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1978 NCAA Division II football season

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American college football season

1978 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1978
Playoffs	December 1978
National Championship	Lobo Stadium Longview, TX
Champion	Eastern Illinois
← 1977 NCAA Division II football seasons 1979 →

The1978 NCAA Division II football season, part ofcollege football in the United States organized by theNational Collegiate Athletic Association at theDivision II level, began in August 1978, and concluded with theNCAA Division II Football Championship in December 1978 atLobo Stadium inLongview, Texas. TheEastern Illinois Panthers defeated theDelaware Fightin' Blue Hens, 10–9, to win their first Division II national title.^[1]

Conference realignment

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Conference changes

[edit]

Four conferences, theBig Sky Conference,Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference,Ohio Valley Conference, andYankee Conference, transitioned from Division II to the newly-establishedDivision I-AA level of college football. All of their members, alongside seven independents, departed at the same time, a total of 35 schools in all.
This was the first season for theMid-Continent Conference, which was formed by six schools fromIllinois,Iowa,Michigan, andOhio.
This was the first season for theHeartland Collegiate Conference (HCC), which was formed by eight schools fromKentucky,Indiana, andOhio. Five of its members were formerly in theIndiana Collegiate Conference, which disbanded upon creation of the HCC.

Membership changes

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School	1977 Conference	1978 Conference
Akron	D-II Independent	Mid-Continent
Bucknell	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Cal State Los Angeles	D-II Independent	Dropped program
Eastern Illinois	D-II Independent	Mid-Continent
Lafayette	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Lehigh	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Nevada	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Northeastern	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Northern Colorado	GPAC (NAIA)	North Central
Northern Iowa	North Central	Mid-Continent
Northern Michigan	D-II Independent	Mid-Continent
Portland State	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
UNLV	D-II Independent	I-A Independent
Western Illinois	D-II Independent	Mid-Continent
Youngstown State	D-II Independent	Mid-Continent

Conference standings

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1978 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		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 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		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 The conference championship was unofficial because the CCAA had only three members. Rankings fromAssociated Press poll

1978 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Winston-Salem State $^	8	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
Virginia Union	5	–	2	–	1	7	–	4	–	1
Fayetteville State	5	–	2	–	1	6	–	4	–	1
Norfolk State	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Virginia State	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Elizabeth City State	4	–	3	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Livingstone	4	–	3	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Hampton	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Johnson C. Smith	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Saint Paul's (VA)	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Shaw	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings fromNCAA Division II AP Poll

1978 Far Western Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		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 fromAssociated Press poll

1978 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 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 Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1978 Gulf South Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 7 Jacksonville State $	6	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Southeastern Louisiana	5	–	1	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Troy State	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Nicholls State	5	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
North Alabama	4	–	2	–	1	7	–	2	–	1
Mississippi College	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Delta State	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Livingston	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Tennessee–Martin	0	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings fromAP Poll

1978 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		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 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 South Carolina State $	5	–	0	–	1	8	–	2	–	1
North Carolina A&T	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Delaware State	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Morgan State	2	–	3	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Howard	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Maryland Eastern Shore	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
North Carolina Central	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-AA and Division II programs. Morgan State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, and North Carolina Central were classified as NCAA Division II. All the other teams were Division I-AA.^[2]^[3]^[4] Rankings fromAssociated Press poll

1978 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		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 North Central Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
South Dakota * $	5	–	0	–	1	7	–	4	–	0
No. 6 Nebraska–Omaha * ^	4	–	1	–	1	8	–	3	–	0
North Dakota State	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
North Dakota	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
South Dakota State	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Augustana (SD)	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Morningside	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant * – Nebraska–Omaha and South Dakota split two head-to-head games, which counted as a tie for each team in the conference standings. Rankings fromAP Poll

1978 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Concordia–Moorhead * +	7	–	1	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
St. Olaf +^	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Gustavus Adolphus	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
No. T–20 Saint John's (MN)	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
St. Thomas (MN)	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Hamline	3	–	4	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Augsburg	2	–	5	–	1	3	–	6	–	1
Bethel (MN)	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Macalester	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant * – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1978 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
East Division
East Stroudsburg xy$	5	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
Cheyney	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Bloomsburg	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Millersville	2	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Kutztown	1	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Mansfield	0	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
West Division
No. 17 Clarion xy	5	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Shippensburg x	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Slippery Rock	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Edinboro	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	6	–	1
Indiana (PA)	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	1
California (PA)	1	–	4	–	1	2	–	7	–	1
Lock Haven	0	–	5	–	1	1	–	8	–	1
Championship:East Stroudsburg 49, Clarion 4
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Shippensburg was ineligible for conference title game. Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1978 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Division I
No. 3 Florida A&M x^	5	–	0	–	0	12	–	1	–	0
Bethune–Cookman	3	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	1
Alabama A&M	4	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Morris Brown	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Albany State	3	–	3	–	1	4	–	5	–	1
Tuskegee	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Division II
Clark x	7	–	2	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Fort Valley State	4	–	3	–	2	6	–	3	–	2
Knoxville	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Morehouse	4	–	5	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Savannah State	4	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Miles	2	–	5	–	1	2	–	6	–	1
Lane	1	–	4	–	2	1	–	5	–	2

x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings fromAssociated Press poll

1978 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Grambling State $	5	–	0	–	1	9	–	1	–	1
No. 2 Jackson State ^	5	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Mississippi Valley State	3	–	2	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
Alcorn State	2	–	3	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Southern	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Texas Southern	1	–	4	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Prairie View A&M	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-AA and II programs. Mississippi Valley State and Prairie View were classified as NCAA Division II for the 1978 season.^[5]^[6] All the other teams were Division I-AA. Rankings fromAssociated Press poll

1978 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northern Division
Shepherd xy	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
West Virginia Wesleyan	6	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Fairmont State	5	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	1
Salem	4	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
West Liberty State	2	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Southern Division
No. 6 Concord xy$^	8	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
West Virginia Tech	6	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
West Virginia State	6	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Glenville State	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Bluefield State	0	–	9	–	0	0	–	10	–	0
Championship:Concord 35, Shepherd 14
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Conference standings based on power ratings Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1978 NCAA Division II independents football records
v t e	Conf.			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 9 American International		–		6	–	2	–	1
No. 3 Delaware ^		–		10	–	4	–	0
No. 10 Puget Sound \|\| \|\| \|\| – \|\| \|\| \|\| \|\| \|\| 9 \|\| – \|\| 2 \|\| – \|\| 0
Kentucky State		–		7	–	2	–	1
Alabama State		–		8	–	3	–	0
Santa Clara		–		5	–	6	–	0
Arkansas–Pine Bluff		–		4	–	6	–	0
Northern Colorado		–		4	–	6	–	0
Springfield		–		4	–	6	–	0
Central Connecticut		–		3	–	7	–	0
Southern Connecticut State		–		3	–	7	–	0
United States International		–		2	–	8	–	0
Central State (OH)		–		2	–	9	–	0
West Chester		–		2	–	9	–	0

^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings fromAssociated Press poll

Conference summaries

[edit]

Conference	Champion
Association of Mid-Continent Universities	Youngstown State
California Collegiate Athletic Association	Cal Poly
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
Heartland Collegiate Conference	Indiana Central
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Southwest Missouri State
North Central Conference	South Dakota
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 forDivision I classification (Division I-AA in football), which took effect on September 1, 1978.^[7] FAMU subsequently competed in the1978 Division I-AA postseason, winning the Division I-AA championship.

Postseason

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1978 NCAA DivisionII Football Championship
Teams	8
Finals Site	Lobo Stadium Longview, TX
Champion	Eastern Illinois (1st title, 1st title game)
Runner-up	Delaware (2nd title game)
Semifinalists	Winston-Salem State Youngstown State
Winning coach	Darrell Mudra 1st championship

The1978NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the sixth single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men'sNCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held atLobo Stadium inLongview, Texas for the first time.

Playoff bracket

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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

References

[edit]

^"1978 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket"(PDF).NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. RetrievedJanuary 2, 2014.
^"Ncaa 1978".
^"Ncaa 1978".
^"Ncaa 1978".
^"NCAA Statistics". RetrievedJanuary 15, 2025.
^"NCAA Statistics". RetrievedJanuary 15, 2025.
^Cooper, Barry (August 31, 1978)."Florida A&M granted Division 1 status".Tallahassee Democrat.Tallahassee, Florida. p. 1B. RetrievedMay 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

NCAA Division II football

Seasons

Playoffs

Championship games

Bowl era	East:Tangerine Bowl (1964–1967),Boardwalk Bowl (1968–1972) Mideast:Grantland Rice Bowl (1964–1972) Midwest:Pecan Bowl (1964–1970),Pioneer Bowl (1971–1972) West:Camellia Bowl (1964–1967)
Playoff era	1973 2008 2009 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Records & statistics

v t e NCAA football seasons
Pre-NCAA	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905
NCAA pre-divisional	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961
NCAA University Division	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division I	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 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 2025 2026
NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 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 2025
NCAA College Division	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division II	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 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 2025
NCAA Division III	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 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 2025