1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season

1983 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	83
Duration	August–November
Playoff
Duration	November 27–December 17
Championship date	December 17, 1983
Championship site	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, South Carolina
Champion	Southern Illinois
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1982 1984»

The 1983 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 1983, and concluded with the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 17, 1983, at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina. The Southern Illinois Salukis won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Western Carolina Catamounts by a score of 43−7.

Conference changes and new programs

• The eight members of the Mid-American Conference temporarily relegated to Division I-AA for the 1982 season returned to Division I-A in 1983.

School	1982 Conference	1983 Conference
Ball State	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
Bowling Green	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
Eastern Michigan	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
Kent State	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
Miami (OH)	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
North Texas State	I-AA Independent	Southland
Northern Illinois	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
Ohio	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
Western Michigan	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)

Conference standings

1983 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 6 Eastern Illinois $^ 3 – 0 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 Southwest Missouri State 2 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Northern Iowa 1 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Western Illinois 0 – 3 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1983 Big Sky Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 11 Nevada* $^ 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 4 – 0 No. 12 Idaho State ^ 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 Idaho 4 – 3 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Boise State 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Weber State 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Montana 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Northern Arizona 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Montana State 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant * – Nevada was given a win on the Fremont Cannon after UNLV was forced to forfeit the game after an investigation found that ineligible players had participated in the 1983 and 1984 seasons. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll	1983 Ivy League football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Harvard + 5 – 1 – 1 6 – 2 – 2 Penn + 5 – 1 – 1 6 – 3 – 1 Brown 4 – 2 – 1 4 – 5 – 1 Dartmouth 4 – 2 – 1 4 – 5 – 1 Cornell 3 – 3 – 1 3 – 6 – 1 Princeton 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Columbia 1 – 5 – 1 1 – 7 – 2 Yale 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions
1983 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 18 South Carolina State $ 4 – 0 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Delaware State 3 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 1 Bethune–Cookman 1 – 3 – 0 4 – 4 – 1 North Carolina A&T 1 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 1 Howard 1 – 3 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 Florida A&M 0 – 0 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Florida A&M games did not count as conference games Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1983 Missouri Valley Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Tulsa $ 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 No. 1 Southern Illinois ^ 4 – 1 – 0 13 – 1 – 0 No. 5 Indiana State ^ 3 – 2 – 0 9 – 4 – 0 New Mexico State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Illinois State 2 – 2 – 1 6 – 4 – 1 Wichita State 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Drake 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 West Texas State 0 – 5 – 1 0 – 10 – 1 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA programs. New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State were I-A and the other teams were I-AA. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1983 Ohio Valley Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 8 Eastern Kentucky $^ 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 1 No. 16 Middle Tennessee 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Akron 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Murray State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Austin Peay 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Youngstown State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Tennessee Tech 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Morehead State 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1983 Southern Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Furman $^ 6 – 0 – 1 10 – 2 – 1 No. 9 Western Carolina ^ 5 – 0 – 1 11 – 3 – 1 Chattanooga 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Appalachian State 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Marshall 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 VMI 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 The Citadel 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 East Tennessee State 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1983 Southland Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 13 Northeast Louisiana + 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 No. 4 North Texas State +^ 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 McNeese State 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Arkansas State 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 1 UT Arlington 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Louisiana Tech 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Lamar 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1983 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 10 Grambling State $ 6 – 0 – 1 8 – 1 – 2 No. 15 Jackson State 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Southern 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 No. 19 Mississippi Valley State 4 – 2 – 1 7 – 2 – 1 Alcorn State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Texas Southern 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Alabama State 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Prairie View A&M 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1983 Yankee Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. T–13 Boston University +^ 4 – 1 – 0 9 – 4 – 0 Connecticut + 4 – 1 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 No. 20 New Hampshire 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Rhode Island 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 UMass 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Maine 0 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1983 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 Holy Cross ^   –   9 – 1 – 1 No. 17 Tennessee State   –   8 – 2 – 1 No. 7 Colgate ^   –   8 – 3 – 0 Lehigh   –   8 – 3 – 0 Lafayette   –   6 – 4 – 0 Northeastern   –   6 – 4 – 1 Southeastern Louisiana   –   6 – 5 – 0 William & Mary   –   6 – 5 – 0 Nicholls State   –   5 – 6 – 0 Bucknell   –   4 – 5 – 1 Delaware   –   4 – 7 – 0 Northwestern State   –   4 – 7 – 0 James Madison   –   3 – 8 – 0 Richmond   –   3 – 8 – 0 Western Kentucky   –   2 – 8 – 1 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions

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

Conference champions
Big Sky Conference – Nevada Ivy League – Harvard and Penn Mid-Continent Conference – Eastern Illinois Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky Southern Conference – Furman Southland Conference – North Texas State and Northeast Louisiana Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State Yankee Conference – Boston University and Connecticut

Postseason

The top four teams were seeded, and received first-round byes.

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

	First Round November 26 Campus sites					Quarterfinals December 3 Campus sites					Semifinals December 10 Campus sites					National Championship Game December 17 Neutral Site
						(1) Southern Illinois		23
	Indiana State		16**			Indiana State		7
	Eastern Illinois		13								(1) Southern Illinois		23
											Nevada		7
						(4) North Texas State		17
	Idaho State		20			Nevada		20*
	Nevada		27													(1) Southern Illinois		43
																Western Carolina		7
						(2) Holy Cross		21
	Western Carolina		24			Western Carolina		28
	Colgate		23								Western Carolina		14
											(3) Furman		7
						(3) Furman		35
	Eastern Kentucky		20			Boston University		16
	Boston University		24

* indicates overtime period