NCAA Division II National Football Championship

The NCAA Division II National Football Championship began in 1973. Prior to 1973, four regional bowl games were played in order to provide postseason action for what was then called the NCAA College Division and a poll determined the final champion.

The National Championship game was held at Sacramento, California from 1973–1975. It was in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1976–1977. The game was played in Longview, Texas in 1978. For 1979 and 1980, Albuquerque, New Mexico hosted the game. McAllen, Texas hosted the championship games from 1981–1985. Since 1986 the Division II championship game has been played annually at Braly Municipal Stadium near the campus of the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama. Since 1998 the games have been broadcast on ESPN.

Contents

NCAA College Division Wire Service National Champions

From 1964 to 1972, four regional bowl games were played that led up to a wire service poll to determine the final champion of Division II's predecessor, the NCAA College Division.

Those games were:

Winners of regional bowls

Year West Midwest Mideast East
1964 Montana State Northern Iowa Middle Tennessee State East Carolina
1965 Los Angeles State North Dakota State Ball State / Tenn State (tie game) East Carolina
1966 San Diego State North Dakota Tennessee State Morgan State
1967 San Diego State Texas-Arlington Eastern Kentucky Tennessee-Martin
1968 Humboldt State North Dakota State Louisiana Tech Delaware
1969 North Dakota State Arkansas State East Tennessee State Delaware
1970 North Dakota State Arkansas State Tennessee State Delaware
1971 Boise State Louisiana Tech Tennessee State Delaware
1972 North Dakota Tennessee State Louisiana Tech Massachusetts

National champions by polling

Year Champion
1958 Southern Miss
1959 Bowling Green
1960 Ohio
1961 Pittsburg State
1962 Southern Miss (UPI), Florida A&M (AP)
1963 Delaware (UPI), Northern Illinois (AP)
1964 Los Angeles State (UPI), Wittenberg (AP)
1965 North Dakota State
1966 San Diego State
1967 San Diego State
1968 San Diego State (UPI), North Dakota State (AP)
1969 North Dakota State
1970 Arkansas State
1971 Delaware
1972 Delaware
1973 Tennessee State
1974 Louisiana Tech (UPI), Central Michigan (AP)

National Championship games

A playoff series was started in 1973 to determine the Division II champion.

Year Champion Runner-up Score Location
1973 Louisiana Tech Western Kentucky 34–0 Sacramento, California
1974 Central Michigan Delaware 54–14 Sacramento, California
1975 Northern Michigan Western Kentucky 16–14 Sacramento, California
1976 Montana State Akron 24–13 Wichita Falls, Texas
1977 Lehigh University Jacksonville State 33–0 Wichita Falls, Texas
1978 Eastern Illinois Delaware 10–9 Longview, Texas
1979 Delaware Youngstown State 38–21 Albuquerque, New Mexico
1980 Cal Poly-SLO Eastern Illinois 21–13 Albuquerque, New Mexico
1981 Southwest Texas State North Dakota State 42–13 McAllen, Texas
1982 Southwest Texas State UC Davis 34–9 McAllen, Texas
1983 North Dakota State Central State 41–21 McAllen, Texas
1984 Troy State North Dakota State 18–17 McAllen, Texas
1985 North Dakota State North Alabama 35–7 McAllen, Texas
1986 North Dakota State South Dakota 27–7 Florence, Alabama
1987 Troy State Portland State 31–17 Florence, Alabama
1988 North Dakota State Portland State 35–21 Florence, Alabama
1989 Mississippi College† Jacksonville State 3–0 Florence, Alabama
1990 North Dakota State Indiana (Pa.) 51–11 Florence, Alabama
1991 Pittsburg State Jacksonville State 23–6 Florence, Alabama
1992 Jacksonville State Pittsburg State 17–13 Florence, Alabama
1993 North Alabama Indiana (Pa.) 41–34 Florence, Alabama
1994 North Alabama Texas A&M-Kingsville 16–10 Florence, Alabama
1995 North Alabama Pittsburg State 27–7 Florence, Alabama
1996 Northern Colorado Carson-Newman 23–14 Florence, Alabama
1997 Northern Colorado New Haven 51–0 Florence, Alabama
1998 Northwest Missouri State Carson-Newman 24–6 Florence, Alabama
1999 Northwest Missouri State Carson-Newman 58–52 (4OTs) Florence, Alabama
2000 Delta State Bloomsburg 63–34 Florence, Alabama
2001 North Dakota Grand Valley State 17–14 Florence, Alabama
2002 Grand Valley State Valdosta State 31–24 Florence, Alabama
2003 Grand Valley State North Dakota 10–3 Florence, Alabama
2004 Valdosta State Pittsburg State 36–31 Florence, Alabama
2005 Grand Valley State Northwest Missouri State 21–17 Florence, Alabama
2006 Grand Valley State Northwest Missouri State 17–14 Florence, Alabama
2007 Valdosta State Northwest Missouri State 25–20 Florence, Alabama
2008 Minnesota Duluth Northwest Missouri State 21–14 Florence, Alabama
2009 Northwest Missouri State Grand Valley State 30–23 Florence, Alabama
2010 Minnesota Duluth Delta State 20–17 Florence, Alabama
2011 Pittsburg State Wayne State 35–21 Florence, Alabama

† Mississippi College's tournament participation, along with its championship, were vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Most national championships

The teams that have won the most national championships since 1973 are:

Team Championships Winning years
North Dakota State* 5 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990
Grand Valley State 4 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
North Alabama 3 1993, 1994, 1995
Northwest Missouri State 3 1998, 1999, 2009
Minnesota Duluth 2 2008, 2010
Northern Colorado* 2 1996, 1997
Troy State* 2 1984, 1987
Southwest Texas State* 2 1981, 1982
Valdosta State 2 2004, 2007
Pittsburg State 2 1991, 2011
Cal Poly-SLO* 1 1980
Central Michigan* 1 1974
Delta State 1 2000
Delaware* 1 1979
Eastern Illinois* 1 1978
Jacksonville State* 1 1992
Lehigh* 1 1977
Louisiana Tech* 1 1973
Montana State* 1 1976
North Dakota* 1 2001
Northern Michigan 1 1975

*Inactive; see Teams that moved to Division I

Teams that moved to Division I

Most of the participants in early national championship games have moved into Division I, the main catalyst for their moves being the creation of Division I-AA, now the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), in 1978. The following Division II title game participants later moved to Division I:

Division I FBS (formerly I-A)

See also

External links

Systems used to determine college football national champions
Division I-A/FBS
Division I-AA/FCS
Other Divisions
NCAA Division II National Football Championship
NCAA
Division I sports
and championships
Division II
Division III