Major General James G. Blunt

The 1998 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 1998, and concluded with the 1998 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 19, 1998, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The UMass Minutemen won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Georgia Southern Eagles by a score of 55−43.^[1]

Conference changes and new programs

School	1997 Conference	1998 Conference
Boston University	Atlantic 10	Dropped Program
Evansville	Pioneer	Dropped Program
Jacksonville	New Program	I-AA Independent
Sacred Heart	Eastern (D-II)	Northeast

Conference standings

1998 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
New England Division
No. 1 UMass x^	6	–	2	12	–	3
No. 9 Connecticut x^	6	–	2	10	–	3
Maine	3	–	5	6	–	5
New Hampshire	3	–	5	4	–	7
Rhode Island	2	–	6	3	–	8
Mid-Atlantic Division
No. 10 Richmond x$^	7	–	1	9	–	3
No. 23 Delaware	4	–	4	7	–	4
Villanova	4	–	4	6	–	5
No. 17 William & Mary	4	–	4	7	–	4
Northeastern	3	–	5	5	–	6
James Madison	2	–	6	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1998 Big Sky Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 15 Montana $^	6	–	2	8	–	4
Cal State Northridge	5	–	3	7	–	4
No. 25 Montana State	5	–	3	7	–	4
Weber State	4	–	4	6	–	5
Eastern Washington	4	–	4	5	–	6
Portland State	4	–	4	5	–	6
Northern Arizona	3	–	5	6	–	5
Sacramento State	3	–	5	5	–	6
Idaho State	2	–	6	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1998 Gateway Football Conference standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Western Illinois $^	5	–	1	11	–	3
No. 16 Illinois State ^	4	–	2	8	–	4
Northern Iowa	3	–	3	7	–	4
Youngstown State	3	–	3	6	–	5
Southwest Missouri State	3	–	3	5	–	6
Indiana State	2	–	4	5	–	6
Southern Illinois	1	–	5	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1998 Ivy League football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Penn $	6	–	1	8	–	2
Brown	5	–	2	7	–	3
Yale	5	–	2	6	–	4
Princeton	4	–	3	5	–	5
Columbia	3	–	4	4	–	6
Harvard	3	–	4	4	–	6
Cornell	1	–	6	4	–	6
Dartmouth	1	–	6	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion

1998 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Fairfield +	7	–	1	9	–	2
Georgetown +	7	–	1	9	–	2
Duquesne	6	–	2	8	–	3
Marist	6	–	2	7	–	3
St. John's	4	–	4	6	–	5
Iona	2	–	6	4	–	6
Siena	2	–	6	3	–	6
Canisius	2	–	6	3	–	7
Saint Peter's	0	–	8	0	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions

1998 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 5 Florida A&M +^	7	–	1	11	–	2
No. 11 Hampton +^	7	–	1	9	–	3
No. 18 Bethune–Cookman	6	–	2	8	–	3
North Carolina A&T	5	–	3	8	–	3
Howard	5	–	3	7	–	4
South Carolina State	3	–	5	5	–	6
Norfolk State	2	–	6	2	–	9
Morgan State	1	–	7	1	–	10
Delaware State	0	–	8	0	–	11

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1998 Northeast Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Monmouth +	4	–	1	5	–	5
Robert Morris +	4	–	1	4	–	6
Wagner	3	–	2	7	–	3
Central Connecticut	3	–	2	4	–	6
Sacred Heart	1	–	4	2	–	8
Saint Francis (PA)	0	–	5	0	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions

1998 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 12 Tennessee State $^	6	–	1	9	–	3
No. 24 Murray State	5	–	2	7	–	4
Middle Tennessee	5	–	2	5	–	5
Eastern Illinois	4	–	3	6	–	5
Eastern Kentucky	4	–	3	6	–	5
Tennessee Tech	2	–	5	4	–	7
Southeast Missouri State	2	–	5	3	–	8
Tennessee–Martin	0	–	7	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1998 Patriot League football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 7 Lehigh $^	6	–	0	12	–	1
No. 21 Colgate ^	5	–	1	8	–	4
Bucknell	3	–	3	6	–	5
Lafayette	3	–	3	3	–	8
Fordham	2	–	4	4	–	7
Towson	1	–	5	5	–	6
Holy Cross	1	–	5	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1998 Pioneer Football League standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Drake $	4	–	0	7	–	3
Dayton	3	–	1	6	–	4
Valparaiso	2	–	2	5	–	6
Butler	1	–	3	4	–	6
San Diego	0	–	4	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion

1998 Southern Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Georgia Southern $^	8	–	0	14	–	1
No. 6 Appalachian State ^	6	–	2	10	–	3
Western Carolina	5	–	3	6	–	5
Chattanooga	4	–	4	5	–	6
The Citadel	4	–	4	5	–	6
East Tennessee State	3	–	5	4	–	7
Wofford	3	–	5	4	–	7
Furman	3	–	5	5	–	6
VMI	0	–	8	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll

1998 Southland Football League standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Northwestern State $^	6	–	1	11	–	3
No. 8 McNeese State ^	5	–	2	9	–	3
No. 13 Troy State ^	5	–	2	8	–	4
Jacksonville State	4	–	3	7	–	4
Nicholls State	3	–	4	4	–	7
Southwest Texas State	2	–	5	4	–	7
Stephen F. Austin	2	–	5	3	–	8
Sam Houston State	1	–	6	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

1998 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 14 Southern $	8	–	0	9	–	3
Jackson State	7	–	1	7	–	4
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	6	–	2	8	–	3
Texas Southern	4	–	4	6	–	5
Grambling State	4	–	4	5	–	6
Alabama State	3	–	5	5	–	6
Alcorn State	3	–	5	5	–	6
Mississippi Valley State	1	–	7	1	–	10
Prairie View A&M	0	–	8	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion Alabama A&M was an affiliate member, so its games did not count in the official standings. Rankings from The Sports Network Poll

1998 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Morehead State		–		9	–	2
Davidson		–		8	–	2
No. 20 Hofstra		–		8	–	3
No. 22 South Florida		–		8	–	3
No. 19 Western Kentucky		–		7	–	4
Samford		–		6	–	5
Liberty		–		5	–	6
Southern Utah		–		5	–	6
Austin Peay		–		4	–	7
Buffalo		–		4	–	7
Jacksonville		–		4	–	5
La Salle		–		3	–	6
Cal Poly		–		3	–	8
Charleston Southern		–		3	–	8
Saint Mary's		–		2	–	8

Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Conference champions

Conference Champions
Atlantic 10 Conference – Richmond Big Sky Conference – Montana Gateway Football Conference – Western Illinois Ivy League – Penn Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Fairfield and Georgetown Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Florida A&M and Hampton Northeast Conference – Monmouth and Robert Morris Ohio Valley Conference – Tennessee State Patriot League – Lehigh Pioneer Football League – Drake Southern Conference – Georgia Southern Southland Football League – Northwestern State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Southern

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

First Round November 28 Campus sites			Quarterfinals December 4–5 Campus sites			Semifinals December 12 Campus sites			National Championship Game December 19 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN

1	Georgia Southern*	49

16	Colgate	28
			1	Georgia Southern*	52

			8	Connecticut	30
8	Connecticut*	42

9	Hampton	34
						1	Georgia Southern*	42

						4	Western Illinois	14
5	Florida A&M*	27

12	Troy State	17
			5	Florida A&M	21

			4	Western Illinois*	24
4	Western Illinois*	52

13	Montana	9
									1	Georgia Southern	43

									11	UMass	55
3	Richmond*	23

14	Lehigh	24
			14	Lehigh	21

			11	UMass*	27
6	McNeese State*	19

11	UMass	21
						11	UMass	41

						2	Northwestern State*	31
7	Appalachian State*	45

10	Tennessee State	31
			7	Appalachian State	20

			2	Northwestern State*	31
2	Northwestern State*	48

15	Illinois State	28

* Denotes host institution
Source:^[2]

References

^ "1998 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 16. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
^ "Division I-AA playoffs". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. November 23, 1998. p. D5. Retrieved February 8, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

[1] "1998 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 16. Retrieved December 29, 2013.

[2] "Division I-AA playoffs". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. November 23, 1998. p. D5. Retrieved February 8, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

[1]

[2]

NCAA football seasons
Pre-NCAA	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905
NCAA pre-divisional	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
NCAA University Division	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division I	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
NCAA College Division	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division II	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
NCAA Division III	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024