1997 NAIA football season - Misplaced Pages

American college football season

1997 NAIA football season
Regular season	August–November 1997
Postseason	November 18–December 20, 1997
National Championship	Jim Carroll Stadium Savannah, TN
Champion	Findlay (4)
Player of the Year	Bo Hurley (QB, Findlay)
← 1996 NAIA football season 1998 →

The 1997 NAIA football season, as part of the 1997 college football season in the United States, was the 42nd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA.

The season was played from August to November 1997, culminating in the 1997 NAIA Football National Championship, played this year on December 20, 1997 at Jim Carroll Stadium in Savannah, Tennessee.

Findlay defeated Willamette in the championship game, 14–7, to win their fourth NAIA national title.

Conference standings

1997 Columbia Football Association standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 13 Western Oregon $^	4	–	1	7	–	3
Central Washington	3	–	2	5	–	4
Southern Oregon	3	–	2	5	–	4
Western Washington	3	–	2	5	–	5
Simon Fraser	1	–	4	2	–	7
Humboldt State	1	–	4	2	–	8

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

1997 Frontier Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Montana Tech $^	6	–	0	10	–	2
Rocky Mountain	3	–	3	4	–	5
Carroll (MT)	2	–	4	4	–	5
Western Montana	1	–	5	1	–	8

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

1997 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 Benedictine (KS) +^	8	–	1	9	–	2
No. 9 Evangel +^	8	–	1	9	–	2
No. 23 MidAmerica Nazarene	6	–	3	7	–	4
Baker	5	–	4	6	–	4
William Jewell	5	–	4	5	–	5
Graceland	4	–	5	5	–	5
Missouri Valley	4	–	5	5	–	5
Lindenwood	4	–	5	4	–	6
Central Methodist	1	–	8	1	–	9
Culver–Stockton	0	–	9	1	–	9

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

1997 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 12 Ottawa +^	7	–	1	9	–	2
No. 15 Southwestern (KS) +^	7	–	1	8	–	3
No. 20 Bethany (KS)	6	–	2	7	–	2
McPherson	4	–	4	6	–	4
Bethel (KS)	4	–	4	5	–	5
Friends	4	–	4	4	–	6
Sterling	2	–	6	3	–	7
Kansas Wesleyan	2	–	6	2	–	7
Tabor	0	–	8	1	–	9

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

1997 Mid-South Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 11 Campbellsville +^	5	–	1	7	–	3
Georgetown (KY) +	5	–	1	5	–	4
Cumberland (TN)	4	–	2	5	–	4
Cumberland (KY)	3	–	3	5	–	5
Lambuth	2	–	4	4	–	6
Union (KY)	2	–	4	2	–	8
North Greenville	0	–	6	1	–	8

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

1997 Mid-States Football Association standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Mideast League
No. 5 Geneva x^	6	–	0	11	–	2
No. 8 Westminster (PA) ^	5	–	1	9	–	2
No. 21 Walsh	4	–	2	7	–	3
Malone	3	–	3	5	–	5
Tri-State	2	–	4	4	–	6
Tiffin	1	–	4	4	–	7
Urbana	0	–	6	0	–	10
Midwest League
No. 1 Findlay x^	6	–	0	14	–	0
No. 24 Taylor	5	–	1	7	–	3
Olivet Nazarene	4	–	2	7	–	3
St. Ambrose	3	–	3	4	–	6
Iowa Wesleyan	1	–	5	4	–	7
Saint Xavier	1	–	5	1	–	9
Trinity International	1	–	5	1	–	9

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

1997 Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 7 Doane $^	6	–	0	11	–	1
Hastings	5	–	1	5	–	4
Northwestern (IA)	3	–	3	5	–	5
Nebraska Wesleyan	3	–	3	5	–	5
Dana	2	–	4	4	–	6
Midland	2	–	4	2	–	8
Concordia (NE)	0	–	6	1	–	9

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

1997 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 Jamestown $^	6	–	0	10	–	1
No. 16 Minnesota–Crookston ^	4	–	2	7	–	3
No. 22 Dickinson State	4	–	2	6	–	3
Minot State	4	–	2	5	–	4
Valley City State	2	–	4	5	–	5
Mary	1	–	5	4	–	2
Mayville State	0	–	6	0	–	10

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

1997 Northwest Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Willamette $^	5	–	0	13	–	1
No. 19 Linfield	4	–	1	6	–	3
No. 17 Pacific Lutheran	3	–	2	7	–	2
Lewis & Clark	2	–	3	3	–	6
Whitworth	1	–	4	2	–	7
Puget Sound	0	–	5	2	–	7

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

1997 South Dakota-Iowa Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Sioux Falls $^	6	–	0	11	–	2
No. 25 Westmar	5	–	1	8	–	2
Dakota Wesleyan	3	–	3	5	–	5
Huron	3	–	3	4	–	6
Black Hills State	2	–	4	3	–	6
Dakota State	1	–	5	2	–	8
South Dakota Tech	1	–	5	1	–	9

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

1997 NAIA independents football records
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 14 McKendree ^		–		8	–	2
No. 18 Clinch Valley		–		6	–	3
Peru State		–		6	–	4
NW Oklahoma State		–		5	–	5
Azusa Pacific		–		4	–	5
Eastern Oregon		–		4	–	6

^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA poll

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Columbia	Western Oregon Central Washington	3–1
Frontier	Montana Tech	6–0
Heart of America	Benedictine Evangel	8–1
Kansas	Ottawa Southwestern (KS)	7–1
Mid-South	Campbellsville Georgetown (KY)	5–1
Mid-States	Mideast Division: Geneva Midwest Division: Findlay	6–0 6–0
Nebraska-Iowa	Doane	6–0
North Dakota	Jamestown	6–0
South Dakota-Iowa	Sioux Falls	—

Season events

The 1997 Linfield vs. Willamette football game was played between the Linfield Wildcats and the Willamette Bearcats played on October 18, 1997. The game was played at McCulloch Stadium in Salem, Oregon. Willamette won the game by a score of 27 to 0. During the game, Liz Heaston became the first woman to not only play but also to score in a college football game.

Postseason

First Round November 18, 1997 Campus sites			Quarterfinals December 6, 1997 Campus sites			Semifinals December 13, 1997 Campus sites			Championship December 20, 1997 Savannah, TN

10	Benedictine (KS)	30

6	Jamestown	55
			6	Jamestown	6

			3	Sioux Falls	29
12	Ottawa	14

3	Sioux Falls	57
						3	Sioux Falls	7

						2	Willamette	17
16	Minnesota–Crookston	10

4	Montana Tech	51
			4	Montana Tech	24

			2	Willamette	50
13	Western Oregon	20

2	Willamette	26
									2	Willamette	7

									1	Findlay	14
15	Southwestern (KS)	28

7	Doane	53
			7	Doane	59

			9	Evangel	20
14	McKendree	6

9	Evangel	46
						7	Doane	25

						1	Findlay	26
11	Campbellsville	14

5	Geneva	34
			5	Geneva	7

			1	Findlay	28
8	Westminster (PA)	0

1	Findlay	40

References

"1997 NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
"NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
"Woman Kicks Extra Points". The New York Times. October 20, 1997.

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

Categories:

Conference standings

Conference champions

Season events

Postseason

See also

References