1986 NCAA Division I-AA football season

The 1986 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 1986, and concluded with the 1986 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 19, 1986,[1][2] at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. The Georgia Southern Eagles won their second consecutive I-AA championship, defeating the Arkansas State Indians (now Red Wolves) by a final score of 48–21.[3]

1986 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Duration	August–November
Playoff
Duration	November 29–December 19
Championship date	December 19, 1986
Championship site	Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington
Champion	Georgia Southern
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1985 1987»

Conference changes and new programs

• Prior to the season, the Colonial League, now known as the Patriot League, was established as a six-member, football-only league for teams in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. The Colonial League, however, was totally separate from the current Colonial Athletic Association.
• Prior to the 1986 season, the Gateway Conference was formed out of the four remaining members of the disbanded Association of Mid-Continent Universities (Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Western Illinois, Southwest Missouri State) and two former members of the Missouri Valley Conference (Illinois State and Southern Illinois). The MVC stopped sponsoring football after the 1985 season.

School	1985 Conference	1986 Conference
Bucknell	I-AA Independent	Colonial
Colgate	I-AA Independent	Colonial
Delaware	I-AA Independent	Yankee
Drake	Missouri Valley	Dropped Program
Eastern Illinois	AMCU	Gateway
Florida A&M	I-AA Independent	MEAC
Holy Cross	I-AA Independent	Colonial
Illinois State	Missouri Valley	Gateway
Indiana State	I-AA Independent	Gateway
Lafayette	I-AA Independent	Colonial
Lehigh	I-AA Independent	Colonial
Northern Iowa	AMCU	Gateway
Richmond	I-AA Independent	Yankee
Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	Gateway
Southwest Missouri State	AMCU	Gateway
Texas–Arlington	Southland	Dropped Program
Western Illinois	AMCU	Gateway
West Texas State	Missouri Valley	Division II

Conference standings

1986 Big Sky Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 1 Nevada $^ 7 – 0 – 0     13 – 1 – 0 No. 16 Idaho ^ 5 – 2 – 0     8 – 4 – 0 Northern Arizona 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Montana* 4 – 4 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Boise State 3 – 4 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Weber State 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Montana State 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Idaho State* 1 – 7 – 0     2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant * – Montana and Idaho State played twice. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll	1986 Colonial League football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 5 Holy Cross $ 4 – 0 – 0     10 – 1 – 0 Lafayette 2 – 2 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Lehigh 2 – 2 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Colgate 1 – 3 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Bucknell 1 – 3 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion Davidson (0–9) was a Colonial League member but did not participate in league play. It competed in the Southern Conference, though it did play non-league games against Bucknell and Lafayette. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1986 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 3 Eastern Illinois $^ 5 – 1 – 0     11 – 2 – 0 No. 17 Southern Illinois 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Northern Iowa 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 1 Illinois State 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Western Illinois 2 – 4 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 SW Missouri State 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Indiana State 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 Gulf Star Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 11 Sam Houston State $^ 3 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 No. 12 Nicholls State ^ 2 – 2 – 0     10 – 3 – 0 Northwestern State 2 – 2 – 0     5 – 5 – 1 Southwest Texas State 2 – 2 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Stephen F. Austin 1 – 3 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1986 Ivy League football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 7 Penn $ 7 – 0 – 0     10 – 0 – 0 Cornell 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Brown 4 – 2 – 1     5 – 4 – 1 Dartmouth 3 – 3 – 1     3 – 6 – 1 Harvard 3 – 4 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Yale 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Princeton 2 – 5 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 Columbia 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1986 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 20 North Carolina A&T $^ 4 – 1 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 Howard 3 – 2 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Delaware State 3 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 South Carolina State 3 – 2 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Bethune–Cookman 2 – 3 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Morgan State 0 – 5 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1986 Ohio Valley Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 10 Eastern Kentucky ^ 6 – 1 – 0     10 – 3 – 1 No. 18 Murray State $^ 6 – 1 – 0     7 – 4 – 1 Akron 4 – 3 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Middle Tennessee State 4 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Morehead State 3 – 4 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Austin Peay 3 – 4 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Youngstown State 2 – 5 – 0     2 – 9 – 0 Tennessee Tech 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1986 Southern Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 6 Appalachian State $^ 6 – 0 – 1     9 – 2 – 1 Western Carolina 5 – 2 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 No. 15 Furman ^ 4 – 2 – 1     7 – 3 – 2 East Tennessee State 4 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Marshall 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 1 Chattanooga 2 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 VMI 1 – 5 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 The Citadel 0 – 6 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Davidson 0 – 6 – 0     0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant	1986 Southland Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 2 Arkansas State $^ 5 – 0 – 0     12 – 2 – 1 North Texas State 3 – 2 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Louisiana Tech 3 – 2 – 0     6 – 4 – 1 Northeast Louisiana 3 – 2 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 McNeese State 1 – 4 – 0     2 – 9 – 0 Lamar 0 – 5 – 0     2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Ranking is from the Sports Network Poll
1986 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 9 Jackson State $^ 7 – 0 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 Alcorn State 5 – 2 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Grambling State 4 – 3 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Southern 4 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 1 Mississippi Valley State 3 – 3 – 1     4 – 4 – 1 Alabama State 2 – 5 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Texas Southern 1 – 5 – 1     2 – 8 – 1 Prairie View A&M 1 – 6 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from Div I-AA Football Committee poll	1986 Yankee Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 13 Delaware +^ 5 – 2 – 0     9 – 4 – 0 No. 19 Connecticut + 5 – 2 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 UMass + 5 – 2 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 New Hampshire 4 – 3 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Maine 3 – 4 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Richmond 3 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Boston University 3 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Rhode Island 0 – 7 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1986 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 4 Georgia Southern ^ 0 – 0 – 0     13 – 2 – 0 No. 14 Tennessee State ^ 0 – 0 – 0     10 – 2 – 1 No. 8 William & Mary ^ 0 – 0 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 Eastern Washington 0 – 0 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 James Madison 0 – 0 – 0     5 – 5 – 1 Florida A&M 0 – 0 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Northeastern 0 – 0 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Western Kentucky 0 – 0 – 0     4 – 6 – 1 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from Div I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions

See also: List of NCAA Division I-AA/FCS football seasons

Conference Champions

Big Sky Conference – Nevada Colonial League – Holy Cross Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference – Eastern Illinois Ivy League – Penn Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina A&T Ohio Valley Conference – Murray State Southern Conference – Appalachian State Southland Conference – Arkansas State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State Yankee Conference – Connecticut, Delaware, and Massachusetts

Postseason

The playoffs expanded from twelve to sixteen teams this season, eliminating the bye for the top four seeds.

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

The top four teams were seeded,[4] with remaining teams placed in the bracket based on geographical considerations.

	First Round November 29 Campus Sites					Quarterfinals December 6 Campus Sites					Semifinals December 13 Campus Sites					National Championship Game December 19 [1][2] Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington
		Idaho	7
	1	Nevada*	27
						1	Nevada*	33
							Tennessee State	6
	Tennessee State		32
	Jackson State*		23
											1	Nevada*	38
											4	Georgia Southern	48
		North Carolina A&T	21
	4	Georgia Southern*	52
						4	Georgia Southern*	55
							Nicholls State	31
	Nicholls State		28
	Appalachian State*		26
																4	Georgia Southern	48
																2	Arkansas State	21
		Sam Houston State	7
	2	Arkansas State*	48
						2	Arkansas State	55
							Delaware*	14
	Delaware		51
	William & Mary*		21
											2	Arkansas State*	24
												Eastern Kentucky	10
		Murray State	21
	3	Eastern Illinois*	28
						3	Eastern Illinois*	22
							Eastern Kentucky	24
	Eastern Kentucky		23
	Furman*		10

* Denotes host institution

References

1. "Georgia Southern goes for 2nd-straight title". The News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. AP. December 19, 1986. p. 5C. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
2. "Georgia Southern wins I-AA football crown". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. December 20, 1986. p. 1B. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
3. "1986 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
4. "I-AA playoffs". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. November 24, 1986. p. C5. Retrieved February 6, 2019 – via newspapers.com.