2004 NCAA Division I-AA football season

2004 NCAA Division I-AA season
Duration	August 28 – November
Playoff
Duration	November 27, 2004 – December 17, 2004
Championship site	Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, TN
Champion	James Madison
Payton Award	QB Lang Campbell, William & Mary
Buchanan Award	LB Jordan Beck, Cal Poly
Division I-AA football season
«2003 2005»

The 2004 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 on August 28, 2004, and concluded with the National Championship Game of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on December 17, 2004, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. James Madison won their first I-AA championship, defeating Montana by a final score of 31−21.

Conference changes and new programs

• Prior to the season, the Great West Conference was formed as a football-only conference for six unaffiliated teams from California, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah. A seventh member, St. Mary's (CA), dropped their football program before the start of the season.

School	2003 Conference	2004 Conference
UC Davis	D-II Independent	Great West (I-AA)
Cal Poly	I-AA Independent	Great West
North Dakota State	North Central (D-II)	Great West (I-AA)
Northern Colorado	D-II Independent	Great West (I-AA)
Siena	MAAC	Dropped Program
St. Mary's (CA)	I-AA Independent	Dropped Program
Southern Utah	I-AA Independent	Great West
South Dakota State	North Central (D-II)	Great West (I-AA)
Towson	Patriot	Atlantic 10

I-AA team wins over I-A teams

• September 11:
  • New Hampshire 35, Rutgers 24
• September 18:
  • Maine 9, Mississippi State 7

Conference Standings

2004 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #1 James Madison $^   7 – 1         13 – 2   #3 William & Mary $^   7 – 1         11 – 3   #7 Delaware $^   7 – 1         9 – 4   #6 New Hampshire ^   7 – 2         11 – 3   Northeastern   4 – 4         5 – 6   Villanova   4 – 5         7 – 4   Maine   4 – 5         6 – 6   UMass   4 – 5         6 – 6   Hofstra   3 – 5         5 – 6   Rhode Island   2 – 6         4 – 7   Richmond   2 – 6         3 – 8   + – Conference co-champions ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll	2004 Big Sky football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Montana $^   6 – 1         12 – 3   E. Washington ^   6 – 1         9 – 4   Montana State   4 – 3         6 – 5   Portland State   4 – 3         7 – 4   Northern Arizona   3 – 4         4 – 7   Idaho State   2 – 5         3 – 8   Sacramento State   2 – 5         3 – 8   Weber State   1 – 6         1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll	2004 Big South football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #24 Coastal Carolina $   4 – 0         10 – 1   Liberty   3 – 1         6 – 5   Gardner–Webb   2 – 2         5 – 6   Charleston Southern   1 – 3         5 – 5   VMI   0 – 4         0 – 11   $ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network FCS Poll
2004 Southern Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #5 Furman $^   6 – 1         10 – 3   #10 Georgia Southern ^   6 – 1         9 – 3   #18 Wofford   4 – 3         8 – 3   Appalachian State   4 – 3         6 – 5   Western Carolina   2 – 5         4 – 7   The Citadel   2 – 5         3 – 7   Elon   2 – 5         3 – 8   Chattanooga   2 – 5         2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll	2004 Southland Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #4 Sam Houston State $^ 4 – 1 – 0     11 – 3 – 0 #17 Northwestern State ^ 4 – 1 – 0     8 – 4 – 0 Texas State 3 – 2 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Nicholls State 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 McNeese State 1 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Stephen F. Austin 1 – 4 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Ranking is from the Sports Network Poll

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

	First Round November 27 Campus Sites					Quarterfinals December 4 Campus Sites					Semifinals December 10 and December 11 Campus Sites					National Championship Game December 17 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee
	1	Southern Illinois* (10–1)	31
		Eastern Washington (8–3)	35
						Eastern Washington*		34
						Sam Houston State		35
	Sam Houston State* (9–2)		54
	Western Kentucky (9–2)		24
											Sam Houston State		13
											Montana*		34
	Montana* (9–2)		56
	Northwestern State (8–3)		7
						Montana*		47
						New Hampshire		17
		New Hampshire (9–2)	27
	4	Georgia Southern* (9–2)	3
																Montana		21
																James Madison		31
	3	William & Mary* (9–2)	42
		Hampton (10–1)	35
						3	William & Mary*	44
							Delaware	38
	Delaware* (8–3)		28
	Lafayette (8–3)		14
											3	William & Mary*	34
												James Madison	48
	James Madison (9–2)		14
	Lehigh* (9–2)		13
							James Madison	14
						2	Furman*	13
		Jacksonville State (9–1)	7
	2	Furman* (9–2)	49

* Denotes host institution

References

• http://www.ncaa.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/ncaa/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/FB-FCS-2004
• http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_champs_records/2004/d1aa/confstat.htm
• http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_records/DI/2005/2005RB.pdf