1987 NAIA Division I football season

American college football season

1987 NAIA Division I football season
Regular season	August–November 1987
Postseason	November 28–December 19, 1987
National Championship	Cameron Stadium Lawton, OK
Champions	Cameron
← 1986 NAIA Division I football season 1988 →

The 1987 NAIA Division I football season was the 32nd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 18th season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1987 and culminated in the 1987 NAIA Champion Bowl playoffs and the 1987 NAIA Champion Bowl, played this year on December 19, 1987 at Cameron Stadium in Lawton, Oklahoma, on the campus of Cameron University.

Cameron defeated Carson–Newman in the Champion Bowl (a re-match of the previous year's final, won by the Eagles), 30–2, to win their first NAIA national title.

Conference realignment

Conference changes

This was the final season that the NAIA officially recognized the football champion from the Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC). The CSIC played one more season as part of the NAIA before disbanding.

Conference standings

1987 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Central Arkansas $^	6	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
Southern Arkansas	3	–	2	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
No. 22 Harding	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
No. 25 Henderson State	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
No. 21 Arkansas–Monticello	2	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Ouachita Baptist	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	4	–	1
Arkansas Tech	1	–	4	–	1	2	–	7	–	1

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

1987 Central States Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Pittsburg State $^	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 24 Washburn	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
No. 12 Emporia State	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Kearney State	4	–	3	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Fort Hays State	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Missouri Southern	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Wayne State (NE)	1	–	5	–	1	1	–	8	–	1
Missouri Western	0	–	6	–	1	1	–	9	–	1

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

1987 Columbia Football League standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northern Division
No. 8 Central Washington * x	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 6 Pacific Lutheran ^	4	–	1	–	1	11	–	1	–	1
No. 17 Puget Sound	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Simon Fraser	4	–	2	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Western Washington	2	–	3	–	1	4	–	3	–	2
Whitworth	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Lewis & Clark	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	9	–	0
Southern Division
Oregon Tech x	5	–	1	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
No. 15 Southern Oregon *	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Linfield	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Pacific (OR)	3	–	2	–	1	4	–	3	–	2
Western Oregon	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Willamette	1	–	4	–	1	3	–	5	–	1
Eastern Oregon	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

x – Division champion/co-champions * – NAIA Division I playoff participant ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll for Central Washington, Puget Sound, and Southern Oregon and NAIA Division II poll for Pacific Lutheran

1987 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Northern Michigan $^	4	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Grand Valley State	4	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Hillsdale	2	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Saginaw Valley State	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Ferris State	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	0	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1987 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Minnesota Morris $	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 14 Southwest State (MN)	4	–	1	–	1	7	–	4	–	1
No. 16 Moorhead State ^	4	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Northern State	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Winona State	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Bemidji State	0	–	5	–	1	2	–	7	–	1
Minnesota Duluth	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Minnesota Duluth forfeited 8 wins including 5 conference wins, over Minnesota Morris, Moorhead State, Northern State, Winona State, and Bemidji State. Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1987 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Northeastern State +^	3	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
East Central +	3	–	1	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
No. 13 NW Oklahoma State ^	2	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
SE Oklahoma State	2	–	2	–	0	4	–	5	–	2
SW Oklahoma State	0	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1987 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Mesa $^	6	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
Adams State *	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
No. 20 New Mexico Highlands	3	–	2	–	1	5	–	3	–	1
Western New Mexico	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Fort Lewis	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Western State (CO)	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Colorado Mines	0	–	5	–	1	3	–	5	–	1

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant * – Adams State forfeited three victories including a conference win over Western New Mexico Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1987 South Atlantic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Gardner–Webb $^	6	–	1	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
No. 11 Presbyterian ^	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	5	–	0
No. 9 Carson–Newman ^	4	–	3	–	0	10	–	4	–	0
No. 19 Elon	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Lenoir–Rhyne	3	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Newberry	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Catawba	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Mars Hill	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

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

1987 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Concord $^	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
No. 18 Fairmont State	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
West Liberty State	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Shepherd	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Glenville State	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	1
West Virginia Tech	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Salem	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
West Virginia State	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant West Virginia State forfeited a shared of the conference title, one tie, and eight victories, including six conference wins, over Concord, Fairmont State, West Liberty, Salem, Glenville State, and West Virginia Tech. Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1987 NAIA Division I independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 3 Central State (OH) ^		–		10	–	1	–	1
No. 7 Cameron ^		–		11	–	2	–	0
No. 23 Arkansas–Pine Bluff		–		7	–	4	–	0
West Virginia Wesleyan		–		6	–	4	–	0
Central State (OK)		–		2	–	8	–	0
Guilford		–		2	–	8	–	0
Wofford		–		1	–	10	–	0
Langston		–		0	–	10	–	0

^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Arkansas	Central Arkansas	6–0
Central States	Pittsburg State	7–0
NIC	Minnesota–Duluth	5–1
Oklahoma	Northeastern State East Central	3–1
RMAC	Mesa	6–0
South Atlantic	Gardner–Webb	6–1
WVIAC	Concord (WV)	7–1

Postseason

Format

After nine seasons of an eight-team bracket, the tournament field expanded to sixteen. In turn, the playoffs began during the month of November for the first time since 1975.

Bracket

First Round November 28, 1987 Campus sites		Quarterfinals December 5, 1987 Campus sites		Semifinals December 12, 1987 Campus sites		1987 Champion Bowl December 19, 1987 Lawton, OK

Central Washington	14

Southern Oregon*	21
		Southern Oregon	7

		Mesa State*	38
Mesa	49

Southwest State (MN)*	7
				Mesa State	7

				Carson–Newman*	21
Moorhead State	7

Gardner–Webb*	27
		Gardner–Webb	24

		Carson–Newman*	27
Carson–Newman	26

Central State (OH)*	13
						Carson–Newman	2

						Cameron*	30
NW Oklahoma State	7

Central Arkansas*	31
		Central Arkansas	7

		Cameron*	14
Emporia State	12

Cameron*	17
				Cameron	20

				Pittsburg State*	10
Concord	0

Presbyterian*	41
		Presbyterian	21

		Pittsburg State*	42
Northeastern State	0

Pittsburg State*	57

References

"NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
"1987 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 23, 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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