1978 NAIA Division II football season

American college football season

1978 NAIA Division II football season
Regular season	August–November 1978
Postseason	November–December 1978
National Championship	Donnell Stadium Findlay, OH
Champions	Concordia–Moorhead (2)
←1977 NAIA Division II football season 1979→

The 1978 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1978 college football season in the United States and the 23rd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the ninth season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1978 and culminated in the 1978 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played at Donnell Stadium in Findlay, Ohio.

Concordia–Moorhead defeated Findlay in the championship game, 7–0, to win their second NAIA national title.

Conference changes

This is the final season that the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is officially recognized as an NAIA football conferences. The SIAC has since become an NCAA Division III conference.

Conference standings

1978 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 11 Elmhurst +	7	–	1	–	0	8	–	1	–	0
Millikin +	7	–	1	–	0	8	–	1	–	0
North Central (IL)	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Carroll (WI)	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Wheaton (IL)	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Augustana (IL)	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Illinois Wesleyan	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Carthage	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	8	–	0
North Park	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1978 Frontier Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Carroll (MT) $^	4	–	0	–	0	9	–	1	–	0
Montana Tech	2	–	1	–	1	2	–	4	–	2
Eastern Montana	2	–	1	–	1	2	–	6	–	1
Rocky Mountain	1	–	3	–	0	1	–	8	–	0
Western Montana	0	–	4	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

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

1978 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Missouri Valley $^	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
No. 18 Baker	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Ottawa	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Central Methodist	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
William Jewell	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Graceland	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Tarkio	0	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

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

1978 Hoosier–Buckeye Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Findlay $^	8	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
Hanover	6	–	2	–	0	6	–	2	–	1
Defiance	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Wilmington (OH)	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Anderson (IN)	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Manchester (IN)	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Bluffton	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Taylor	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Earlham	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

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

1978 Illini–Badger Football Conference standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 19 Milton $	4	–	0	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Lakeland	3	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Northeastern Illinois	2	–	2	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Eureka	1	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Concordia (IL)	0	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1978 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 8 Bethany (KS) $^	8	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
Southwestern (KS)	7	–	1	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Friends	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
McPherson	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Tabor	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Sterling	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
St. Mary of the Plains	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Kansas Wesleyan	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Bethel (KS)	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	9	–	0

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

1978 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Concordia–Moorhead * +	7	–	1	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
St. Olaf +^	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Gustavus Adolphus	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
No. T–20 Saint John's (MN)	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
St. Thomas (MN)	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Hamline	3	–	4	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Augsburg	2	–	5	–	1	3	–	6	–	1
Bethel (MN)	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Macalester	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant * – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1978 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 13 Hastings $	4½	–	½	–	0	8	–	1	–	0
Nebraska Wesleyan	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Concordia (NE)	3	–	2	–	0	4	–	5	–	1
Doane	2½	–	2½	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Dana	1	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Midland	1	–	4	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion Hastings and Doane played twice; each game counted as ½ of a game in the conference standings. Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1978 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Valley City State $	6	–	0	–	0	8	–	0	–	1
No. 12 Jamestown	5	–	1	–	0	8	–	1	–	0
Dickinson State	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Minot State	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	4	–	1
Wahpeton Science	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	6	–	0
Mayville State	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	6	–	1
Bismarck JC	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	6	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1978 Northwest Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Linfield $^	5	–	0	–	0	9	–	1	–	0
Pacific Lutheran	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	3	–	0
Pacific (OR)	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Willamette	2	–	3	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Whitworth	1	–	4	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Lewis & Clark	1	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

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

1978 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. T–20 Dakota State $	6	–	0	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
South Dakota Tech	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	2	–	1
Dakota Wesleyan	3	–	2	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Black Hills State	3	–	2	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
Huron	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
South Dakota–Springfield	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	7	–	1
Sioux Falls	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1978 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Redlands $	5	–	0	–	0	9	–	1	–	0
Claremont-Mudd	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Whittier	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Occidental	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
La Verne	1	–	4	–	0	1	–	7	–	0
Pomona-Pitzer	0	–	5	–	0	0	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion

1978 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Tarleton State $^	7	–	0	–	1	8	–	1	–	1
McMurry	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Trinity (TX)	2	–	4	–	2	4	–	4	–	2
Austin	2	–	5	–	1	3	–	6	–	1
Sul Ross	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

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

1978 Tri-State Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 7 Northwestern (IA) $^	2	–	0	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Westmar	2	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Yankton	0	–	3	–	0	1	–	8	–	1

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

1978 NAIA Division II independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 9 Cal Lutheran		–		8	–	2	–	0
Waynesburg		–		6	–	2	–	0
No. 16 Chadron State		–		7	–	2	–	2
No. 14 Westminster (PA)		–		6	–	2	–	1
No. 17 Illinois College		–		6	–	2	–	1
Peru State		–		5	–	3	–	2
Simon Fraser		–		4	–	5	–	0
Azusa Pacific		–		3	–	6	–	0
Benedictine (KS)		–		3	–	6	–	0
Texas Lutheran		–		3	–	6	–	0
Geneva		–		3	–	7	–	0
Oklahoma Panhandle State		–		2	–	7	–	0
Iowa Wesleyan		–		0	–	9	–	0

Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Frontier	Carroll (MT)	4–0
Heart of America	Missouri Valley	6–0
Hoosier-Buckeye	Findlay	8–0
Illini-Badger	Milton	4–0
Kansas	Bethany	8–0
Minnesota	Concordia–Moorhead St. Olaf	7–1
Nebraska	Hastings	4–0–1
North Dakota	Valley City State	4–0
Pacific Northwest	Linfield	5–0
South Dakota	Dakota State	6–0
SCIAC	Redlands	5–0
Texas	Tarleton State	7–0–1

Postseason

Quarterfinals Campus sites			Semifinals Campus sites			Championship Findlay, OH

	Missouri Valley*	30

	Bethany (KS)	16
				Missouri Valley	9

				Findlay*	27
	Findlay*	13

	Tarleton State	6
							Findlay*	0

							Concordia–Moorhead	7
	Concordia–Moorhead*	49

	Northwestern (IA)	0
				Concordia–Moorhead	24

				Linfield*	23
	Linfield*	32

	Carroll (MT)	6

References

"NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
"NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. p. 22. 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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