1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season

The 1997 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 1997, and concluded with the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 20, 1997, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Youngstown State Penguins won their fourth I-AA championship, defeating the McNeese State Cowboys by a score of 10−9.

1997 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	120
Duration	August–November
Payton Award	Brian Finneran (WR, Villanova)
Buchanan Award	Chris McNeil (DE, North Carolina A&T)
Playoff
Duration	November 29–December 20
Championship date	December 20, 1997
Championship site	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee
Champion	Youngstown State
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1996 1998»

Conference changes and new programs

• Prior to the 1997 season, the Atlantic 10 Conference began to sponsor football at the Division I-AA level by taking over the football-only Yankee Conference, which had been a charter member of the subdivision. All 12 members (Boston University, Connecticut, Delaware, James Madison, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Rhode Island, Richmond, Villanova, and William & Mary) moved into the new conference.

School	1996 Conference	1997 Conference
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	Independent (NAIA)	SWAC (I-AA)
Austin Peay	Ohio Valley	I-AA Independent
Jacksonville State	I-AA Independent	Southland
La Salle	New Program	I-AA Independent
Marshall	Southern (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
Norfolk State	CIAA (D-II)	MEAC (I-AA)
South Florida	New Program	I-AA Independent
Towson State	I-AA Independent	Patriot
Wofford	I-AA Independent	Southern
Youngstown State	I-AA Independent	Gateway

Conference standings

1997 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   New England Division New Hampshire x   5 – 3     5 – 6   Connecticut   4 – 4     7 – 4   Maine   4 – 4     5 – 6   Rhode Island   2 – 6     2 – 9   Boston University   1 – 7     1 – 10   UMass   1 – 7     2 – 9   Mid-Atlantic Division No. 1 Villanova x$^   8 – 0     12 – 1   No. 3 Delaware ^   7 – 1     12 – 2   No. 20 Northeastern   5 – 3     8 – 3   Richmond   4 – 4     6 – 5   William & Mary   4 – 4     7 – 4   James Madison   3 – 5     5 – 6   $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	1997 Big Sky Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 6 Eastern Washington $^   7 – 1     12 – 2   No. 11 Montana ^   6 – 2     8 – 4   Montana State   5 – 3     6 – 5   Northern Arizona   4 – 4     6 – 5   Weber State   4 – 4     6 – 5   Cal State Northridge   4 – 4     4 – 8   Portland State   3 – 5     4 – 7   Idaho State   2 – 6     3 – 8   Sacramento State   1 – 7     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Cal State Northridge record includes two losses by forfeit Rankings from The Sports Network poll	1997 Gateway Football Conference standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 Western Illinois $^   6 – 0     11 – 2   Northern Iowa   5 – 1     7 – 4   No. 4 Youngstown State ^   4 – 2     13 – 2   Southwest Missouri State   3 – 3     5 – 6   Indiana State   2 – 4     3 – 8   Southern Illinois   1 – 5     3 – 8   Illinois State   0 – 6     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll
1997 Ivy League football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Harvard $   7 – 0     9 – 1   Dartmouth   6 – 1     8 – 2   Brown   4 – 3     7 – 3   Cornell   4 – 3     6 – 4   Princeton   3 – 4     6 – 4   Columbia   3 – 4     4 – 6   Yale   1 – 6     2 – 8   Penn *   0 – 7     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion * Standings reflect Penn's forfeit of five conference wins due to use of an ineligible player	1997 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Georgetown $   7 – 0     8 – 3   Duquesne   6 – 1     7 – 3   Fairfield   4 – 3     7 – 3   Siena   4 – 3     6 – 3   Marist   4 – 3     6 – 4   Canisius   2 – 5     3 – 7   Saint Peter's   1 – 6     1 – 9   St. John's   0 – 0     8 – 3   Iona   0 – 7     0 – 10   $ – Conference champion	1997 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 9 Hampton $^   7 – 0     10 – 2   No. 22 South Carolina State   5 – 2     9 – 2   No. 10 Florida A&M ^   5 – 2     9 – 3   Howard   4 – 3     7 – 4   North Carolina A&T   3 – 4     7 – 4   Morgan State   2 – 5     3 – 7   Bethune–Cookman   1 – 6     4 – 7   Delaware State   1 – 6     3 – 8   Norfolk State   0 – 0     3 – 7   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Norfolk State games did not count as conference games. Rankings from The Sports Network poll
1997 Northeast Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Robert Morris $   4 – 0     8 – 3   Monmouth   3 – 1     5 – 4   Wagner   2 – 2     6 – 4   Central Connecticut State   1 – 3     5 – 5   Saint Francis (PA)   0 – 4     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion	1997 Ohio Valley Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 19 Eastern Kentucky $^   7 – 0     8 – 4   No. 16 Eastern Illinois   5 – 2     8 – 3   Murray State   5 – 2     7 – 4   Tennessee Tech   4 – 3     6 – 5   Tennessee State   4 – 3     4 – 7   Middle Tennessee   2 – 5     4 – 6   Southeast Missouri State   1 – 6     4 – 7   Tennessee–Martin   0 – 7     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	1997 Patriot League football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Colgate $^   6 – 0     7 – 5   No. 24 Bucknell   5 – 1     10 – 1   Fordham   4 – 2     5 – 6   Holy Cross   2 – 4     4 – 7   Lehigh   2 – 4     4 – 7   Lafayette   2 – 4     3 – 8   Towson   0 – 6     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll
1997 Pioneer Football League standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 23 Dayton $   5 – 0     9 – 1   San Diego   4 – 1     8 – 3   Drake   2 – 3     8 – 3   Butler   2 – 3     6 – 4   Valparaiso   2 – 3     3 – 7   Evansville   0 – 5     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll	1997 Southern Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 8 Georgia Southern $^   7 – 1     10 – 3   No. 15 Appalachian State   6 – 2     7 – 4   East Tennessee State   5 – 3     7 – 4   Furman   5 – 3     7 – 4   The Citadel   4 – 4     6 – 5   Chattanooga   4 – 4     7 – 4   Western Carolina   3 – 5     3 – 8   Wofford   2 – 6     3 – 7   VMI   0 – 8     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll	1997 Southland Football League standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 7 McNeese State +^   6 – 1     13 – 2   No. 21 Northwestern State +^   6 – 1     8 – 4   No. 13 Stephen F. Austin   5 – 2     8 – 3   Sam Houston State   3 – 4     5 – 6   Nicholls State   3 – 4     5 – 6   Southwest Texas State   2 – 5     5 – 6   Troy State   2 – 5     5 – 6   Jacksonville State   1 – 6     1 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll
1997 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 12 Southern $   8 – 0     11 – 1   No. 14 Jackson State ^   7 – 1     9 – 3   Arkansas–Pine Bluff   6 – 2     8 – 3   Texas Southern   4 – 4     5 – 6   Alcorn State   4 – 4     4 – 7   Mississippi Valley State   3 – 5     4 – 6   Alabama State   2 – 6     3 – 8   Grambling State   2 – 6     3 – 8   Prairie View A&M   0 – 8     0 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network Poll	1997 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 18 Cal Poly   –     10 – 1   No. 5 Western Kentucky ^   –     10 – 2   No. 17 Hofstra ^   –     9 – 2   No. 25 Liberty   –     9 – 2   Samford   –     7 – 4   Morehead State   –     5 – 4   South Florida   –     5 – 6   Southern Utah   –     5 – 6   Saint Mary's   –     4 – 6   Davidson   –     3 – 8   Buffalo   –     2 – 9   La Salle   –     1 – 8   Charleston Southern   –     1 – 9   Austin Peay   –     0 – 10   ^ – 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 – Villanova Big Sky Conference – Eastern Washington Gateway Football Conference – Western Illinois Ivy League – Harvard Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Georgetown Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Hampton Northeast Conference – Robert Morris Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky Patriot League – Colgate Pioneer Football League – Dayton Southern Conference – Georgia Southern Southland Football League – McNeese State and Northwestern State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Southern

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

The NCAA departed from standard bracket structure—where, for example, the fourth and fifth seeds could meet in the second round—in order to place teams from the same conference in different halves of the bracket.

	First Round November 29 Campus sites					Quarterfinals December 6 Campus sites					Semifinals December 13 Campus sites					National Championship Game December 20 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN
	1	Villanova*	49
	16	Colgate	28
						1	Villanova*	34
						8	Youngstown State	37
	8	Youngstown State*	28
	9	Hampton	13
											8	Youngstown State	25
											3	Eastern Washington*	14
	5	Western Kentucky*	42
	12	Eastern Kentucky	14
						5	Western Kentucky	21
						3	Eastern Washington*	38
	3	Eastern Washington*	40
	14	Northwestern State	10
																8	Youngstown State	10
																6	McNeese State	9
	4	Delaware*	24
	13	Hofstra	14
						4	Delaware*	16
						7	Georgia Southern	7
	7	Georgia Southern*	52
	10	Florida A&M	37
											4	Delaware*	21
											6	McNeese State	23
	6	McNeese State*	19
	11	Montana	14
						6	McNeese State	14
						2	Western Illinois*	12
	2	Western Illinois*	31
	15	Jackson State	24

* Denotes host institution
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