AA (later renamed FBS and FCS, respectively).
1978 I-AA (FCS) Over I-A (FBS) Victories (23)
- Cal State Fullerton @ Boise State, 42-12
- Lamar @ Northwestern State, 21-7
- Tennessee Tech @ Western Carolina, 22-20
- Long Beach State @ Boise State, 19-13
- Western Carolina @ East Tennessee State, 21-14
- Nevada @ UNLV, 23-14
- Western Kentucky @ Illinois State, 28-6
- Central Michigan @ Alcorn State, 24-16
- Colgate @ Lehigh, 38-7
- McNeese @ Northwestern State, 10-7
- Rhode Island @ Brown, 17-3
- Boston University @ Dartmouth, 20-17
- San Jose State @ Boise State, 30-15
- Nevada @ Cal State Fullerton, 37-14
- Penn @ Lafayette, 20-19
- Lehigh @ VMI, 14-10
- East Tennessee State @ Appalachian State, 35-34
- Holy Cross @ Boston University, 15-7
- Colgate @ Bucknell, 7-0
- Massachusetts @ Holy Cross, 33-8
- Montana State @ Fresno State, 35-14
- Weber State @ Utah State, 44-25
- Boston College @ Massachusetts, 27-0
There was one tie between I-A and I-AA teams in 1978:
- Middle Tennessee @ Chattanooga, 14-14
Playoff Bracket, Notes, and National Champion
Four teams were in the 1978 I-AA Playoffs and were separated into East, West, South, and at-large. Florida A&M was the at-large team, Jackson State out of the SWAC in the South, Massachusetts from the Yankee Conference in the East, and Nevada represented the West as an I-AA independent. The National Championship was played at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas, on December 17, 1978.
The home team is listed at the bottom of each matchup in the bracket below, while an asterisk (*) denotes the number of overtime periods played if a game went to overtime. Florida A&M Rattlers (12-1 Overall, 5-0 in the Division II SIAC) defeated Massachusetts (9-4 Overall, 5-0 Yankee Conference) 35-28 in the inaugural I-AA/FCS championship game.
Conference Changes
Five conferences plus numerous independents comprised the inaugural I-AA season in 1978. They were the Big Sky Conference, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Ohio Valley Conference, Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), and the Yankee Conference.
Team Changes
One of the difficulties when researching the 1978 season was determining which teams were actually I-AA and which were Division II. For example, Florida A&M was technically I-AA but played its conference games against Division II opponents. Further research showed that Florida A&M played in the Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), but was considered I-AA as the NCAA granted them Division I status. A full list of I-A and I-AA teams for the 1978 season can be found here, sans FAMU.
The same is true for Davidson, which was considered I-AA at the time, but is nowhere to be found. Even a trip to the Davidson record book online does not explicitly state which conference or even division the Wildcats were part of. We consider Davidson I-AA starting in 1978, and they are included in the FCS-FBS matchups.
Another issue is the MEAC and SWAC. Several members in the 1978 and 1979 seasons were not considered I-AA members by the NCAA’s handbook, such as Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State, and North Carolina Central. Those three were considered Division II programs at the time. The same is true for the SWAC’s Mississippi Valley State and Prairie View A&M. Both SWAC schools were still considered Division II in 1979. All five are not included in the list of I-AA teams for the 1978 season.
Outside the obvious changes and difficulties with the split of Division I, six teams moved to I-AA independent status. Northwestern State went from Division I-A to I-AA status. Five schools went from Division II Independent status to I-AA Independent status: Bucknell, Lafayette, Lehigh, Nevada, and Portland State.
| Team | Old Conference | New Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Alcorn State | SWAC (D-I) | SWAC (I-AA) |
| Austin Peay | Ohio Valley (D-II) | Ohio Valley (I-AA) |
| Boise State | Big Sky (D-II) | Big Sky (I-AA) |
| Boston University | Yankee (D-II) | Yankee (I-AA) |
| Bucknell | Division II Independent | I-AA Independent |
| Connecticut | Yankee (D-II) | Yankee (I-AA) |
| Davidson | Southern (D-I) | Southern (I-AA) |
| Delaware State | MEAC (D-II) | MEAC (I-AA) |
| Eastern Kentucky | Ohio Valley (D-II) | Ohio Valley (I-AA) |
| Florida A&M | SIAC (Division II) | I-AA (Unaffiliated) |
| Grambling State | SWAC (D-I) | SWAC (I-AA) |
| Howard | MEAC (D-II) | MEAC (I-AA) |
| Idaho | Big Sky (D-II) | Big Sky (I-AA) |
| Idaho State | Big Sky (D-II) | Big Sky (I-AA) |
| Jackson State | SWAC (D-I) | SWAC (I-AA) |
| Lafayette | Division II Independent | I-AA Independent |
| Lehigh | Division II Independent | I-AA Independent |
| Maine | Yankee (D-II) | Yankee (I-AA) |
| Massachusetts | Yankee (D-II) | Yankee (I-AA) |
| Middle Tennessee | Ohio Valley (D-II) | Ohio Valley (I-AA) |
| Montana | Big Sky (D-II) | Big Sky (I-AA) |
| Montana State | Big Sky (D-II) | Big Sky (I-AA) |
| Morehead State | Ohio Valley (D-II) | Ohio Valley (I-AA) |
| Murray State | Ohio Valley (D-II) | Ohio Valley (I-AA) |
| Nevada | Division II Independent | I-AA Independent |
| New Hampshire | Yankee (D-II) | Yankee (I-AA) |
| North Carolina A&T | MEAC (D-II) | MEAC (I-AA) |
| Northeastern | Division II Independent | I-AA Independent |
| Northern Arizona | Big Sky (D-II) | Big Sky (I-AA) |
| Northwestern State | Division I Independent | I-AA Independent |
| Portland State | Division II Independent | I-AA Independent |
| Rhode Island | Yankee (D-II) | Yankee (I-AA) |
| South Carolina State | MEAC (D-II) | MEAC (I-AA) |
| Southern | SWAC (D-I) | SWAC (I-AA) |
| Tennessee Tech | Ohio Valley (D-II) | Ohio Valley (I-AA) |
| Texas Southern | SWAC (D-I) | SWAC (I-AA) |
| Weber State | Big Sky (D-II) | Big Sky (I-AA) |
| Western Kentucky | Ohio Valley (D-II) | Ohio Valley (I-AA) |
1977 D-I —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 1979 Season