1977 NAIA Division II football season

1977 NAIA Division II football season
Regular seasonAugust–November 1977
PostseasonNovember–December 1977
National ChampionshipThousand Oaks, CA
ChampionsWestminster (PA) (3)

The 1977 NAIA Division II football season was the 22nd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA and the eighth season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1977 and culminated in the 1977 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played on the campus of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.[1]

The Westminster Titans defeated the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen in the championship game, 17–9, to win their third, and second consecutive, NAIA national title.

Conference changes

Team 1976 conference 1977 conference
Tarleton State Lone Star (NAIA Division I) TIAA (NAIA Division II)
Sul Ross State Lone Star (NAIA Division I) TIAA (NAIA Division II)

Conference standings

1977 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Illinois Wesleyan + 6 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Millikin + 6 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
North Central (IL) 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Carthage 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Wheaton (IL) 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Elmhurst 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Augustana (IL) 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Carroll (WI) 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
North Park 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1977 Frontier Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 20 Western Montana $ 4 – 0 – 0 6 – 2 – 1
Carroll (MT) 3 – 1 – 0 4 – 4 – 0
Eastern Montana 2 – 2 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Rocky Mountain 1 – 3 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Montana Tech 0 – 4 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1977 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 18 Grand Valley State $ 4 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Wayne State (MI) 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Hillsdale 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Northwood 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Saginaw Valley State 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Ferris State 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1977 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Missouri Valley $ 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
No. 13 Baker 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
No. T–14 Graceland 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Ottawa 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
William Jewell 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Central Methodist 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 5 – 0
Tarkio 0 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1977 Hoosier–Buckeye Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Defiance + 6 – 1 – 1 6 – 2 – 1
Findlay + 6 – 1 – 1 6 – 2 – 1
Hanover 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Wilmington (OH) 6 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Taylor 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Anderson (IN) 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Bluffton 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Earlham 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Manchester (IN) 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1977 Illini–Badger Football Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Northeastern Illinois $ 4 – 0 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Milton 3 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Eureka 2 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Lakeland 1 – 3 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Concordia (IL) 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1977 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 Bethany (KS) $ 8 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
Bethel (KS) 7 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Southwestern (KS) 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Friends 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Sterling 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Tabor 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Kansas Wesleyan 2 – 5 – 1 2 – 7 – 1
St. Mary of the Plains 0 – 6 – 2 0 – 7 – 2
McPherson 0 – 7 – 1 0 – 8 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1977 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Saint John's (MN) $^ 7 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Concordia–Moorhead 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Gustavus Adolphus 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
St. Thomas (MN) 3 – 3 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
Augsburg 3 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
St. Olaf 2 – 4 – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Hamline 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Macalester 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant
1977 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 19 Midland $ 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Doane 3½ – 1½ – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Hastings 2½ – 2½ – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Dana 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 4 – 0
Nebraska Wesleyan 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Concordia (NE) 0 – 5 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Hastings and Doane played twice; each game counted as ½ of a game in the conference standings.
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1977 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Valley City State $ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 0 – 0
No. 12 Jamestown 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Wahpeton Science 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
Dickinson State 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Mayville State 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 5 – 0
Minot State 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Bismarck JC 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1977 Northwest Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Linfield $^ 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 1 – 0
Pacific Lutheran 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Willamette 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Lewis & Clark 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 4 – 0
College of Idaho 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 6 – 0
Whitworth 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Pacific (OR) 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1977 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Dakota State $ 5 – 0 – 0 10 – 0 – 0
South Dakota Tech 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Black Hills State 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Huron 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Dakota Wesleyan 1 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
South Dakota–Springfield 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1977 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Redlands $ 5 – 0 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
No. T–14 Whittier 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Occidental 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
La Verne 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Claremont-Mudd 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 7 – 0
Pomona-Pitzer 0 – 5 – 0 0 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Redlands forfeited two non-conference wins.
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1977 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Tarleton State $ 4 – 0 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Trinity (TX) 3 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
McMurry 2 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Austin 1 – 3 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
Sul Ross 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1977 Tri-State Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Northwestern (IA) $ 2 – 0 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Westmar 1 – 1 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Sioux Falls 0 – 2 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Northwestern (IA) and Sioux Falls played twice, but only the first meeting counted in the conference stnadings.
1977 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Northern Division
No. 9 West Virginia Wesleyan xy 3 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Salem x 3 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Shepherd x 3 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
West Liberty State 1 – 3 – 0 3 – 6 – 1
Fairmont State 0 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Southern Division
No. 4 Concord xy$^ 4 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 1
West Virginia Tech 3 – 1 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
West Virginia State 2 – 2 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Glenville State 1 – 3 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
Bluefield State 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Championship: Concord 33, West Virginia Wesleyan 17
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
    Conference standings based on power ratings
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1977 NAIA Division II independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Westminster (PA) ^   –   11 – 0 – 0
No. 17 Illinois College   –   7 – 1 – 0
No. 2 Cal Lutheran ^   –   9 – 2 – 0
No. 10 Chadron State   –   8 – 2 – 0
No. 16 Franklin (IN)   –   8 – 2 – 0
No. 11 Waynesburg   –   7 – 2 – 0
Benedictine (KS)   –   7 – 4 – 0
Georgetown (KY)   –   6 – 4 – 0
Peru State   –   5 – 5 – 0
Azusa Pacific   –   4 – 5 – 0
Texas Lutheran   –   4 – 6 – 0
Simon Fraser   –   3 – 5 – 1
Iowa Wesleyan   –   2 – 7 – 0
Geneva   –   1 – 8 – 0
Oklahoma Panhandle State   –   1 – 8 – 0
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

Conference champions

Conference Champion Record
Hoosier-Buckeye Findlay
Defiance 		6–1–1
Illini-Badger Northeastern Illinois 4–0
Kansas Bethany 8–0
Minnesota Saint John's (MN) 7–0
Nebraska Midland Lutheran 5–0
North Dakota Valley City State 4–0
Pacific Northwest Linfield 6–0
South Dakota Dakota State 6–0
SCIAC Redlands 5–0
Texas Tarleton State 4–0
WVIAC Concord 7–1–1

Postseason

Semifinals
Campus sites 		Championship
Thousand Oaks, CA
      
  Westminster (PA)* 14
  Concord 13
  Westminster (PA) 17
  Cal Lutheran* 9
  Linfield 28
  Cal Lutheran* 29

See also

References

  1. ^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  2. ^ "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. p. 20. Retrieved December 11, 2021.