2000 NCAA Division I-AA football season

2000 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	121
Duration	August–November
Payton Award	Louis Ivory (RB, Furman)
Buchanan Award	Edgerton Hartwell (LB, Western Illinois)
Playoff
Duration	November 25–December 16
Championship date	December 16, 2000
Championship site	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee
Champion	Georgia Southern
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1999 2001»

The 2000 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I-AA level, began in August 2000, and concluded with the 2000 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 16, 2000, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Georgia Southern Eagles won their sixth I-AA championship, defeating the Montana Grizzlies by a score of 27–25.

Conference changes and new programs

School	1999 Conference	2000 Conference
Connecticut	Atlantic 10 (I-AA)	I-A Independent
Georgetown	MAAC	I-AA Independent
St. John's (NY)	I-AA Independent	Northeast

Conference standings

2000 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 3 Delaware +^   7 – 1     12 – 2   No. 6 Richmond +^   7 – 1     10 – 3   UMass   5 – 3     7 – 4   James Madison   4 – 4     6 – 5   New Hampshire   4 – 4     6 – 5   William & Mary   4 – 4     5 – 6   Maine   3 – 5     5 – 6   Villanova   3 – 5     5 – 6   Rhode Island   2 – 6     3 – 8   Northeastern   1 – 7     4 – 7   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2000 Big Sky Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 Montana $^   8 – 0     13 – 2   No. 15 Portland State ^   5 – 3     8 – 4   No. 18 Weber State   5 – 3     7 – 4   Sacramento State   5 – 3     7 – 4   Eastern Washington   5 – 3     6 – 5   Idaho State   4 – 4     6 – 5   Cal State Northridge   2 – 6     4 – 7   Northern Arizona   2 – 6     3 – 8   Montana State   0 – 8     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2000 Gateway Football Conference standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 12 Western Illinois $^   5 – 1     9 – 3   No. 11 Youngstown State ^   4 – 2     9 – 3   No. 24 Illinois State   4 – 2     7 – 4   No. 19 Northern Iowa   3 – 3     7 – 4   Southwest Missouri State   2 – 4     5 – 6   Southern Illinois   2 – 4     3 – 8   Indiana State   1 – 5     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2000 Ivy League football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Penn $   6 – 1     7 – 3   Cornell   5 – 2     5 – 5   Yale   4 – 3     7 – 3   Harvard   4 – 3     5 – 5   Princeton   3 – 4     3 – 7   Columbia   1 – 6     3 – 7   Dartmouth   1 – 6     2 – 8   Brown *   4 – 3     7 – 3   $ – Conference champion * Ineligible for conference championship	2000 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Duquesne $   7 – 0     10 – 1   Fairfield   6 – 1     8 – 2   Marist   5 – 2     6 – 4   La Salle   4 – 3     7 – 4   Iona   3 – 4     4 – 7   Saint Peter's   2 – 5     4 – 7   Siena   1 – 6     1 – 9   Canisius   0 – 7     0 – 10   $ – Conference champion	2000 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 14 Florida A&M $^   7 – 1     9 – 3   No. 20 Bethune–Cookman   6 – 2     9 – 2   No. 21 North Carolina A&T   6 – 2     8 – 3   Delaware State   5 – 3     7 – 4   Hampton   5 – 3     7 – 4   Howard   3 – 5     3 – 8   Norfolk State   2 – 6     3 – 8   South Carolina State   2 – 6     3 – 8   Morgan State   0 – 8     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2000 Northeast Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Robert Morris $   8 – 0     10 – 0   Sacred Heart   7 – 1     10 – 1   Wagner   6 – 2     6 – 5   Albany   5 – 3     5 – 6   Monmouth   4 – 4     5 – 6   Central Connecticut State   3 – 5     4 – 6   St. John's   2 – 6     5 – 6   Stony Brook   1 – 7     2 – 8   Saint Francis (PA)   0 – 8     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion	2000 Ohio Valley Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 5 Western Kentucky $^   7 – 0     11 – 2   No. 17 Eastern Illinois ^   6 – 1     8 – 4   No. 22 Tennessee Tech   5 – 2     8 – 3   Murray State   4 – 3     6 – 5   Eastern Kentucky   3 – 4     6 – 5   Tennessee State   2 – 5     3 – 8   Southeast Missouri State   1 – 6     3 – 8   Tennessee–Martin   0 – 7     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	2000 Patriot League football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 8 Lehigh $^   6 – 0     12 – 1   Colgate   4 – 2     7 – 4   Holy Cross   4 – 2     7 – 4   Towson   3 – 3     7 – 4   Bucknell   2 – 4     6 – 5   Fordham   1 – 5     3 – 8   Lafayette   1 – 5     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2000 Pioneer Football League standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Dayton +   3 – 1     8 – 3   Drake +   3 – 1     7 – 4   Valparaiso +   3 – 1     7 – 4   San Diego   1 – 3     4 – 6   Butler   0 – 4     2 – 8   + – Conference co-champions	2000 Southern Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 Georgia Southern $^   7 – 1     13 – 2   No. 4 Appalachian State ^   6 – 2     10 – 4   No. 10 Furman ^   6 – 2     9 – 3   No. 23 Wofford   5 – 3     7 – 4   East Tennessee State   4 – 4     6 – 5   Chattanooga   3 – 5     5 – 6   Western Carolina   3 – 5     4 – 7   The Citadel   1 – 7     2 – 9   VMI   1 – 7     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll	2000 Southland Football League standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 9 Troy State $^   7 – 0     10 – 2   No. 16 McNeese State ^   5 – 2     8 – 4   No. 25 Southwest Texas State   5 – 2     7 – 4   Sam Houston State   4 – 3     7 – 4   Stephen F. Austin   3 – 4     6 – 5   Jacksonville State   2 – 5     4 – 6   Northwestern State   1 – 6     4 – 7   Nicholls State   1 – 6     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Northwestern State forfeited conference wins over Troy State and Nicholls State. Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2000 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Alabama A&M xy   5 – 2     7 – 5   Alabama State x   5 – 2     6 – 5   Jackson State   4 – 3     7 – 4   Mississippi Valley State   1 – 6     2 – 9   Alcorn State   0 – 7     0 – 11   West Division No. 13 Grambling State xy$   6 – 1     10 – 2   Texas Southern   5 – 2     8 – 3   Arkansas–Pine Bluff   4 – 3     6 – 5   Southern   4 – 3     6 – 5   Prairie View A&M   1 – 6     1 – 10   Championship: Grambling State 14, Alabama A&M 6 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from The Sports Network Poll	2000 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Davidson   –     10 – 0   No. 7 Hofstra ^   –     9 – 4   Southern Utah   –     7 – 4   South Florida   –     7 – 4   Elon   –     7 – 4   Morehead State   –     6 – 3   Saint Mary's   –     6 – 5   Charleston Southern   –     5 – 6   Georgetown   –     5 – 6   Jacksonville   –     3 – 8   Samford   –     4 – 7   Cal Poly   –     3 – 8   Liberty   –     3 – 8   Austin Peay   –     2 – 9   ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Conference champions

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

Conference Champions

Atlantic 10 Conference – Delaware and Richmond Big Sky Conference – Montana Gateway Football Conference – Western Illinois Ivy League – Penn Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Duquesne Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Florida A&M Northeast Conference – Robert Morris Ohio Valley Conference – Western Kentucky Patriot League – Lehigh Pioneer Football League – Dayton and Valparaiso Southern Conference – Georgia Southern Southland Football League – Troy State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

	First Round November 25 Campus sites					Quarterfinals December 2 Campus sites					Semifinals December 9 Campus sites					National Championship Game December 16 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN
	1	Montana*	45
	16	Eastern Illinois	13
						1	Montana*	34
						8	Richmond	20
	8	Richmond*	10
	9	Youngstown State	3
											1	Montana*	19*
											13	Appalachian State	16
	5	Western Kentucky*	27
	12	Florida A&M	0
						5	Western Kentucky*	14
						13	Appalachian State	17
	4	Troy State*	30
	13	Appalachian State	33
																1	Montana	25
																3	Georgia Southern	27
	3	Georgia Southern*	42
	14	McNeese State	17
						3	Georgia Southern*	48
						11	Hofstra	20
	6	Furman*	24
	11	Hofstra	31
											3	Georgia Southern	27
											2	Delaware*	18
	7	Western Illinois*	7
	10	Lehigh	37
						10	Lehigh	22
						2	Delaware*	47
	2	Delaware*	49
	15	Portland State	14

* By team name denotes host institution
* By score denotes overtime
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