The 1987 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-AA level, began in August 1987, and concluded with the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 19, 1987, at the Minidome in Pocatello, Idaho.

The Northeast Louisiana Indians won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Marshall Thundering Herd by a score of 43–42.

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) conference champion Howard Bison (9–1) did not receive an invitation to the I-AA playoffs and filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and sought a temporary restraining order to delay the start of the playoffs.

[5] Two days later, the request for a temporary restraining order was rejected by federal judge John Garrett Penn.

[8] The I-AA playoff field remained at sixteen through the 2009 season, expanding to twenty in 2010 and 24 in 2013.