| Year Game Played: | 1984 |
| Game Name: | NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship |
| Subheader: | I-AA National Championship Game |
| Visitor Name Short: | Louisiana Tech |
| Visitor Nickname: | Bulldogs |
| Home Nickname: | Bobcats |
| Visitor School: | Louisiana Tech University |
| Home Name Short: | Montana State |
| Football Season: | 1984 |
| Home School: | Montana State University |
| Visitor Record: | 10–4 |
| Home Record: | 11–2 |
| Visitor Conference: | Southland |
| Home Conference: | Big Sky |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 1Q: | 9 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 6 |
| Home 2Q: | 10 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Visitor Coach: | A. L. Williams |
| Home Coach: | Dave Arnold |
| Visitor Rank Ncaa: | 9 |
| Visitor Seed: | – |
| Home Rank Ncaa: | 2 (tie) |
| Home Seed: | 3 |
| Date Game Played: | December 15 |
| Stadium: | Johnson Hagood Stadium |
| City: | Charleston, South Carolina |
| Referee: | Courtney Mauzy (ACC) |
| Attendance: | 9,125 |
| Us Network: | Satellite Program Network |
| Us Announcers: | Bill Flemming (play-by-play), Steve Davis (color) |
| Different Previous: | 1983 |
| Different Next: | 1985 |
The 1984 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Montana State Bobcats and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. The game was played on December 15, 1984, at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina. The culminating game of the 1984 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Montana State, 19–6.[1]
The championship game was televised on the Satellite Program Network (SPN),[2] as the NCAA paid SPN to broadcast some playoff contests following a Supreme Court ruling (NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma) that halted the NCAA's practice of negotiating television contracts for its members.[3]
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1984 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 12-team bracket.[4]
See main article: 1984 Montana State Bobcats football team. Montana State finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (6–1 in conference); two wins came over Division II opponents (Mesa State and Portland State) and one win came over a Division I-A program (Fresno State).[5] Tied for second in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[6] and seeded third in the tournament, the Bobcats received a first-round bye then defeated Arkansas State and second-seed Rhode Island to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Montana State in a Division I-AA championship game.
See main article: 1984 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team. Louisiana Tech finished their regular season with a 7–4 record (5–1 in conference); three of their losses were to Division I-A programs (Southwestern Louisiana, Southern Miss, and Ole Miss).[7] Ranked ninth in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[6] and unseeded in the tournament, the Bulldogs defeated Mississippi Valley State, top-seed Alcorn State, and Middle Tennessee State to reach the final. This was also the first appearance for Louisiana Tech in a Division I-AA championship game.