1988 NAIA Division II football season

American college football season

1988 NAIA Division II football season
Regular season	August–November 1988
Postseason	November–December 1988
National Championship	Memorial Stadium New Wilmington, PA
Champions	Westminster (PA) (4)
←1987 NAIA Division II football season 1989→

The 1988 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1988 college football season in the United States and the 33rd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 19th season of play of the NAIA division II for football.

The season was played from August to November 1988 and culminated in the 1988 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played at the Memorial Stadium on the campus of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.

The Westminster Titans defeated the Wisconsin–La Crosse Indians in the championship game, 21–14, to win their fourth NAIA national title.

Conference standings

1988 Columbia Football Association standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Mount Hood League
No. 12 Oregon Tech x^	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 20 Linfield	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Southern Oregon	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Pacific (OR)	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	5	–	1
Western Oregon	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Willamette	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Eastern Oregon	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	9	–	0
Mount Rainier League
No. 4 Central Washington x^	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	1	–	0
No. 11 Pacific Lutheran ^	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Puget Sound	4	–	2	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Western Washington	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Whitworth	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	5	–	1
Simon Fraser	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Lewis & Clark	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

x – League champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1988 Frontier Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Carroll (MT) $^	6	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
Montana Tech	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Rocky Mountain	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Western Montana	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	5	–	0

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

1988 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Baker $^	7	–	0	–	0	9	–	1	–	0
Missouri Valley	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Tarkio	5	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Graceland	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
William Jewell	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	1
MidAmerica Nazarene	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Culver–Stockton	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
No. 2 Evangel * ^	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	12	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Evangel finished the 1988 season with an 11–1 record and a 7–0 mark in HAAC play. In March 1989, the team forfeited all 11 wins and their conference title because it had used two ineligible players. Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1988 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Bethany (KS) $^	9	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
McPherson	6	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Southwestern (KS)	6	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
St. Mary of the Plains	5	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Kansas Wesleyan	5	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Bethel (KS)	5	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Ottawa	5	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Friends	2	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Sterling	1	–	8	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Tabor	1	–	8	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

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

1988 Mid-South Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 7 Cumberland (KY) $^	5	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
No. 24 Georgetown (KY)	4	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Evansville	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Union (KY)	2	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Kentucky Wesleyan	1	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Campbellsville	0	–	5	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

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

1988 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 21 Nebraska Wesleyan $^	5	–	0	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Dana	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Doane	3	–	2	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Midland	3	–	2	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Concordia (NE)	1	–	4	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Hastings	0	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

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

1988 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 17 Valley City State $^	6	–	0	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 16 Dickinson State	5	–	1	–	0	8	–	1	–	0
Minot State	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Jamestown	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Mayville State	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
NDSCS–Wahpeton	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Mary	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

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

1988 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 8 Sioux Falls $^	5	–	0	–	0	9	–	1	–	1
Huron	3	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Black Hills State	3	–	2	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Dakota Wesleyan	3	–	2	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
South Dakota Tech	1	–	4	–	0	1	–	8	–	0
Dakota State	0	–	5	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

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

1988 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 9 Austin $^	9	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Tarleton State	7	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Sul Ross	5	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Midwestern State	4	–	6	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Howard Payne	4	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
McMurry	1	–	9	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

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

1988 Tri-State Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Northwestern (IA) $^	3	–	0	–	0	12	–	1	–	0
Benedictine (KS)	2	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Westmar	1	–	2	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Peru State	0	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0

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

1988 Wisconsin State University Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Wisconsin–Whitewater $^	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 14 Wisconsin–La Crosse *	6	–	2	–	0	11	–	3	–	0
No. 15 Wisconsin–River Falls	6	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 25 Wisconsin–Stevens Point	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin–Platteville	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin–Oshkosh	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	1
Wisconsin–Eau Claire	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Wisconsin–Stout	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Wisconsin–Superior	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

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

1988 NAIA Division II independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 1 Westminster (PA) ^		–		14	–	0	–	0
No. 19 Azusa Pacific		–		7	–	1	–	0
No. 13 Bluffton ^		–		9	–	2	–	0
Geneva		–		8	–	2	–	0
No. 23 Wilmington (OH)		–		7	–	2	–	1
Franklin (IN)		–		7	–	3	–	0
St. Francis (IL)		–		6	–	4	–	0
Chadron State		–		5	–	5	–	0
Findlay		–		3	–	6	–	0
St. Ambrose		–		2	–	6	–	1
Tiffin		–		2	–	8	–	0
Waynesburg		–		2	–	8	–	0
Oklahoma Panhandle State		–		1	–	7	–	0
Iowa Wesleyan		–		0	–	10	–	0

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

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Columbia	Mount Rainier League: Central Washington Mount Hood League: Oregon Tech	6–0 6–0
Frontier	Carroll (MT)	6–0
Heart of America	Evangel	7–0
Illini-Badger	Concordia–Wisconsin	8–1
Kansas	Bethany	9–0
Mid-South	Cumberland (KY)	5–0
Nebraska	Nebraska Wesleyan	5–0
North Dakota	Valley City State	6–0
South Dakota	Sioux Falls	5–0
Tri-State	Northwestern (IA)	3–0
WSUC	Wisconsin–Whitewater	7–1

Rankings

Final NAIA Division II poll rankings:

Rank	Team (first place votes)	Record (thru Nov. 12)	Points
1	Westminster (PA) (16)	10–0	518
2	Evangel	9–0	486
3	Carroll (MT) (3)	9–0	474
4	Central Washington (1)	9–0	466
5	Northwestern (IA) (1)	10–0	452
6	Bethany (KS)	9–0	418
7	Cumberland (KY)	10–0	404
8	Sioux Falls	9–0–1	370
9	Austin	9–1	340
10	Baker	8–1	332
11	Pacific Lutheran	7–2	332
12	Oregon Tech	7–2	270
13	Bluffton	8–1	254
14	Wisconsin–La Crosse	8–2	241
15	Wisconsin–River Falls	7–3	211
16	Dickinson State	7–1	200
17	Valley City State	7–2	187
18	Concordia (WI)	8–1	162
19	Azusa Pacific	7–1	130
20	Linfield	7–2	129
21	Nebraska Wesleyan	7–2	118
22	Greenville	8–1	117
23	Wilmington (OH)	7–2–1	79
24	Georgetown (KY)	7–3	77
25	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	7–4	29

Postseason

First Round Campus sites			Quarterfinals Campus sites			Semifinals Campus sites			Championship New Wilmington, PA

	Pacific Lutheran	35

	Oregon Tech*	56
				Oregon Tech	70

				Carroll (MT)*	35
	Central Washington	7

	Carroll (MT)*	28
							Oregon Tech*	24

							Wisconsin–La Crosse	37
	Sioux Falls	9

	Northwestern (IA)*	14
				Northwestern (IA)*	33

				Wisconsin–La Crosse	45
	Valley City State	6

	Wisconsin–La Crosse*	31
										Wisconsin–La Crosse	14

										Westminster (PA)*	21
	Nebraska Wesleyan	14

	Evangel*	45
				Evangel*	22

				Bethany	10
	Baker	19

	Bethany*	21
							Evangel	9

							Westminster (PA)*	26
	Bluffton	30

	Cumberland (KY)*	14
				Bluffton	7

				Westminster (PA)*	40
	Austin	12

	Westminster (PA)*	34

References

"NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
"Final NAIA Division II poll". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. November 15, 1988. p. 26. Retrieved May 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .

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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