1977 NAIA Division I football season

American college football season

1977 NAIA Division I football season
Regular season	August–November 1977
Postseason	December 3–10, 1977
National Championship	Kingdome Seattle, WA
Champions	Abilene Christian (2)
← 1976 NAIA Division I football season 1978 →

The 1977 NAIA Division I football season was the 22nd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the eighth season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1977 and culminated in the 1977 NAIA Division I Football National Championship. Known this year as the Apple Bowl, the title game was played on December 10, 1977 at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. Abilene Christian defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State in the Apple Bowl, 24–7, to win their second NAIA national title.

Conference realignment

Conference changes

This is the final season that the NAIA officially recognizes a football champion from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Membership changes

Team	1976 conference	1977 conference
Chadron State	Nebraska College	Independent (NAIA)
Peru State	Nebraska College	Independent (NAIA)
Sul Ross	Lone Star (NAIA Division I)	TIAA (NAIA Division II)
Tarleton State	Lone Star (NAIA Division I)	TIAA (NAIA Division II)
Wayne State	Nebraska College	Central States

Conference standings

1977 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Henderson State $	5	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Central Arkansas	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Southern Arkansas	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	1
Arkansas Tech	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Arkansas–Monticello	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	1
Ouachita Baptist	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Harding	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1977 Central States Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Kearney State $^	7	–	0	–	0	8	–	2	–	1
Wayne State (NE)	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 20 Missouri Western	4	–	2	–	1	8	–	2	–	1
Washburn	4	–	2	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
Missouri Southern	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Emporia State	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Fort Hays State	1	–	5	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Pittsburg State	1	–	5	–	1	1	–	8	–	1

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1977 Evergreen Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 17 Oregon College $	6	–	0	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Western Washington	5	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Eastern Washington	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Central Washington	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Southern Oregon	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Eastern Oregon	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Oregon Tech	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1977 Lone Star Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Abilene Christian +^	5	–	1	–	1	11	–	1	–	1
No. 3 Texas A&I +	5	–	1	–	1	8	–	1	–	1
No. 11 Angelo State	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Southwest Texas State	5	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
No. 13 East Texas State	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Stephen F. Austin	2	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Sam Houston State	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Howard Payne	0	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1977 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 SW Oklahoma State $^	4	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
SE Oklahoma State	3	–	1	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Northeastern State	2	–	2	–	0	4	–	5	–	1
East Central	1	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
NW Oklahoma State	0	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1977 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Minnesota Morris $^	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Bemidji State	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Moorhead State	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Minnesota Duluth	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
St. Cloud State	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Michigan Tech	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Winona State	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Southwest State (MN)	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant

1977 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
East Division
No. 4 Millersville xy	5	–	0	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Kutztown	4	–	1	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
East Stroudsburg	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	2	–	0
Bloomsburg	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Cheyney	1	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Mansfield	0	–	5	–	0	2	–	6	–	1
West Division
No. 8 Clarion xy$	5	–	0	–	1	9	–	0	–	1
Shippensburg	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Slippery Rock	3	–	2	–	1	4	–	4	–	1
Lock Haven	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Indiana (PA)	2	–	3	–	1	4	–	4	–	1
Edinboro	2	–	3	–	1	3	–	6	–	1
California (PA)	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Championship: Clarion 25, Millersville 24
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1977 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 12 Western State (CO) $	8	–	1	–	0	8	–	1	–	0
No. 14 Mesa	7	–	1	–	1	8	–	1	–	1
Southern Utah	7	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Fort Lewis	6	–	2	–	1	6	–	2	–	1
Westminster (UT)	5	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Adams State	3	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Colorado Mines	2	–	7	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Southern Colorado *	2	–	7	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
New Mexico Highlands	2	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Western New Mexico	2	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion * – Southern Colorado forfeited three conference wins, over Western State, Southern Utah, and Westminster Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1977 South Atlantic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 7 Elon $	6	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Mars Hill	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 19 Presbyterian	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	1
No. 18 Gardner–Webb	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Lenoir Rhyne	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	1
Carson–Newman	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Catawba	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Newberry	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	7	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1977 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northern Division
No. 9 West Virginia Wesleyan xy	3	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Salem x	3	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Shepherd x	3	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
West Liberty State	1	–	3	–	0	3	–	6	–	1
Fairmont State	0	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Southern Division
No. 4 Concord xy$^	4	–	0	–	0	9	–	2	–	1
West Virginia Tech	3	–	1	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
West Virginia State	2	–	2	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Glenville State	1	–	3	–	0	1	–	8	–	0
Bluefield State	0	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Championship: Concord 33, West Virginia Wesleyan 17
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Conference standings based on power ratings Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1977 Wisconsin State University Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Wisconsin–Stevens Point $^	7	–	0	–	1	8	–	2	–	1
Wisconsin–Whitewater	6	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin–La Crosse	5	–	2	–	1	6	–	2	–	2
Wisconsin–Platteville	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin–Oshkosh	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Wisconsin–Eau Claire	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin–River Falls	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin–Stout	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Wisconsin–Superior	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1977 NAIA Division I independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 9 Cameron		–		7	–	1	–	1
No. 16 Kentucky State		–		8	–	2	–	1
Wofford		–		7	–	3	–	1
Langston		–		4	–	5	–	0
Eastern New Mexico		–		4	–	6	–	0
Guilford		–		3	–	7	–	0
Liberty Baptist		–		3	–	7	–	0

Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Arkansas	Henderson State	6–0
Central States	Kearney State	7–0
Evergreen	Oregon College	6–0
Lone Star	Abilene Christian Texas A&I	5–1–1
NIC	Minnesota–Morris	7–0
Oklahoma	Southwestern Oklahoma State	4–0
PSAC	Clarion State	5–0–1
RMAC	Western State	8–1
South Atlantic	Elon	6–1
SWAC	Grambling State	6–0
WVIAC	Concord	7–1–1
Wisconsin State	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	7–0–1

Postseason

Semifinals December 3, 1977		1977 Apple Bowl December 10, 1977 Seattle, WA

Wisconsin–Stevens Point	7

Abilene Christian*	35
		Abilene Christian	24

		Southwestern Oklahoma State	7
Kearney State	7

Southwestern Oklahoma State*	21

References

"NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
"Spokane Daily Chronicle - Google News Archive Search".
"1977 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
"NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 20–23. Retrieved December 11, 2021.

NAIA football

Seasons

1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970–1996 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
Division I	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
Division II	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
Women's flag	2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Championships

1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970–1996 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
Division I	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
Division II	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

Records & statistics

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