The 1998 Columbia Lions football team was an American football team that represented Columbia University during the 1998 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Columbia tied for fifth in the Ivy League.

In their 10th season under head coach Ray Tellier, the Lions compiled a 4–6 record and were outscored 175 to 146. Bert Bondi, Paul Roland, Jeremy Taylor and Chris Tillotson were the team captains. ^[1]

The Lions' 3–4 conference record tied for fifth in the Ivy League standings. Columbia was outscored 111 to 87 by Ivy opponents. ^[2]

Columbia played its homes games at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium in Upper Manhattan, in New York City.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 19	Harvard	Wien Stadium New York, NY	W 24–0	11,175	[3]
September 26	at Bucknell*	Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	L 20–27	9,000	[4]
October 3	at Saint Mary's (CA)*	Saint Mary's Stadium Moraga, CA	W 20–17	4,967	[5]
October 10	No. 10 Lehigh*	Wien Stadium New York, NY	L 19–20	3,675	[6]
October 17	at Penn	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	L 0–20	8,108	[7]
October 24	at Yale	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	L 14–37	14,537	[8]
October 31	Princeton	Wien Stadium New York, NY	L 0–20	6,740	[9]
November 7	at Dartmouth	Memorial Field Hanover, NH	W 24–14	4,117	[10]
November 14	Cornell	Wien Stadium New York, NY ( rivalry)	W 22–10	6,845	[11]
November 21	Brown	Wien Stadium New York, NY	L 3–10	4,600	[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game