2001 NCAA Division I-AA football season

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]

2001 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams	122
Duration	August–November
Payton Award	Brian Westbrook (RB, Villanova)
Buchanan Award	Derrick Lloyd (LB, James Madison)
Playoff
Duration	December 1–December 21
Championship date	December 21, 2001
Championship site	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee
Champion	Montana
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«2000 2002»

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		Atlantic 10
Jacksonville		Pioneer
Morehead State
Morris Brown	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Savannah State
South Florida	I-AA Independent	I-A Independent
Troy State	Southland
Western Kentucky	Ohio Valley	Gateway

Conference standings

2001 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 State   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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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

See also: List of NCAA Division I-AA/FCS football seasons

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.