| Year Game Played: | 1987 |
| Game Name: | NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship |
| Subheader: | I-AA National Championship Game |
| Visitor Name Short: | Marshall |
| Visitor Nickname: | Thundering Herd |
| Home Nickname: | Indians |
| Visitor School: | Marshall University |
| Home Name Short: | Northeast Louisiana |
| Football Season: | 1987 |
| Home School: | Northeast Louisiana University |
| Visitor Record: | 10–4 |
| Home Record: | 12–2 |
| Visitor Conference: | SoCon |
| Home Conference: | Southland |
| Visitor 1Q: | 3 |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 10 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 29 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 14 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 15 |
| Visitor Coach: | George Chaump |
| Home Coach: | Pat Collins |
| Visitor Rank Ncaa: | 14 |
| Visitor Seed: | – |
| Home Rank Ncaa: | 3 |
| Home Seed: | 2 |
| Date Game Played: | December 19 |
| Stadium: | Minidome |
| City: | Pocatello, Idaho |
| Attendance: | 11,513 |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers: | Denny Schreiner (play-by-play), Stan White (color)[1] |
| Different Previous: | 1986 |
| Different Next: | 1988 |
The 1987 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Northeast Louisiana Indians (now the Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks) and the Marshall Thundering Herd. The game was played on December 19, 1987, at the Minidome (now known as Holt Arena) in Pocatello, Idaho. The culminating game of the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Northeast Louisiana, 43–42.[2]
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1987 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.[3]
See main article: 1987 Northeast Louisiana Indians football team. Northeast Louisiana finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (6–0 in conference); one of their losses was to the Ragin' Cajuns of the then University of Southwestern Louisiana, a Division I-A program.[4] Ranked third in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[5] and seeded second in the tournament, the Indians defeated North Texas State, Eastern Kentucky, and third-seed Northern Iowa to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Northeast Louisiana in a Division I-AA championship game.
See also: 1987 Marshall Thundering Herd football team. Marshall finished their regular season with a 7–4 record (4–2 in conference); one of their losses was to Ohio of Division I-A.[6] Ranked 14th in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[5] and unseeded in the tournament, the Thundering Herd defeated James Madison, Weber State, and top-seed Appalachian State to reach the final. This was also the first appearance for Marshall in a Division I-AA championship game.