1988 NCAA Division I-AA football season

The 1988 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-AA level, began in August 1988, and concluded with the 1988 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 17, 1988, at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho. The Furman Paladins won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Georgia Southern Eagles by a score of 17−12.

1988 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	88
Duration	August–November
Payton Award	Dave Meggett (RB, Towson State)
Playoff
Duration	November 26–December 17
Championship date	December 17, 1988
Championship site	Holt Arena Pocatello, Idaho
Champion	Furman
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1987 1989»

Conference changes and new programs

School	1987 Conference	1988 Conference
Liberty	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Tennessee State	I-AA Independent	Ohio Valley
Villanova	I-AA Independent	Yankee
Youngstown State	Ohio Valley	I-AA Independent

Conference standings

1988 Big Sky Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Idaho $^ 7 – 1 – 0 11 – 2 – 0 No. 16 Montana ^ 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 No. 12 Boise State ^ 5 – 3 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 Nevada 4 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Northern Arizona 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Weber State 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Montana State 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Eastern Washington 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Idaho State 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll	1988 Colonial League football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Lafayette $ 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 1 No. 19 Holy Cross 3 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Lehigh 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Bucknell 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Colgate 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Davidson 0 – 4 – 0 0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1988 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 Western Illinois $^ 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 Southwest Missouri State 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Indiana State 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Northern Iowa 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Eastern Illinois 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Southern Illinois 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Illinois State 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 Ivy League football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Penn + 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0 Cornell + 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 1 Princeton 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Dartmouth 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Yale 3 – 3 – 1 3 – 6 – 1 Columbia 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Harvard 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Brown 0 – 6 – 1 0 – 9 – 1 + – Conference co-champions	1988 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Bethune–Cookman $ 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 No. 18 Florida A&M 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 1 Delaware State 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Howard 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 South Carolina State 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 North Carolina A&T 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Morgan State 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Both Delaware State and Florida A&M received forfeit losses for the same game. Bethune–Cookman was awarded the conference title, although the MEAC website lists Bethune, Delaware State, and Florida A&M as co-champions. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1988 Ohio Valley Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 7 Eastern Kentucky $^ 6 – 0 – 0 11 – 3 – 0 No. 17 Middle Tennessee 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Murray State 4 – 2 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Tennessee State 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 1 Austin Peay 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Morehead State 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Tennessee Tech 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 Southern Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 4 Furman +^ 6 – 1 – 0 13 – 2 – 0 No. 6 Marshall +^ 6 – 1 – 0 11 – 2 – 0 No. 14 The Citadel ^ 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 Appalachian State 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 1 Chattanooga 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 VMI 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 East Tennessee State 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Western Carolina 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1988 Southland Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 8 Northwestern State $^ 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 3 – 0 No. 9 Stephen F. Austin ^ 5 – 1 – 0 10 – 3 – 0 No. 10 North Texas ^ 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 McNeese State 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Northeast Louisiana 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 SW Texas State 1 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Sam Houston State 0 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1988 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 5 Jackson State $^ 7 – 0 – 0 8 – 1 – 2 No. 20 Grambling State 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Alabama State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Alcorn State 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Southern 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Prairie View A&M 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Mississippi Valley State 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Texas Southern 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1988 Yankee Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. T–10 UMass +^ 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 No. 15 Delaware +^ 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 5 – 0 Connecticut 4 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Maine 4 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 New Hampshire 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Villanova 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 1 Boston University 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Rhode Island 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Richmond 2 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1988 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Georgia Southern ^   –   10 – 2 – 0 No. 13 Western Kentucky ^   –   9 – 4 – 0 Liberty   –   8 – 3 – 0 Nicholls State   –   7 – 4 – 0 William & Mary   –   6 – 4 – 1 Towson   –   5 – 5 – 0 Arkansas State   –   5 – 6 – 0 James Madison   –   5 – 6 – 0 Louisiana Tech   –   4 – 7 – 0 Northeastern   –   4 – 7 – 0 Youngstown State   –   4 – 7 – 0 Lamar   –   3 – 8 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions

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

Conference Champions

Big Sky Conference – Idaho Colonial League – Lafayette Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference – Western Illinois Ivy League – Cornell and Penn Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Bethune-Cookman, Delaware State, and Florida A&M Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky Southern Conference – Furman and Marshall Southland Conference – Northwestern State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State Yankee Conference – Delaware and Massachusetts

Postseason

The top four teams were seeded, and thus assured of home games in the first round.

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

	First Round November 26 Campus sites				Quarterfinals December 3 Campus sites				Semifinals December 10 Campus sites				National Championship Game December 17 Holt Arena Pocatello, Idaho
	Montana	19
	(1) Idaho*	38
					(1) Idaho*	38
					Northwestern State	30
	Northwestern State	22
	Boise State*	13
									(1) Idaho	7
									(4) Furman*	38
	Delaware	7
	(4) Furman*	21
					(4) Furman	13
					Marshall*	9
	North Texas	0
	Marshall*	7
													(4) Furman	17
													(2) Georgia Southern	12
	The Citadel	20
	(2) Georgia Southern*	38
					(2) Georgia Southern*	27
					Stephen F. Austin	6
	Jackson State	0
	Stephen F. Austin*	24
									(2) Georgia Southern*	21
									Eastern Kentucky	17
	Western Kentucky	35
	(3) Western Illinois*	32
					Western Kentucky	24
					Eastern Kentucky*	41
	UMass	17
	Eastern Kentucky*	28

* Next to team name denotes host institution
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