2003 NCAA Division I-AA football season

2003 NCAA Division I-AA season
Duration	August – November 2003
Playoff
Duration	November 29 – December 19, 2003
Championship site	Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, TN
Champion	Delaware
Payton Award	Jamaal Branch – RB (Colgate)
Buchanan Award	Jared Allen – DE (Idaho State)
Division I-AA football season
«2002 2004»

The 2003 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 2003, and concluded with the National Championship Game of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on December 19, 2003, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Colgate Raiders by a final score of 40−0

Conference changes and new programs

School	2002 Conference	2003 Conference
Canisius	MAAC	Dropped Program
Coastal Carolina	New Program	Big South
East Tennessee State	Southern	Dropped Program
Elon	Big South	Southern
Fairfield	MAAC	Dropped Program
Jacksonville State	Southland	Ohio Valley
St. John's (NY)	Northeast	Dropped Program
Samford	I-AA Independent	Ohio Valley
Southeastern Louisiana	Revived Program	I-AA Independent
VMI	Southern	Big South

Conference standings

2003 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #1 Delaware $^   8 – 1         15 – 1   #11 UMass $^   8 – 1         10 – 3   #20 Northeastern   6 – 3         8 – 4   #25 Villanova   5 – 4         7 – 4   Maine   4 – 4         6 – 5   William & Mary   4 – 4         5 – 5   James Madison   4 – 5         6 – 6   New Hampshire   3 – 6         5 – 7   Rhode Island   3 – 6         4 – 8   Hofstra   2 – 6         2 – 10   Richmond   1 – 8         2 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll

2003 Southern Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #3 Wofford $^   4 – 3         8 – 3   Appalachian State   4 – 3         6 – 5   #24 Georgia Southern   3 – 4         7 – 4   Furman   3 – 4         6 – 5   The Citadel   2 – 5         3 – 7   Western Carolina   2 – 5         4 – 7   Chattanooga   2 – 5         2 – 9   East Tennessee State   2 – 6         5 – 7   Elon   1 – 7         2 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll

2003 Southland Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #8 McNeese State $^ 5 – 0 – 0     10 – 2 – 0 Stephen F. Austin 4 – 1 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Northwestern State 2 – 3 – 0     7 – 5 – 0 Texas State 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 7 – 0 Sam Houston State 2 – 3 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Nicholls State 0 – 5 – 0     0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – Division I-AA playoff participant Ranking is from the Sports Network Poll

Conference champions

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

Conference Champions

Atlantic 10 Conference – Delaware and Massachusetts Big Sky Conference – Montana, Montana State, and Northern Arizona Big South Conference – Gardner-Webb Gateway Football Conference – Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois Ivy League – Penn Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Duquesne Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina A&T Northeast Conference – Albany (NY) and Monmouth Ohio Valley Conference – Jacksonville State Patriot League – Colgate Pioneer Football League – Valparaiso Southern Conference – Wofford Southland Conference – McNeese State Southwestern Athletic Conference – Southern

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

	First Round November 29 Campus Sites				Quarterfinals December 6 Campus Sites				Semifinals December 13 Campus Sites				National Championship Game December 19 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN
	McNeese State*	3
	Northern Arizona	35
					Northern Arizona*	25
					Florida Atlantic	48
	Bethune-Cookman*	24
	Florida Atlantic	32
									Florida Atlantic*	24
									Colgate	36
	Colgate*	19
	Massachusetts	7
					Colgate*	28
					Western Illinois	27
	Montana*	40
	Western Illinois	43**
													Colgate	0
													Delaware	40
	Wofford*	31
	North Carolina A&T	0
					Wofford*	34
					Western Kentucky	17
	Western Kentucky*	45
	Jacksonville State	7
									Wofford	9
									Delaware*	24
	Delaware*	48
	Southern Illinois	7
					Delaware*	37
					Northern Iowa	7
	Northern Iowa*	35
	Montana State	14

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