1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season

1978 NCAA Division I-AA season
Duration	August – November 1978
Playoff
Duration	December 9–16, 1978
Championship site	Pioneer Bowl Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, TX
Champion	Florida A&M Rattlers
Division I-AA football season
«1977 1979»

1978 Big Sky football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
#7 Northern Arizona $		6	–	0		8	–	2
#7 Montana State		4	–	2		8	–	2
Montana		4	–	2		5	–	6
Boise State		3	–	3		7	–	4
Weber State		2	–	4		4	–	7
Idaho		2	–	4		2	–	9
Idaho State		0	–	6		2	–	9

$ – Conference champion No Big Sky teams were selected for I-AA playoffs. Rankings from NCAA Poll

1978 Yankee Conference football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#4 UMass $^	5	–	0	–	0	9	–	4	–	0
#7 Rhode Island	3	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Connecticut	3	–	2	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Boston University	2	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
New Hampshire	1	–	3	–	1	6	–	4	–	1
Maine	0	–	4	–	1	3	–	7	–	1

$ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA I-AA Poll

1978 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
Nevada ^		0	–	0		11	–	1
Lehigh		0	–	0		8	–	3
Northwestern State		0	–	0		5	–	6
Portland State		0	–	0		5	–	6
Bucknell		0	–	0		5	–	5
Lafayette		0	–	0		4	–	7

$ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant

The 1978 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 1978 and concluded with the championship game on December 16 at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. This was the first season of Division I-AA football.

The Florida A&M Rattlers won their first I-AA championship, defeating Massachusetts Minutemen 35–28 in the Pioneer Bowl.

As of 2016, Florida A&M of 1978 remains the only team from an HBCU to play in the I-AA/FCS national championship game.