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.

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

Conference champions

Conference ChampionsAtlantic 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.

* Denotes host institution

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References