2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season

2002 NCAA Division I-AA season
Duration	August – November 2002
Playoff
Duration	November 30 – December 20, 2002
Championship site	Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, TN
Champion	Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Payton Award	Tony Romo – QB (Eastern Illinois)
Buchanan Award	Rashean Mathis – FS (Bethune-Cookman)
Division I-AA football season
«2001 2003»

The 2002 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 Football Championship Subdivision level, began in August 2002, and concluded with the National Championship Game of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on December 20, 2002, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers won their first I-AA championship, defeating the McNeese State Cowboys by a final score of 34−14

Conference changes and new programs

School	2001 Conference	2002 Conference
Charleston Southern	I-AA Independent	Big South
Elon	I-AA Independent	Big South
FIU	New Program	I-AA Independent
Gardner-Webb	D-II Independent	Big South
Liberty	I-AA Independent	Big South
Savannah State	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Troy State	I-AA Independent	I-A Independent

Conference standings

2002 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Maine $^   7 – 2         11 – 3   Northeastern $^   7 – 2         10 – 3   Villanova ^   6 – 3         11 – 4   UMass   6 – 3         8 – 4   William & Mary   5 – 4         6 – 5   Richmond   4 – 5         4 – 7   Delaware   4 – 5         6 – 6   Hofstra   4 – 5         6 – 6   James Madison   4 – 6         5 – 7   New Hampshire   2 – 7         3 – 8   Rhode Island   1 – 8         3 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll	2002 Big Sky football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Montana $^   5 – 2         11 – 3   Idaho State $   5 – 2         8 – 3   Montana State $^   5 – 2         7 – 6   Eastern Washington   3 – 4         6 – 5   Northern Arizona   3 – 4         6 – 5   Portland State   3 – 4         6 – 5   Sacramento State   3 – 4         5 – 8   Weber State   1 – 6         3 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll	2002 Big South football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Gardner–Webb $   3 – 0         8 – 1   Liberty   1 – 2         2 – 9   Charleston Southern   0 – 3         4 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network FCS Poll
2002 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Saint Mary's   0 – 0         6 – 6   FIU   0 – 0         5 – 6   Cal Poly   0 – 0         3 – 8   Florida Atlantic   0 – 0         2 – 9   Savannah State   0 – 0         1 – 8   Southern Utah   0 – 0         1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant	2002 Gateway Football Conference standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Western Illinois $^   6 – 2         11 – 2   Western Kentucky $^   6 – 2         12 – 3   Youngstown State   4 – 3         7 – 4   Illinois State   4 – 3         6 – 5   Indiana State   3 – 4         5 – 7   Northern Iowa   2 – 5         5 – 6   Southern Illinois   2 – 5         4 – 8   SW Missouri State   1 – 6         4 – 7   $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll	2002 Ivy League football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Penn $   7 – 0         9 – 1   Harvard   6 – 1         7 – 3   Princeton   4 – 3         6 – 4   Yale   4 – 3         6 – 4   Cornell   3 – 4         4 – 6   Dartmouth   2 – 5         3 – 7   Brown   2 – 5         2 – 8   Columbia   0 – 7         1 – 9   $ – Conference champion
2002 MAAC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Duquesne $   8 – 0         11 – 1   Marist   5 – 3         7 – 4   Saint Peter's   5 – 3         6 – 5   Iona   4 – 4         5 – 6   Canisius   2 – 4         2 – 9   La Salle   2 – 6         2 – 9   Siena   1 – 5         3 – 7   $ – Conference champion	2002 MEAC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Bethune-Cookman $^   7 – 1         11 – 2   Florida A&M   5 – 3         7 – 5   Hampton   5 – 3         7 – 5   Morgan State   5 – 3         7 – 5   South Carolina State   4 – 4         7 – 5   Howard   4 – 4         6 – 5   Norfolk State   2 – 6         5 – 6   North Carolina A&T   2 – 6         4 – 8   [[{{{school}}}|Delaware State]]   2 – 6         4 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant	2002 NEC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   [[{{{school}}}|Albany (NY)]] $   6 – 1         8 – 4   Stony Brook   5 – 2         8 – 2   [[{{{school}}}|Sacred Heart]]   5 – 2         7 – 3   [[{{{school}}}|Wagner]]   4 – 3         7 – 4   [[{{{school}}}|CCSU]]   3 – 4         5 – 6   [[{{{school}}}|Robert Morris]]   2 – 5         3 – 4   [[{{{school}}}|Monmouth]]   2 – 5         2 – 8   [[{{{school}}}|Saint Francis (PA)]]   1 – 6         2 – 8   $ – Conference champion
Template:2002 OVC football standings	2002 Patriot League football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   [[{{{school}}}|Fordham]] +^   6 – 1         10 – 3   [[{{{school}}}|Colgate]] +   6 – 1         9 – 3   Lafayette   5 – 2         7 – 5   [[{{{school}}}|Lehigh]]   4 – 3         8 – 4   [[{{{school}}}|Towson]]   3 – 4         6 – 5   [[{{{school}}}|Georgetown]]   2 – 5         5 – 6   [[{{{school}}}|Holy Cross]]   2 – 5         4 – 8   [[{{{school}}}|Bucknell]]   0 – 7         2 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network FCS Poll	2002 Pioneer Football League football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   [[{{{school}}}|Dayton]] $   6 – 0         11 – 1   [[{{{school}}}|Morehead State]]   5 – 1         9 – 3   [[{{{school}}}|San Diego]]   4 – 1         5 – 5   [[{{{school}}}|Davidson]]   3 – 1         7 – 3   [[{{{school}}}|Austin Peay]]   3 – 3         7 – 5   [[{{{school}}}|Butler]]   2 – 4         4 – 6   [[{{{school}}}|Drake]]   1 – 3         5 – 6   [[{{{school}}}|Jacksonville]]   0 – 4         3 – 7   [[{{{school}}}|Valparaiso]]   0 – 7         1 – 10   $ – Conference champion
2002 Southern Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #3 Georgia Southern $^   7 – 1         11 – 3   #14 [[{{{school}}}|Wofford]]   6 – 2         9 – 3   #10 Appalachian State ^   6 – 2         8 – 4   #9 [[{{{school}}}|Furman]] ^   6 – 2         8 – 4   VMI   3 – 5         6 – 6   [[{{{school}}}|Western Carolina]]   3 – 5         5 – 6   [[{{{school}}}|East Tennessee State]]   2 – 6         4 – 8   [[{{{school}}}|Chattanooga]]   2 – 6         2 – 10   The Citadel   1 – 7         3 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll	2002 Southland Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #2 McNeese State $^ 6 – 0 – 0     13 – 2 – 0 #16 Northwestern State ^ 4 – 2 – 0     9 – 4 – 0 #23 Nicholls State 3 – 3 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Stephen F. Austin 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Jacksonville State 2 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Sam Houston State 2 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Texas State 1 – 5 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Ranking is from the Sports Network Poll	Template:2002 SWAC football standings

Conference champions

Conference Champions

Atlantic 10 Conference – Maine and Northeastern Big Sky Conference – Idaho State, Montana, and Montana State Big South Conference – Gardner-Webb Gateway Football Conference – Western Illinois and Western Kentucky Ivy League – Penn Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Duquesne Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Bethune-Cookman Northeast Conference – Albany (NY) Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Illinois and Murray State Patriot League – Colgate and Fordham Pioneer Football League – Dayton Southern Conference – Georgia Southern Southland Conference – McNeese State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

	First Round November 30 Campus Sites				Quarterfinals December 7 Campus Sites				Semifinals December 14 Campus Sites				National Championship Game December 20 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN
	McNeese State*	21
	Montana State	14
					McNeese State*	24
					Montana	20
	Montana*	45
	Northwestern State	14
									McNeese State*	39
									Villanova	28
	Villanova*	45
	Furman	38
					Villanova*	24
					Fordham	10
	Northeastern*	24
	Fordham	29
													McNeese State	14
													Western Kentucky	34
	Georgia Southern*	34
	Bethune-Cookman	0
					Georgia Southern*	31
					Maine	7
	Appalachian State*	13
	Maine	14
									Georgia Southern*	28
									Western Kentucky	31
	Western Kentucky*	59
	Murray State	20
					Western Kentucky	31
					Western Illinois*	28
	Western Illinois*	48
	Eastern Illinois	9

* Denotes host institution