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2001 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams122
DurationAugust–November
Payton Award Brian Westbrook (RB, Villanova)
Buchanan AwardDerrick Lloyd (LB, James Madison)
Playoff
DurationDecember 1–December 21
Championship date December 21, 2001
Championship site Finley Stadium
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Champion Montana
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
« 2000
2002»

The 2001 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I-AA level, began in August 2001, and concluded with the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 21, 2001, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Montana Grizzlies won their second I-AA championship, defeating the Furman Paladins by a score of 13–6. [1]

Conference changes and new programs

School 2000 Conference 2001 Conference
Austin Peay I-AA Independent Pioneer
Cal State Northridge Big Sky I-AA Independent
Davidson I-AA Independent Pioneer
Florida Atlantic New Program I-AA Independent
Georgetown I-AA Independent Patriot
Hofstra I-AA Independent Atlantic 10
Jacksonville I-AA Independent Pioneer
Morehead State I-AA Independent Pioneer
Morris Brown D-II Independent I-AA Independent
Savannah State D-II Independent I-AA Independent
South Florida I-AA Independent I-A Independent
Troy State Southland I-A Independent
Western Kentucky Ohio Valley Gateway

Conference standings

2001 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 11 Hofstra +^   7 2     9 3  
No. 10 Maine +^   7 2     9 3  
No. 20 Villanova +   7 2     8 3  
No. 17 William & Mary +^   7 2     8 4  
No. 21 Rhode Island   6 3     8 3  
Delaware   4 5     4 6  
Northeastern   4 5     5 6  
UMass   3 6     3 8  
Richmond   3 6     3 8  
New Hampshire   2 7     4 7  
James Madison   0 9     2 9  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2001 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 1 Montana $^   7 0     15 1  
No. 16 Northern Arizona ^   5 2     9 4  
Portland State   5 2     7 4  
Montana State   4 3     5 6  
Eastern Washington   3 4     6 4  
Weber State   2 5     3 8  
Idaho State   1 6     4 7  
Sacramento State   1 6     2 9  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2001 Gateway Football Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 4 Northern Iowa $^   6 1     11 3  
No. 12 Western Kentucky ^   5 2     8 4  
No. 15 Youngstown State   5 2     8 3  
Western Illinois   4 3     5 5  
Southwest Missouri State   3 4     6 5  
Indiana State   2 5     3 8  
Illinois State   2 5     2 9  
Southern Illinois   1 6     1 10  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2001 Ivy League football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 19 Harvard $   7 0     9 0  
No. 24 Penn   6 1     8 1  
Brown   5 2     6 3  
Princeton   3 4     3 6  
Columbia   3 4     3 7  
Cornell   2 5     2 7  
Dartmouth   1 6     1 8  
Yale   1 6     3 6  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2001 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Duquesne $   6 0     8 3  
Saint Peter's   6 1     10 1  
Fairfield   5 2     5 5  
Iona   3 3     4 5  
La Salle   2 4     5 4  
Marist   2 4     3 6  
Siena   1 6     1 8  
Canisius   1 6     1 9  
  • $ – Conference champion
2001 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 22 Florida A&M $^   7 1     7 4  
Hampton   6 2     7 4  
North Carolina A&T   5 3     8 3  
Bethune–Cookman   5 3     6 4  
South Carolina State   5 3     6 5  
Delaware State   3 5     5 6  
Norfolk State   3 5     5 6  
Howard   1 7     2 9  
Morgan State   1 7     2 9  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2001 Northeast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Sacred Heart $   8 0     11 0  
Robert Morris   6 1     6 3  
Albany   5 2     7 3  
Monmouth   5 2     7 3  
Stony Brook   3 5     3 6  
Wagner   3 5     3 6  
Central Connecticut   2 5     2 7  
St. John's   1 6     1 9  
Saint Francis (PA)   0 7     0 10  
  • $ – Conference champion
2001 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 9 Eastern Illinois $^   6 0     9 1  
No. 18 Eastern Kentucky   5 1     8 2  
No. 23 Tennessee Tech   4 2     7 3  
No. 25 Tennessee State   3 3     8 3  
Murray State   2 4     4 6  
Southeast Missouri State   1 5     4 7  
Tennessee–Martin   0 6     1 10  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2001 Patriot League football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 5 Lehigh $^   7 0     11 1  
Colgate   5 1     7 3  
Fordham   5 2     7 4  
Bucknell   4 3     6 4  
Holy Cross   3 4     4 6  
Towson   2 5     3 7  
Lafayette   1 6     2 8  
Georgetown   0 6     3 7  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2001 Pioneer Football League standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
North Division
Dayton xy$   3 0     10 1  
Butler   2 2     5 5  
San Diego   2 2     6 3  
Drake   1 3     5 5  
Valparaiso   1 3     3 8  
South Division
Jacksonville xy   3 0     6 5  
Morehead State   2 1     6 5  
Davidson   1 2     5 4  
Austin Peay   0 3     3 7  
Championship: Dayton 46, Jacksonville 14
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
2001 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 2 Furman $^   7 1     12 3  
No. 3 Georgia Southern $^   7 1     12 2  
No. 6 Appalachian State ^   6 2     9 4  
Western Carolina   5 3     7 4  
East Tennessee State   4 4     6 5  
Wofford   3 5     4 7  
The Citadel   2 6     3 7  
Chattanooga   1 7     3 8  
VMI   1 7     1 10  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll
2001 Southland Football League standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 7 Sam Houston State +^   5 1     10 3  
No. 13 McNeese State +^   5 1     8 4  
No. 14 Northwestern State ^   4 2     8 4  
Stephen F. Austin   4 2     6 5  
Jacksonville State   2 4     5 6  
Nicholls State   1 5     3 8  
Southwest Texas State   0 6     4 7  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll
2001 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
Alabama State xy   6 1     8 4  
Jackson State   5 2     7 4  
Alcorn State   5 2     6 5  
Alabama A&M   3 4     4 7  
Mississippi Valley State   0 7     0 11  
West Division
No. 8 Grambling State xy$   6 1     10 1  
Southern   5 2     7 4  
Prairie View A&M   2 5     3 7  
Texas Southern   2 5     3 7  
Arkansas–Pine Bluff   1 6     4 7  
Championship: Grambling State 38, Alabama State 31
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from The Sports Network Poll
2001 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Cal Poly       6 5  
Saint Mary's       6 5  
Samford       5 5  
Charleston Southern       5 6  
Morris Brown       5 6  
Florida Atlantic       4 6  
Cal State Northridge       3 7  
Liberty       3 8  
Savannah State       2 7  
Elon       2 9  
Southern Utah       2 9  

Conference champions

Conference Champions

Atlantic 10 Conference – Hofstra, Maine, Villanova, and William & Mary
Big Sky Conference – Montana
Gateway Football Conference – Northern Iowa
Ivy League – Harvard
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Duquesne
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Florida A&M
Northeast Conference – Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Illinois
Patriot League – Lehigh
Pioneer Football League – Dayton
Southern Conference – Furman and Georgia Southern
Southland Football League – McNeese State and Sam Houston State
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

The top four teams in the tournament were seeded; [2] seeded teams were assured of hosting games in the first two rounds. [3] [4]

First Round
December 1
Campus sites
Quarterfinals
December 8
Campus sites
Semifinals
December 15
Campus sites
National Championship Game
December 21
Finley Stadium
Chattanooga, TN
            
1 Montana* 28
Northwestern State 19
1 Montana* 49
Sam Houston State 24
Sam Houston State* 34
Northern Arizona 31
1 Montana* 38
Northern Iowa 0
McNeese State* 10
Maine 14
Maine 28
Northern Iowa* 56
4 Eastern Illinois* 43
Northern Iowa 49
1 Montana 13
3 Furman 6
2 Georgia Southern* 60
Florida A&M 35
2 Georgia Southern* 38
Appalachian State 24
Appalachian State* 40
William & Mary 27
2 Georgia Southern* 17
3 Furman 24
Lehigh* 27*
Hofstra 24
Lehigh 17
3 Furman* 34
3 Furman* 24
Western Kentucky 20

* By team name denotes host institution
* By score denotes overtime

References

  1. ^ "2001 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 3. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  2. ^ "Griz will face NWestern State in playoffs". Independent Record. Helena, Montana. AP. November 26, 2001. p. 1B. Retrieved February 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Kasper, Jon (November 12, 2001). "NCAA changes format for playoff pairings". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. p. D1. Retrieved February 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Kasper, Jon (November 12, 2001). "NCAA changes format for playoff pairings (cont'd)". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. p. D6. Retrieved February 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.