The 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season was the first season of Division I-AA college football; Division I-AA was created in January 1978, when Division I was subdivided into Division I-A and Division I-AA for football only. With the exception of seven teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), Division I teams from the 1977 season played in Division I-A in 1978. The SWAC teams, along with five conferences and five other teams formerly in Division II football, played in Division I-AA.
The season began in August 1978 and concluded with the Division I-AA Football Championship Game, played on December 16 at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Florida A&M Rattlers won the first I-AA championship, defeating the UMass Minutemen 35–28 in the Pioneer Bowl. Florida A&M of 1978 remains the only HBCU program to play in (and win) the I-AA/FCS national championship game.
Conference realignment
Conference changes
Five conferences, the Big Sky, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Ohio Valley, Southwestern Athletic, and Yankee, transitioned from Division II football to the newly-established Division I-AA level of college football. All of their members, alongside eight independents, changed divisions at the same time.
Membership changes
Conference standings
Conference champions
Postseason
NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket
The bracket consisted of three regional selections (West, East, and South) plus an at-large team. Florida A&M (FAMU) of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) was the at-large selection. While the SIAC was a Division II conference, FAMU had successfully petitioned the NCAA for Division I classification (Division I-AA in football), which took effect on September 1, 1978.