| 1978 NCAA Division I-A season | |
|---|---|
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| Number of teams | 138 |
| Duration | September 1, 1978 – January 1, 1979 |
| Preseason AP No. 1 | Alabama[1] |
| Post-season | |
| Duration | December 16, 1978 – January 1, 1979 |
| Bowl games | 15 |
| AP Poll No. 1 | Alabama |
| Coaches Poll No. 1 | USC |
| Heisman Trophy | Billy Sims (Oklahoma HB) |
| Champion(s) | Alabama (AP, FWAA, NFF) USC (Coaches) |
| Division I-A football seasons | |
«1977 1979 → | |
The 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first season of Division I-A college football. Division I-A was created in January 1978 when Division I was subdivided into Division I-A and I-AA for football only.[2] It was anticipated that 65 Division I football schools would transition to Division I-AA.[3] Instead, just eight programs (seven teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which had just joined Division I a year before, plus independent Northwestern State) voluntarily opted for Division I-AA for the 1978 season, where they joined 35 schools that had reclassified from Division II. One school, UNLV, moved from Division II to I-A, bringing the total number of I-A institutions to 138 for the 1978 season.
The Division I-A season came down to a rare top-two post-season meeting as No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Alabama met in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Day. The game is most remembered for Alabama's goal line stand with four minutes left in the game; on fourth down and a foot, Alabama managed to keep Penn State out of the end zone and went on to win, 14–7. Keith Jackson, who did the play by play for ABC, called it the greatest game he'd ever seen; 76,824 packed the Louisiana Superdome, which was tremendously loud.
Alabama's only loss that year was 24–14 in Birmingham to USC in September. Both schools claim this year as a national title year: Alabama claimed the national title because it defeated top-ranked Penn State on the field. USC claimed the title because it defeated Alabama in the regular season and also finished with only one loss. The AP Poll and most other voting outlets (including the Football Writers Association of America and the National Football Foundation) crowned Alabama as national champion, while the UPI Coaches' Poll selected USC.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Big schools win battle". St. Petersburg Independent. (Florida). Associated Press. January 13, 1978. p. 5C.
- ^ Underwood, John (January 23, 1978). "The NCAA splits its decision". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
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