There was more movement in and out of the I-AA level to end the final season of the millennium.
1999 I-AA (FCS) Over I-A (FBS) Victories (7)
- Western Illinois @ Northern Illinois, 27-21
- Northern Iowa @ Ohio, 36-21
- Troy @ Cincinnati, 31-24
- Buffalo @ Connecticut, 23-0
- Troy @ Middle Tennessee, 48-31
- Furman @ North Carolina, 28-3
- Hofstra @ Buffalo, 20-13
Playoff Bracket, Notes, and National Champion
The I-AA playoffs remained the same for the fifth consecutive season. The NCAA seeded all 16 teams in the playoffs and they also kept campus sites through the semifinals. The National Championship was played on December 18 at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the third year in a row.
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. Georgia Southern (13-2 Overall, 7-1 Southern Conference) ended the decade in a familiar place as I-AA champs. It was their fifth since 1985 after they defeated Youngstown State (12-3 Overall, 5-1 Gateway Conference) with a crushing 59-24 victory.
Conference Changes
There were only two minor changes at the conference level. The SWAC split into East and West divisions while also instituting a conference championship. The Atlantic 10 Conference scrapped the unequal two divisions starting with the 1999 season.
Team Changes
Two teams decided to leave I-AA with Buffalo joining the MAC after previously being an I-AA independent and Middle Tennessee left the Ohio Valley Conference to become an I-A independent team. Western Kentucky, from I-AA independent status, replaced Middle Tennessee in the OVC.
Replacing the two newly departed teams at the I-AA level were Albany and Stony Brook from the Division II Eastern Football Conference. They both became members of the Northeast Conference. Two final changes were Saint John’s (NY) leaving the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) to become I-AA independent for a season while La Salle did the opposite as they jumped into the MAAC.
The NCAA had Alabama A&M and Elon both becoming fully I-AA eligible starting with the 1999 season while we had them listed in 1998 as transition teams.
| Team | Old Conference | New Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Albany | Eastern Football (Division II) | Northeast Conference (I-AA) |
| Buffalo | I-AA Independent | MAC (I-A) |
| La Salle | I-AA Independent | MAAC (I-AA) |
| Middle Tenenssee | Ohio Valley (I-AA) | I-A Independent |
| Saint John’s (NY) | MAAC (I-AA) | I-AA Independent |
| Stony Brook | Eastern Football (Division II) | Northeast Conference (I-AA) |
| Western Kentucky | I-AA Independent | Ohio Valley (I-AA) |
1998 Season ———————————————————————————————————————————————————- 2000 Season