1982 represented the last major change in membership for a nearly decade until the 1993 I-AA season.
1982 I-AA (FCS) Over I-A (FBS) Victories (20)
- Kent State @ Marshall, 30-21
- Eastern Michigan @ Akron, 14-7
- Cal State Fullerton @ Boise State, 20-9
- New Mexico State @ Indiana State, 14-10
- Pacific @ Idaho, 36-17
- James Madison @ Virginia, 21-17
- Eastern Michigan @ Louisiana Tech, 49-12
- Louisiana-Monroe @ North Texas, 38-14
- Boise State @ Pacific, 22-15
- Indiana State @ Ball State, 17-0
- Arkansas State @ Louisiana, 20-13
- Furman @ South Carolina, 28-23
- Fresno State @ Nevada, 40-26
- Louisiana @ Texas-Arlington, 30-29
- Nevada @ Cal State Fullerton, 17-7
- North Texas @ West Texas A&M, 24-22
- Utah State @ Boise State, 30-10
- Temple @ Colgate, 24-17
- New Mexico State @ West Texas A&M, 30-28
- Louisiana Tech @ Southern Mississippi, 13-6
There was one tie between I-A and I-AA teams in 1982:
- Louisiana @ McNeese, 10-10
Playoff Bracket, Notes, and National Champion
The I-AA Playoffs expanded for the second year in a row from 8 to 12 teams with the top four seeds all receiving first-round byes. Campus sites were used for the first three rounds and the title game was played on December 18 at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas for the third time.
The home team is listed on 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. Eastern Kentucky (13-0 Overall, 7-0 Ohio Valley Conference) won their second I-AA/FCS title defeating the newly reclassified Delaware Blue Hens (12-2 Overall as I-AA Independent) by a score of 17-14.
Conference Changes
Three conferences were reclassified from I-A to I-AA status: the Ivy League, Southern Conference, and Southland Conference.
The seasons of 1982 through 1985 presented a unique scenario in the Missouri Valley Conference. Some teams were classified as I-A (New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State) while others were classified as I-AA (Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, and West Texas A&M). We decided to stay true to the classifications at the time with those considered I-AA showing up on the list for 1982.
Another oddity from the NCAA Handbook was that they have certain MAC schools such as Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Ohio, and Northern Illinois classified as I-AA schools for the 1982 season due to reclassification issues. However, the MAC teams did not participate in the I-AA Playoffs and sent Bowling Green to an I-A bowl game, thus we did not include those teams in the list of I-AA upsets.
Team Changes
North Texas was considered I-AA in the NCAA Handbook, however, they were not actually reclassified into I-AA status until 1983 due to financial issues. In any event, North Texas did not have any wins against I-A opponents in 1982.
The following teams reclassified to I-AA along with all or in part of their conference in 1982:
Ivy League: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale
Missouri Valley: Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, West Texas A&M
Southern Conference: Appalachian State, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Furman, Marshall, The Citadel, VMI, Western Carolina
Southland Conference: Arkansas State, Lamar, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, McNeese, Texas-Arlington (North Texas and Louisiana remained as 1-A).
Colgate, Holy Cross, Richmond, and William & Mary all moved from independent status at the I-A level to the same status in I-AA. Western Kentucky moved from the Ohio Valley to become an independent program.
Alabama State moved up from Division II independent into the SWAC. Georgia Southern returned to the football field with a club team.
Per usual, Akron is missing from the NCAA Handbook while both Alabama State and Davidson are missing from Wikipedia (yeah yeah, we know). North Texas is considered I-AA by the NCAA Handbook for 1982 while Georgia Southern restarted their program but only fielded a club team.
| Team | Old Conference | New Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama State | Division II Independent | SWAC (I-AA) |
| Appalachian State | Southern (I-A) | Southern (I-AA) |
| Arkansas State | Southland (I-A) | Southland (I-AA) |
| Brown | Ivy League (I-A) | Ivy League (I-AA) |
| Chattanooga | Southern (I-A) | Southern (I-AA) |
| Colgate | I-A Independent | I-AA Independent |
| Columbia | Ivy League (I-A) | Ivy League (I-AA) |
| Cornell | Ivy League (I-A) | Ivy League (I-AA) |
| Dartmouth | Ivy League (I-A) | Ivy League (I-AA) |
| Drake | Missouri Valley (I-A) | Missouri Valley (I-AA) |
| East Tennessee State | Southern (I-A) | Southern (I-AA) |
| Furman | Southern (I-A) | Southern (I-AA) |
| Georgia Southern | Restarted Program | I-AA Independent |
| Harvard | Ivy League (I-A) | Ivy League (I-AA) |
| Holy Cross | I-A Independent | I-AA Independent |
| Illinois State | Missouri Valley (I-A) | Missouri Valley (I-AA) |
| Indiana State | Missouri Valley (I-A) | Missouri Valley (I-AA) |
| Lamar | Southland (I-A) | Southland (I-AA) |
| Louisiana Tech | Southland (I-A) | Southland (I-AA) |
| Louisiana-Monroe (Northeast Louisiana) | Southland (I-A) | Southland (I-AA) |
| Marshall | Southern (I-A) | Southern (I-AA) |
| McNeese | Southland (I-A) | Southland (I-AA) |
| Penn | Ivy League (I-A) | Ivy League (I-AA) |
| Princeton | Ivy League (I-A) | Ivy League (I-AA) |
| Richmond | I-A Independent | I-AA Independent |
| Southern Illinois | Missouri Valley (I-A) | Missouri Valley (I-AA) |
| Texas-Arlington | Southland (I-A) | Southland (I-AA) |
| The Citadel | Southern (I-A) | Southern (I-AA) |
| VMI | Southern (I-A) | Southern (I-AA) |
| West Texas A&M | Missouri Valley (I-A) | Missouri Valley (I-AA) |
| Western Carolina | Southern (I-A) | Southern (I-AA) |
| Western Kentucky | Ohio Valley (I-AA) | I-AA Independent |
| William & Mary | I-A Independent | I-AA Independent |
| Yale | Ivy League (I-A) | Ivy League (I-AA) |
1981 Season ———————————————————————————————————————————————————- 1983 Season