1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season

1981 NCAA Division I-AA season
Duration	August – November 1981
Playoff
Duration	December 5–19, 1981
Championship site	Memorial Stadium, Wichita Falls, TX
Champion	Idaho State Bengals
Division I-AA football season
«1980 1982»

The 1981 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 Football Championship Subdivision level, began in August 1981, and concluded with the National Championship Game of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on December 19, 1981, at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Idaho State Bengals won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Eastern Kentucky Colonels by a final score of 34−23.

Conference changes and new programs

• Prior to the 1981 season, the Mid-Continent Conference was shifted from Division II to Division I-AA; its four members, Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Western Illinois, and Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State), all made the transition.
  • Northern Michigan and Youngstown State, who had been members of the Mid-Continent the previous season, departed the league before the shift.
• After the 1981 season, three conferences, and all of their members, were shifted from Division I-A to Division I-AA: the Ivy League, the Southern Conference, and the Southland Conference

School	1980 Conference	1981 Conference
Portland State	I-AA Independent	D-II Independent
Tennessee State	I-A Independent	I-AA Independent
Youngstown State	Mid-Continent (D-II)	Ohio Valley (I-AA)

Conference standings

1981 Big Sky football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #2 Idaho State $ 6 – 1 – 0     12 – 1 – 0 #5 Boise State 6 – 1 – 0     10 – 3 – 0 Montana 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Nevada 4 – 3 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Weber State 4 – 3 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Northern Arizona 2 – 5 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Montana State 1 – 6 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Idaho 0 – 7 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion Idaho State earned automatic berth in NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship. Boise State earned at-large berth in NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA poll (released before championship playoffs)	Template:1981 MEAC football standings	Template:1981 Ohio Valley football standings
Template:1981 SWAC football standings	1981 Yankee Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Rhode Island +^ 4 – 1 – 0     6 – 6 – 0 UMass + 4 – 1 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Boston University 3 – 2 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 #10 New Hampshire 2 – 3 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Connecticut 1 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Maine 1 – 4 – 0     3 – 7 – 1 + – Conference co-champions ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA I-AA Poll	1981 Division I-AA independent football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Delaware ^   –       9 – 3 – 0 Lafayette   –       9 – 2 – 0 Tennessee State ^   –       9 – 3 – 0 SE Louisiana   –       8 – 3 – 0 Lehigh   –       8 – 3 – 0 Nicholls State   –       5 – 5 – 1 Northwestern State   –       4 – 6 – 0 Bucknell   –       4 – 6 – 0 James Madison   –       3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant

Conference champions

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

Conference champions
Big Sky Conference – Idaho State Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State Yankee Conference – Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

	First Round December 5 Campus Sites					Semifinals December 12 Campus Sites					National Championship Game December 19 Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, TX
	Delaware		28
	Eastern Kentucky*		35
						Eastern Kentucky		23
						Boise State*		17
	Boise State		19
	Jackson State*		7
											Eastern Kentucky		23
											Idaho State		34
	Rhode Island		0
	Idaho State*		51
						Idaho State*		41
						South Carolina State		12
	Tennessee State		25
	South Carolina State* (OT)		26

* Denotes host institution