1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season explained

Year:	1983
Number Of Teams:	83
Regular Season:	August–November
Playoffs:	November 27–December 17
Nc Date:	December 17, 1983
Championship:	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, South Carolina
Champions:	Southern Illinois

The 1983 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 1983, and concluded with the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 17, 1983, at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina. The Southern Illinois Salukis won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Western Carolina Catamounts by a score of 43−7.^[1]

Conference changes and new programs

• The eight members of the Mid-American Conference temporarily relegated to Division I-AA for the 1982 season returned to Division I-A in 1983.

School	1982 Conference	1983 Conference
	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
		Southland
	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)
	MAC (I-AA)	MAC (I-A)

Conference champions

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

Postseason

The top four teams were seeded, and received first-round byes.^[2]

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

* indicates overtime period

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1983 NCAA Division I Football Championship . NCAA.org . December 29, 2013 . 14.
2. News: Eastern, minus a bye, to face Boston U. in playoff opener . Stan . Sutton . . . D1 . November 21, 1983 . May 8, 2019 . newspapers.com.