2003 NCAA Division I-AA football season

2003 NCAA Division I-AA season
Duration August – November 2003
Playoff
Duration November 29 – December 19, 2003
Championship site Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, TN
Champion Delaware
Payton Award Jamaal BranchRB (Colgate)
Buchanan Award Jared AllenDE (Idaho State)
Division I-AA football season

The 2003 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 2003, and concluded with the National Championship Game of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on December 19, 2003, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Colgate Raiders by a final score of 40−0[1]

Conference changes and new programs

School 2002 Conference 2003 Conference
Canisius MAAC Dropped Program
Coastal Carolina New Program Big South
East Tennessee State Southern Dropped Program
Elon Big South Southern
Fairfield MAAC Dropped Program
Jacksonville State Southland Ohio Valley
St. John's (NY) Northeast Dropped Program
Samford I-AA Independent Ohio Valley
Southeastern Louisiana Revived Program I-AA Independent
VMI Southern Big South

Conference standings

2003 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#1 Delaware $^   8 1         15 1  
#11 UMass $^   8 1         10 3  
#20 Northeastern   6 3         8 4  
#25 Villanova   5 4         7 4  
Maine   4 4         6 5  
William & Mary   4 4         5 5  
James Madison   4 5         6 6  
New Hampshire   3 6         5 7  
Rhode Island   3 6         4 8  
Hofstra   2 6         2 10  
Richmond   1 8         2 9  
  • + Conference co-champions
  • ^ Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll
2003 Southern Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#3 Wofford $^   4 3         8 3  
Appalachian State   4 3         6 5  
#24 Georgia Southern   3 4         7 4  
Furman   3 4         6 5  
The Citadel   2 5         3 7  
Western Carolina   2 5         4 7  
Chattanooga   2 5         2 9  
East Tennessee State   2 6         5 7  
Elon   1 7         2 10  
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll
2003 Southland Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#8 McNeese State $^ 5 0 0     10 2 0
Stephen F. Austin 4 1 0     7 4 0
Northwestern State 2 3 0     7 5 0
Texas State 2 3 0     5 7 0
Sam Houston State 2 3 0     3 8 0
Nicholls State 0 5 0     0 11 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ Division I-AA playoff participant
  • Ranking is from the Sports Network Poll

Conference champions

Conference Champions

Atlantic 10 Conference – Delaware and Massachusetts
Big Sky Conference – Montana, Montana State, and Northern Arizona
Big South Conference – Gardner-Webb
Gateway Football Conference – Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois
Ivy League – Penn
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Duquesne
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina A&T
Northeast Conference – Albany (NY) and Monmouth
Ohio Valley Conference – Jacksonville State
Patriot League – Colgate
Pioneer Football League – Valparaiso
Southern Conference – Wofford
Southland Conference – McNeese State
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Southern

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

First Round
November 29
Campus Sites
Quarterfinals
December 6
Campus Sites
Semifinals
December 13
Campus Sites
National Championship Game
December 19
Finley Stadium
Chattanooga, TN
        
McNeese State* 3
Northern Arizona 35
Northern Arizona* 25
Florida Atlantic 48
Bethune-Cookman* 24
Florida Atlantic 32
Florida Atlantic* 24
Colgate 36
Colgate* 19
Massachusetts 7
Colgate* 28
Western Illinois 27
Montana* 40
Western Illinois 43**
Colgate 0
Delaware 40
Wofford* 31
North Carolina A&T 0
Wofford* 34
Western Kentucky 17
Western Kentucky* 45
Jacksonville State 7
Wofford 9
Delaware* 24
Delaware* 48
Southern Illinois 7
Delaware* 37
Northern Iowa 7
Northern Iowa* 35
Montana State 14

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

References

  1. "2003 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 16. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
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