1987 NCAA Division I-AA football season

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-AA level, began in August 1987, and concluded with the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 19, 1987, at the Minidome in Pocatello, Idaho. The Northeast Louisiana Indians (known as the Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks since 2006) won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Marshall Thundering Herd by a final score of 43–42.[1]

1987 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Duration	August–November
Payton Award	Kenny Gamble (RB, Colgate)
Playoff
Duration	November 28–December 19
Championship date	December 19, 1987
Championship site	Minidome Pocatello, Idaho
Champion	Northeast Louisiana
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1986 1988»

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 Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 5 Idaho $^ 7 – 1 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 No. 10 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 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll	1987 Colonial League football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 1 Holy Cross $ 4 – 0 – 0     11 – 0 – 0 Lehigh 3 – 1 – 1     5 – 5 – 1 Colgate 2 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Lafayette 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Bucknell 1 – 3 – 1     4 – 5 – 1 Davidson 0 – 3 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1987 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 4 Northern Iowa $^ 6 – 0 – 0     10 – 4 – 0 Western Illinois 5 – 1 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Eastern Illinois 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 SW Missouri State 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Indiana State 2 – 4 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Southern Illinois 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Illinois State 0 – 6 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1987 Ivy League football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Harvard $ 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Brown 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Yale 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Princeton 4 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Cornell 4 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Penn 3 – 4 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Dartmouth 1 – 6 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 Columbia 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1987 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 20 Delaware State $ 5 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 No. 18 Howard 4 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 South Carolina State 3 – 2 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Bethune–Cookman 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 North Carolina A&T 1 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Morgan State 0 – 5 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 Florida A&M 0 – 0 – 0     5 – 5 – 1 $ – Conference champion Florida A&M games did not count as conference games in 1987; records adjusted for Howard and Arkansas Pine–Bluff forfeits to Delaware State Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1987 Ohio Valley Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 7 Eastern Kentucky +^ 5 – 1 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 No. 15 Youngstown State +^ 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 4 – 0 Middle Tennessee State 4 – 2 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Murray State 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Tennessee Tech 2 – 4 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Morehead State 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 Austin Peay 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1987 Southern Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   No. 2 Appalachian State $^   7 – 0         11 – 3   No. 14 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 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant	1987 Southland Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 3 Northeast Louisiana $^ 6 – 0 – 0     13 – 2 – 0 No. 19 Sam Houston State 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 No. 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 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Ranking is from the Sports Network Poll	1987 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 9 Jackson State $^ 7 – 0 – 0     8 – 3 – 1 Southern 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Alcorn State 5 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Alabama State 4 – 3 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Grambling State 3 – 4 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Texas Southern 3 – 4 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Prairie View A&M 1 – 6 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Mississippi Valley State 0 – 7 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from Div I-AA Football Committee poll
1987 Yankee Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 13 Maine +^ 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 4 – 0 No. 17 Richmond +^ 6 – 1 – 0     7 – 5 – 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 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1987 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 6 Georgia Southern ^ 0 – 0 – 0     9 – 4 – 0 No. 8 James Madison ^ 0 – 0 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 No. 12 Arkansas State ^ 0 – 0 – 0     8 – 4 – 1 No. 11 Western Kentucky ^ 0 – 0 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Villanova 0 – 0 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Northeastern 0 – 0 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Florida A&M 0 – 0 – 0     5 – 5 – 1 Nicholls State 0 – 0 – 0     5 – 5 – 1 William & Mary 0 – 0 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Towson 0 – 0 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Tennessee State 0 – 0 – 0     3 – 7 – 1 Lamar 0 – 0 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Louisiana Tech 0 – 0 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 ^ – 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 – 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

Four teams were seeded in the 16-team bracket; Appalachian State, Northeast Louisiana, Northern Iowa, and Idaho, who were seeded first through fourth, respectively.[2] Undefeated and top-ranked Holy Cross,[3] featuring Heisman Trophy candidate Gordie Lockbaum, did not participate in the postseason, per the rules of their conference, the Colonial League[4] (known as the Patriot League since 1990).

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) conference champion Howard Bison, who finished their regular season with a 9–1 record but did not receive an invitation to the I-AA playoffs, filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and sought a temporary restraining order to delay the start of the playoffs.[5] The lawsuit asserted "unlawful and racially motivated reasons" for the team being passed over.[5] Two days later, the request for a temporary restraining order was rejected by United States federal judge John Garrett Penn.[6] Howard then advocated that they, plus three other teams, should be added to the second round of the playoffs; the proposal was rejected by the NCAA, who said that Howard had played a weak schedule.[7] In September 1989, MEAC stripped Howard of their 1987 conference championship, retroactively awarding it to Delaware State, after finding that Howard had used some players beyond their four years of NCAA eligibility.[8]

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 Minidome Pocatello, Idaho
	Richmond	3
	(1) Appalachian State*	20
					(1) Appalachian State*	19
					Georgia Southern	0
	Maine	28
	Georgia Southern*	31*
									(1) Appalachian State*	10
									Marshall	24
	Weber State	59
	(4) Idaho*	30
					Weber State	23
					Marshall*	51
	James Madison	12
	Marshall*	41
													Marshall	42
													(2) Northeast Louisiana	43
	North Texas State	9
	(2) Northeast Louisiana*	30
					(2) Northeast Louisiana*	33
					Eastern Kentucky	32
	Western Kentucky	17
	Eastern Kentucky*	40
									(2) Northeast Louisiana*	44**
									(3) Northern Iowa	41
	Youngstown State	28
	(3) Northern Iowa*	31
					(3) Northern Iowa*	49
					Arkansas State	28
	Arkansas State	35
	Jackson State*	32

* Next to team name denotes host institution
* Next to score denotes overtime periods

References

1. "1987 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
2. "Southland foes meet in playoffs". The Town Talk. Alexandria, Louisiana. November 23, 1987. p. B-1. Retrieved February 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
3. "Div. I-AA poll". The San Francisco Examiner. November 24, 1987. p. F-6. Retrieved February 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
4. "Lockbaum now waits to hear from pros". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. AP. November 21, 1987. p. 12. Retrieved February 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
5. "Howard University files suit vs. NCAA". The Santa Fe New Mexican. AP. November 26, 1987. p. C-1. Retrieved February 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
6. "Judge Orders Playoffs In Division I-AA To Go On". St. Louis Post Dispatch. AP. November 28, 1997. p. 5C. Retrieved February 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
7. "Howard plans pursuing suit". Indianapolis News. December 1, 1987. p. B-6. Retrieved February 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
8. "MEAC strips Howard of Division I-AA title". Sun-Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. September 26, 1989. p. 2C. Retrieved February 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.