along with the rest of the major conferences and major independents, besides the PAC and Big 10 (who tried to pull the P2 thing back then). The MAC and Big West were not, but were D1-A (later renamed FBS).
Thr CFA had pushed to separate the now FCS schools out of D1-A. The CFA also sued to broadcast rights.
There were 64 or so CFA teams in 1984, plus Big 10 & PAC 10. To compare eras, it is better to look to wins over CFA+B10+PAC10.