The 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season was the last for Paul "Bear" Bryant as head coach at Alabama, retiring with in
The Penn State Nittany Lions won their first consensus national championship, closing out an season by defeating Georgia and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker 27–23 in the Sugar Bowl to edge out undefeated SMU for the national championship. It was Joe Paterno's first national championship, after three undefeated non-championship
UCLA moved from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to the Rose Bowl and fulfilled a promise made by coach Terry Donahue by closing out their season there as well, beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.
It is also the year of "The Play", an improbable finish to the annual rivalry game between Cal and Stanford.
The Aloha Bowl premiered in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was won by Washington.
Rule changes
The penalty for incidental grasping of a facemask was reduced from 15 yards to 5 yards. The 5 yard version of this penalty would be later abolished in the 2008 season. Coaches are no longer allowed to request a conference with the referee regarding a misapplication or misinterpretation of a rule, modifying a 1981 rule permitting such conferences, though a player or substitute can still request them. The penalty for offensive pass interference or illegal touching of a forward pass in the end zone was changed to a 15-yard penalty (5 yards for illegal touching) from a touchback. Penalties on the defense for fouls committed away from a catchable ball will be enforced from the previous spot and will no longer be considered pass interference. Intentional grounding where the spot of enforcement is in the end zone will no longer result in an automatic safety. The defense will have the option to take the result of the play or the safety. Intentional grounding will not be called if a passer throws the ball out of bounds to conserve time. Penalties against the offense that occur behind the scrimmage line will be enforced from the previous spot and not from the spot of the foul. Use of adhesive material (such as stickum) is prohibited, mirroring the NFL's outlawing of such products in 1981. The penalty for ineligible receiver downfield was reduced from 15 yards plus loss of down to 5 yards plus loss of down.
Conference changes and new programs
This was the first season the Ivy League, Southern Conference, and Southland Conference competed at the I-AA (FCS) level. Southwestern Louisiana was the only team from those three conferences to remain in Division I-A, becoming an independent. Ivy League — Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale Southern Conference — Appalachian State, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Furman, Marshall, The Citadel, VMI, and Western Carolina Southland Conference — Arkansas State, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, and Texas–Arlington Southwestern Louisiana, who had been a member of the Southland during the 1981 season, remained in Division I-A as an Independent. The school was renamed the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1999. Most of the Missouri Valley Conference football schools were also reclassified. This began the few years where the MVC hosted both I-A and I-AA teams. Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, and West Texas State did not meet I-A standards and were reclassified to I-AA. New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State remained in I-A. This season also saw the loss of Division I-A independent teams Colgate, Holy Cross, Northeast Louisiana, North Texas State, Richmond, and William & Mary; dropping the total number of Division I-A teams down to 105 from the previous season's 137 teams. As of 2020, Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Northeast Louisiana (renamed the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 1999), Louisiana Tech, Marshall, and North Texas have returned to Division I-A, renamed FBS in 2006.