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

Conference changes and new programs Prior to the 1981 season, the Mid-Continent Conference reclassified from Division II to Division I-AA with its four members, Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Western Illinois, and Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State). Northern Michigan and Youngstown State, which had been members of the Mid-Continent in the 1980 season, departed the league before the shift; Northern Michigan remained in Division II, and Youngstown State transitioned to I-AA as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

School 1980 Conference 1981 Conference Eastern Illinois Mid-Continent (D-II) Mid-Continent (I-AA) Northern Iowa Mid-Continent (D-II) Mid-Continent (I-AA) Portland State I-AA Independent D-II Independent Southwest Missouri State Mid-Continent (D-II) Mid-Continent (I-AA) Tennessee State I-A Independent I-AA Independent Western Illinois Mid-Continent (D-II) Mid-Continent (I-AA) Youngstown State Mid-Continent (D-II) Ohio Valley (I-AA)

Conference standings

Conference champions

Conference championsBig Sky Conference – Idaho State Mid-Continent Conference – Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, Northern Iowa Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky Southwestern Athletic Conference – Jackson State Yankee Conference – Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Postseason After holding four-team playoffs after the first three I-AA seasons, the NCAA increased the bracket size to eight this postseason. It grew to twelve in 1982 and sixteen in 1986. The eight-team field was determined via automatic bids to five conference champions (Idaho State, South Carolina State, Eastern Kentucky, Jackson State, and Rhode Island), a bid to the top-ranked independent team (Tennessee State), and two at-large bids (Boise State and Delaware).

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

* Next to team name denotes host institution

* Next to score denotes overtime

Source:

References