1987 NCAA Division I-AA football season

1987 NCAA Division I-AA season
Duration	August – November 1987
Playoff
Duration	November 28 – December 19, 1987
Championship site	Mini Dome, Pocatello, ID
Champion	Northeast Louisiana Indians
Payton Award	Kenny Gamble – RB (Colgate)
Division I-AA football season
«1986 1988»

The 1987 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 Football Championship Subdivision level, began in August 1987, and concluded with the National Championship Game of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on December 19, 1987, at the Mini Dome in Pocatello, Idaho. The Northeast Louisiana Indians (now known as the Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks) won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Marshall Thundering Herd by a final score of 43-42.^[1]

Conference changes and new programs

• The Gulf Star Conference folded after the 1986 season when four of its founding members, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, Southwest Texas State, and Stephen F. Austin, joined the Southland Conference. The Gulf Star's remaining football member, Nicholls State, opted to become an Independent. Three former Southland Conference members, Arkansas State, Lamar, and Louisiana Tech, moved to D-IAA Independent status following their joining the newly formed, non-football, American South Conference as charter members.

School	1986 Conference	1987 Conference
Akron	Ohio Valley	Independent (I-A)
Arkansas State	Southland	I-AA Independent
Davidson	Southern	Colonial
Eastern Washington	I-AA Independent	Big Sky
Lamar	Southland	I-AA Independent
Louisiana Tech	Southland	I-AA Independent
Nicholls State	Gulf Star	I-AA Independent
Northwestern State	Gulf Star	Southland
Sam Houston State	Gulf Star	Southland
Southwest Texas State	Gulf Star	Southland
Stephen F. Austin	Gulf Star	Southland
Towson State	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent

Conference standings

1987 Big Sky football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Idaho $^ 7 – 1 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 Weber State ^ 7 – 1 – 0     10 – 3 – 0 Montana 5 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Boise State 4 – 4 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Nevada 4 – 4 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Northern Arizona 4 – 4 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Idaho State 3 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 1 Eastern Washington 2 – 6 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Montana State 0 – 8 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Idaho earned automatic berth and Weber State earned at-large berth in I-AA playoffs.	Template:1987 Colonial League football standings	Template:1987 Ivy League football standings
Template:1987 Gateway football standings	Template:1987 MEAC football standings	Template:1987 Ohio Valley football standings
1987 Southern Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Appalachian State $^   7 – 0         11 – 3   Marshall ^   4 – 2         10 – 5   Furman   4 – 3         7 – 4   Chattanooga   4 – 3         6 – 5   VMI   2 – 4         4 – 7   Western Carolina   2 – 4         4 – 7   East Tennessee State   2 – 5         5 – 6   The Citadel   1 – 5         4 – 7   $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant	1987 Southland Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #3 Northeast Louisiana $^ 6 – 0 – 0     13 – 2 – 0 #19 Sam Houston State 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 #16 North Texas State ^ 5 – 1 – 0     7 – 5 – 0 Northwestern State 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 SW Texas State 2 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Stephen F. Austin 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 1 McNeese State 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Ranking is from the Sports Network Poll	Template:1987 SWAC football standings
1987 Yankee Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #17 Richmond +^ 6 – 1 – 0     7 – 5 – 0 #13 Maine +^ 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 4 – 0 Connecticut 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 New Hampshire 4 – 3 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Delaware 2 – 5 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 UMass 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Boston University 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Rhode Island 1 – 6 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA I-AA Poll	Template:1987 Division I-AA independent football standings

Conference champions

Conference Champions
Big Sky Conference – Idaho Colonial League – Holy Cross Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference – Northern Iowa Ivy League – Harvard Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Howard Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky and Youngstown State Southern Conference – Appalachian State Southland Conference – Northeast Louisiana Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State Yankee Conference – Richmond

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

	First Round November 28 Campus Sites				Quarterfinals December 5 Campus Sites				Semifinals December 12 Campus Sites				National Championship Game December 19 Mini Dome – Pocatello, ID
	Richmond	3
	Appalachian State*	20
					Appalachian State*	19
					Georgia Southern	0
	Maine	28
	Georgia Southern*	31*
									Appalachian State*	10
									Marshall	24
	Weber State	59
	Idaho*	30
					Weber State	23
					Marshall*	51
	James Madison	12
	Marshall*	41
													Marshall	42
													Northeast Louisiana	43
	North Texas	9
	Northeast Louisiana*	30
					Northeast Louisiana*	33
					Eastern Kentucky	32
	Western Kentucky	17
	Eastern Kentucky*	40
									Northeast Louisiana*	44**
									Northern Iowa	41
	Youngstown State	28
	Northern Iowa*	31
					Northern Iowa*	49
					Arkansas State	28
	Arkansas State	35
	Jackson State*	32

* Next to team name denotes host institution

* Next to score denotes host overtime periods

References

1. "1987 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 26, 2013.