1976 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

American college football season

1976 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–6 ( Independent)
Head coach	John Konstantinos (2nd season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Stadium
Seasons← 1975 1977 →

1976 NCAA Division II independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 2 Northern Michigan ^		–		11	–	2	–	0
No. 3 Akron ^		–		10	–	3	–	0
No. 7 UNLV ^		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 4 Delaware ^		–		8	–	3	–	1
Nevada		–		8	–	3	–	0
Portland State		–		8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State		–		7	–	2	–	1
American International		–		6	–	3	–	0
Northern Colorado		–		6	–	3	–	0
Madison		–		7	–	4	–	0
Santa Clara		–		7	–	4	–	0
Western Carolina		–		6	–	4	–	0
Chattanooga		–		6	–	4	–	1
Southern Connecticut State		–		5	–	4	–	0
Central State (OH)		–		6	–	5	–	0
Lehigh		–		6	–	5	–	0
Cal State Los Angeles		–		5	–	3	–	1
Arkansas–Pine Bluff		–		5	–	5	–	0
Central Connecticut		–		5	–	5	–	0
Lafayette		–		5	–	5	–	0
Eastern Illinois		–		5	–	6	–	0
Bucknell		–		4	–	5	–	0
Youngstown State		–		4	–	6	–	0
Kentucky State		–		3	–	7	–	1
Nebraska–Omaha		–		3	–	8	–	0
Northeastern		–		2	–	7	–	0

^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll

The 1976 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as an independent during the 1976 NCAA Division II football season. The Panthers played their home games at O'Brien Stadium in Charleston, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 4	Cameron	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 17–16	4,000
September 11	at Northeast Missouri State	Stokes Stadium Kirksville, MO	W 24–14	5,000
September 25	at Southwest Missouri State	Briggs Stadium Springfield, MO	W 41–0	4,000
October 2	Central Missouri	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 41–14	8,500
October 9	Tennessee Tech	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	L 14–41	6,500
October 16	at No. T–9 Western Illinois	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	L 10–14	16,808
October 23	Central State (OH)	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 24–8	1,000
October 30	No. 1 Northern Michigan	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	L 10–30	6,500
November 6	at Youngstown State	Rayen Stadium Youngstown, OH	L 14–36	3,000
November 13	at Butler	Butler Bowl Indianapolis, IN	L 27–28	2,000
November 20	Illinois State	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (rivalry)	L 8–13	4,500
Rankings from Associated Press Poll released prior to the game

v t e Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Venues	O'Brien Field (1970–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Illinois State: Mid-America Classic
Culture & lore	Billy the Panther
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold