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The 2002 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 2002, and concluded with the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game 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.^[1]

Conference changes and new programs

Prior to the 2002 season, the Big South Conference began to sponsor football at the Division I-AA level.

School	2001 Conference	2002 Conference
Cal State Northridge	I-AA Independent	Dropped Program
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
St. John's (NY)	Northeast	MAAC

Conference standings

2002 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 Maine $^	7	–	2	11	–	3
No. 11 Northeastern $^	7	–	2	10	–	3
No. 4 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 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2002 Big Sky Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 7 Montana +^	5	–	2	11	–	3
No. 19 Montana State +^	5	–	2	7	–	6
No. 18 Idaho State +	5	–	2	8	–	3
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 co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2002 Big South Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 22 Gardner–Webb $	3	–	0	9	–	1
Elon	2	–	1	4	–	7
Liberty	1	–	2	2	–	9
Charleston Southern	0	–	3	4	–	8

$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2002 Gateway Football Conference standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 Western Kentucky +^	6	–	1	12	–	3
No. 5 Western Illinois +^	6	–	1	11	–	2
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
Southwest Missouri State	1	–	6	4	–	7

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2002 Ivy League football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 17 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 Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2002 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Duquesne $	8	–	0	11	–	1
Marist	5	–	3	7	–	4
Saint Peter's	5	–	3	6	–	5
Fairfield	5	–	3	5	–	6
Iona	4	–	4	5	–	6
Siena	3	–	5	3	–	7
St. John's	2	–	6	2	–	8
Canisius	2	–	6	2	–	9
La Salle	2	–	6	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion

2002 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 15 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
Delaware State	2	–	6	4	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2002 Northeast Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Albany $	6	–	1	8	–	4
Stony Brook	5	–	2	8	–	2
Sacred Heart	5	–	2	7	–	3
Wagner	4	–	3	7	–	4
Central Connecticut State	3	–	4	5	–	6
Robert Morris	2	–	5	3	–	4
Monmouth	2	–	5	2	–	8
Saint Francis (PA)	1	–	6	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion

2002 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 13 Eastern Illinois +^	5	–	1	8	–	4
No. 20 Murray State +^	5	–	1	7	–	5
No. 21 Eastern Kentucky	4	–	2	8	–	4
No. 24 Southeast Missouri State	4	–	2	8	–	4
Tennessee Tech	2	–	4	5	–	7
Tennessee State	1	–	5	2	–	10
Tennessee–Martin	0	–	6	2	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2002 Patriot League football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 12 Fordham +^	6	–	1	10	–	3
No. 25 Colgate +	6	–	1	9	–	3
Lafayette	5	–	2	7	–	5
Lehigh	4	–	3	8	–	4
Towson	3	–	4	6	–	5
Georgetown	2	–	5	5	–	6
Holy Cross	2	–	5	4	–	8
Bucknell	0	–	7	2	–	9

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2002 Pioneer Football League standings

Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
Dayton xy$	4	–	0	11	–	1
San Diego	3	–	1	5	–	5
Butler	2	–	2	4	–	6
Drake	1	–	3	5	–	6
Valparaiso	0	–	4	1	–	10
South Division
Morehead State xy	3	–	0	9	–	3
Davidson	2	–	1	7	–	3
Austin Peay	1	–	2	7	–	5
Jacksonville	0	–	3	3	–	7
Championship: Dayton 28, Morehead State 0
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

2002 Southern Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Georgia Southern $^	7	–	1	11	–	3
No. 14 Wofford	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 10 Appalachian State ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 9 Furman ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
VMI	3	–	5	6	–	6
Western Carolina	3	–	5	5	–	6
East Tennessee State	2	–	6	4	–	8
Chattanooga	2	–	6	2	–	10
The Citadel	1	–	7	3	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2002 Southland Football League standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 McNeese State $^	6	–	0	13	–	2
No. 16 Northwestern State ^	4	–	2	9	–	4
No. 23 Nicholls State	3	–	3	7	–	4
Stephen F. Austin	3	–	3	6	–	5
Jacksonville State	2	–	4	5	–	6
Sam Houston State	2	–	4	4	–	7
Southwest Texas State	1	–	5	4	–	7

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2002 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Alabama A&M xy	6	–	1	8	–	4
Jackson State	5	–	2	7	–	4
Alcorn State	3	–	4	6	–	5
Mississippi Valley State	3	–	4	5	–	6
Alabama State	2	–	5	6	–	6
West Division
No. 8 Grambling State xy$	6	–	1	11	–	2
Southern	5	–	2	6	–	6
Texas Southern	3	–	4	4	–	7
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	2	–	5	3	–	8
Prairie View A&M	0	–	7	1	–	10
Championship: Grambling State 31, Alabama A&M 19
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from The Sports Network Poll

2002 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Saint Mary's		–		6	–	6
FIU		–		5	–	6
Samford		–		4	–	7
Cal Poly		–		3	–	8
Florida Atlantic		–		2	–	9
Savannah State		–		1	–	8
Southern Utah		–		1	–	10
Morris Brown		–		1	–	11

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 Football League – McNeese 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 November 30 Campus sites			Quarterfinals December 7 Campus sites			Semifinals December 14 Campus sites			National Championship Game December 20 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN

1	McNeese State*	21

	Montana State	14
			1	McNeese State*	24

				Montana	20
Montana*		45

Northwestern State		14
						1	McNeese State*	39

							Villanova	28
Villanova*		45

Furman		38
			Villanova*		24

			Fordham		10
4	Northeastern*	24

	Fordham	29
									1	McNeese State	14

										Western Kentucky	34
3	Georgia Southern*	34

	Bethune–Cookman	0
			3	Georgia Southern*	31

				Maine	7
Appalachian State*		13

Maine		14
						3	Georgia Southern*	28

							Western Kentucky	31
Western Kentucky*		59

Murray State		20
				Western Kentucky	31

			2	Western Illinois*	28
2	Western Illinois*	48

	Eastern Illinois	9

* Denotes host institution

Awards and honors

Source:^[5]

Walter Payton Award voting

The Walter Payton Award is given to the year's most outstanding player

Player	School	Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Total
Tony Romo	Eastern Illinois	QB	24	15	18	12	10	268
Brett Gordon	Villanova	QB	18	18	17	10	12	245
Bruce Eugene	Grambling State	QB	21	16	7	17	10	234
John Edwards	Montana	QB	12	11	13	13	8	177
Willie Ponder	Southeast Missouri State	WR	1	7	7	14	12	94
Chas Gessner	Brown	WR	5	6	6	7	9	90
Carl Morris	Harvard	WR	6	4	5	7	6.5	81.5
Chaz Williams	Georgia Southern	RB	3	8	6	5	5	80
Allen Suber	Bethune–Cookman	QB	7	4	4	2	4	71
Kirwin Watson	Fordham	RB	3	5	6	2	10	67
P. J. Mays	Youngstown State	RB	2	5	2	5	6	52
Billy Napier	Furman	QB	2	4	5	2	2	47
Stephan Lewis	New Hampshire	RB	1	4	4	4	4	45
David Corley Jr.	Furman	QB	1	1	4	3	5	32
Ryan Johnson	Montana State	RB	2	0	3	1	2	23
Ryan Fuqua	Portland State	RB	0	1	2	3	2.5	18.5
Jay Bailey	Austin Peay	RB	1	0	0	0	0	5
Doug Baughman	Idaho State	QB	0	0	0	1	0	2

References

↑ "2002 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 16. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
↑ Nielsen, Brian (November 25, 2002). "Eastern to go to Western in I-AA playoff matchup". Journal Gazette. Mattoon, Illinois. p. B5. Retrieved February 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
↑ Kasper, Jon (November 12, 2001). "NCAA changes format for playoff pairings". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. p. D1. Retrieved February 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
↑ 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.
↑ "EIU's Romo Wins Walter Payton Award". Ohio Valley Conference. OVCSports.com. December 20, 2002. Retrieved January 7, 2026.

[1] "2002 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 16. Retrieved December 29, 2013.

[2] Nielsen, Brian (November 25, 2002). "Eastern to go to Western in I-AA playoff matchup". Journal Gazette. Mattoon, Illinois. p. B5. 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.

[5] "EIU's Romo Wins Walter Payton Award". Ohio Valley Conference. OVCSports.com. December 20, 2002. Retrieved January 7, 2026.

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NCAA football seasons
Pre-NCAA	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905
NCAA pre-divisional	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961
NCAA University Division	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division I	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
NCAA College Division	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division II	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
NCAA Division III	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026