1978 NCAA Division II football season

The 1978 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began in August 1978, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship in December 1978 at Lobo Stadium in Longview, Texas. The Eastern Illinois Panthers defeated the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens, 10–9, to win their first Division II national title.[1]

1978 NCAA Division II football season
Regular seasonAugust – November 1978
PlayoffsDecember 1978
National ChampionshipLobo Stadium
Longview, TX
ChampionEastern Illinois

Conference changes and new programs
School1977 Conference1978 Conference
AkronD-II IndependentMid-Continent
BucknellD-II IndependentI-AA Independent
Cal State Los AngelesD-II IndependentDropped program
Eastern IllinoisD-II IndependentMid-Continent
LafayetteD-II IndependentI-AA Independent
LehighD-II IndependentI-AA Independent
NevadaD-II IndependentI-AA Independent
Northern ColoradoGPACNorth Central
Northern IowaNorth CentralMid-Continent
Portland StateD-II IndependentI-AA Independent
UNLVD-II IndependentI-A Independent

Conference standings
1978 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 8 Cal Poly $^ 2 –0 –0  7 –3 –0
Cal Poly Pomona 1 –1 –0  3 –7 –0
Cal State Northridge 0 –2 –0  5 –5 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from Associated Press poll
1978 Far Western Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 4 UC Davis $^ 5 –0 –0  8 –3 –0
Cal State Hayward 4 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
Humboldt State 3 –2 –0  5 –6 –0
Chico State 2 –3 –0  5 –5 –0
Sacramento State 1 –4 –0  1 –9 –0
San Francisco State 0 –5 –0  1 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from Associated Press poll
1978 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Grand Valley State $^ 5 –0 –0  9 –3 –0
Wayne State (MI) 4 –1 –0  5 –4 –0
Northwood 2 –3 –0  5 –4 –0
Saginaw Valley State 1 –3 –1  4 –5 –1
Ferris State 1 –3 –1  3 –5 –2
Hillsdale 1 –4 –0  5 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
1978 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Indiana Central $ 4 –2 –0  6 –3 –0
Valparaiso 3 –2 –0  5 –4 –0
Saint Joseph's (IN) 3 –2 –0  5 –4 –1
Butler 3 –2 –0  5 –5 –0
Evansville 2 –3 –0  2 –9 –0
Franklin (IN) 1 –6 –0  1 –9 –0
Georgetown (KY) * 1 –1 –0  5 –4 –0
Ashland * 1 –0 –0  2 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • * – ineligible for conference title
1978 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Youngstown State $^ 5 –0 –0  10 –2 –0
Akron 4 –1 –0  6 –5 –0
Eastern Illinois ^ 3 –2 –0  12 –2 –0
Northern Michigan 1 –3 –1  5 –4 –1
Western Illinois 1 –3 –1  3 –6 –1
Northern Iowa 0 –5 –0  2 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
1978 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
SW Missouri State $ 6 –0 –0  8 –3 –0
NE Missouri State 5 –1 –0  6 –4 –1
Missouri-Rolla 4 –2 –0  8 –3 –0
SE Missouri State 2 –4 –0  6 –5 –0
Lincoln (MO) 2 –4 –0  3 –8 –0
Central Missouri State 2 –4 –0  2 –8 –0
NW Missouri State 0 –6 –0  0 –11 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
1978 NCAA Division II independents football records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 3 Delaware ^   –    10 –4 –0
Central State (OH)   –    2 –9 –0
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from Associated Press poll

Conference summaries
See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons
Conference Champions

Association of Mid-Continent Universities – Youngstown State
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Winston-Salem State
Far Western Football Conference – UC Davis
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Grand Valley State
Gulf South Conference – Jacksonville State
Lone Star Conference – Angelo State
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Southwest Missouri State
North Central Conference – South Dakota
Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota–Morris
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – East Stroudsburg
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Western State
South Atlantic Conference – Elon and Presbyterian
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Florida A&M

While the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) was a Division II conference, Florida A&M (FAMU) had successfully petitioned the NCAA for Division I classification (Division I-AA in football), which took effect on September 1, 1978.[2] FAMU subsequently competed in the 1978 Division I-AA postseason, winning the Division I-AA championship.

Postseason
1978 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams8
Finals Site
Champion
Runner-up
Semifinalists
Winning Coach

The 1978 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the sixth single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at Lobo Stadium in Longview, Texas for the first time.

Playoff bracket
First round
Campus sites 		Semifinals
Campus sites 		Championship
Lobo Stadium
Longview, TX
         
Winston–Salem State 17
Cal Poly 10
Winston–Salem State 0
Delaware 41
Delaware 42
Jacksonville State 21
Delaware 9
Eastern Illinois 10
Youngstown State 21
Nebraska–Omaha 14
Youngstown State 22
Eastern Illinois 26
Eastern Illinois 35
UC Davis 31

See also

References
  1. "1978 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  2. Cooper, Barry (August 31, 1978). "Florida A&M granted Division 1 status". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee, Florida. p. 1B. Retrieved May 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
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