1975 NCAA Division II football season

The 1975 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 September and concluded with the Division II Championship on December 13 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California.

1975 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	September – November 1975
Playoffs	November – December 1975
National Championship	Hughes Stadium Sacramento, CA
Champion	Northern Michigan

Northern Michigan defeated Western Kentucky in the championship game, 16–14, to win their first Division II national title.[1][2]

Conference and program changes

• The South Atlantic Conference (SAC-8) was formed as a football-only conference by eight teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

School	1974 Conference	1975 Conference
Central Connecticut State	Eastern	Independent
Elon	Conference Carolinas (NAIA)	South Atlantic
Gardner–Webb	NAIA Independent	South Atlantic
Vermont	Yankee	Dropped Program

Conference standings

1975 Big Sky Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 6 Boise State $^ 5 – 0 – 1     9 – 2 – 1 Idaho State 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Montana State 4 – 2 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Idaho 2 – 2 – 2     4 – 5 – 2 Montana 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Weber State 1 – 4 – 1     1 – 9 – 1 Northern Arizona 0 – 6 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II AP Poll	1975 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T UC Riverside $ 4 – 0 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Cal Poly 3 – 1 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Cal Poly Pomona 2 – 2 – 0     6 – 4 – 1 Cal State Northridge 1 – 3 – 0     4 – 6 – 1 Cal State Los Angeles 0 – 4 – 0     1 – 7 – 1 $ – Conference champion	1975 Far Western Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T UC Davis $ 5 – 0 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Humboldt State 4 – 1 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Sacramento State 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 San Francisco State 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 4 – 1 Chico State 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Cal State Hayward 0 – 5 – 0     0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from Associated Press poll
1975 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Wayne State (MI) $ 3 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Grand Valley State 3 – 1 – 1     7 – 2 – 1 Northwood 3 – 1 – 1     5 – 4 – 1 Hillsdale 3 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Saginaw Valley State 1 – 3 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Ferris State 0 – 5 – 0     0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1975 Indiana Collegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Butler $ 6 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Indiana Central 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Evansville 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 DePauw 2 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Valparaiso 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Saint Joseph's (IN) 2 – 4 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 Wabash 0 – 6 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1975 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T South Carolina State + 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 1 North Carolina A&T + 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Howard 4 – 2 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 North Carolina Central 3 – 2 – 1     5 – 4 – 1 Delaware State 2 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Morgan State 1 – 4 – 1     4 – 5 – 1 Maryland Eastern Shore 0 – 6 – 0     0 – 10 – 0 + – Conference co-champions
1975 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T SE Missouri State $ 6 – 0 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 NE Missouri State 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 NW Missouri State 3 – 3 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 SW Missouri State 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 1 Central Missouri State 2 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Lincoln (MO) 2 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Missouri–Rolla 1 – 5 – 0     1 – 8 – 2 $ – Conference champion	1975 North Central Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 7 North Dakota $^ 7 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 No. 10 Northern Iowa ^ 6 – 1 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 Augustana (SD) 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 South Dakota State 4 – 3 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Mankato State 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Morningside 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 South Dakota 1 – 6 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 North Dakota State 1 – 6 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from AP Poll	1975 Ohio Valley Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 3 Western Kentucky ^ 6 – 1 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Tennessee Tech $ 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 No. 12 Eastern Kentucky 5 – 2 – 0     8 – 2 – 1 Murray State 3 – 3 – 1     4 – 5 – 1 Austin Peay 3 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Middle Tennessee State 2 – 5 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 East Tennessee State 1 – 5 – 1     2 – 8 – 1 Morehead State 1 – 6 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant WKU claims a co-championship,[3] while both the OVC[4] and Tennessee Tech[5] state it is not shared Rankings from Associated Press poll
1975 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 4 AP / #2 UPI Grambling State 4 – 2 – 0     10 – 2 – 0 Jackson State + 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Southern + 4 – 2 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 Alcorn State 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 3 – 1 Mississippi Valley State 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Texas Southern 2 – 4 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Prairie View A&M 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll	1975 Yankee Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 9 New Hampshire $^ 5 – 0 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 UMass 4 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Connecticut 3 – 2 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Boston University 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Maine 1 – 4 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Rhode Island 1 – 4 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll	1975 NCAA Division II independents football records Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 2 Northern Michigan ^   –       13 – 1 – 0 Lehigh ^   –       9 – 3 – 0 Delaware   –       8 – 3 – 0 Portland State   –       8 – 3 – 0 Akron   –       7 – 4 – 0 UNLV   –       7 – 4 – 0 Santa Clara   –       6 – 5 – 0 Tennessee State   –       5 – 4 – 0 Chattanooga   –       5 – 5 – 1 Bucknell   –       5 – 5 – 0 Indiana State   –       5 – 5 – 0 Lafayette   –       5 – 5 – 0 Central State (OH)   –       4 – 6 – 0 Eastern Michigan   –       4 – 6 – 0 Northeastern   –       3 – 6 – 0 Nevada   –       3 – 8 – 0 Nebraska–Omaha   –       2 – 9 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from AP Poll

Conference summaries

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons

Conference Champions

Big Sky Conference – Boise State Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Norfolk State Far Western Football Conference – UC Davis Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Wayne State (MI) Gulf South Conference – Nicholls State Lone Star Conference – Texas A&I Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Southeast Missouri State North Central Conference – North Dakota Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota–Morris Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – East Stroudsburg Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Western State South Atlantic Conference – Lenoir-Rhyne Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (Division II) – Bethune-Cookman Yankee Conference – New Hampshire

Postseason

1975 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams	8
Finals Site	Charles C. Hughes Stadium Sacramento, California
Champion	Northern Michigan (1st title, 1st title game)
Runner-up	Western Kentucky (2nd title game)
Semifinalists	Livingston New Hampshire
Winning Coach	Gil Krueger 1st championship

The 1975 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the third single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division II college football.

The four quarterfinal games were played on campus and all four host teams lost. The semifinals were the Pioneer Bowl in Wichita Falls, Texas, and the Grantland Rice Bowl in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The championship game was the Camellia Bowl, held at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California for the third and final time. The Northern Michigan Wildcats defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 16–14 to win their first national title. Of all current members of Division II, as of 2015, Northern Michigan was the first to win the playoff national championship. They went from winless (0–10) in 1974 to 13–1 and national champions in 1975,[2] led by sophomore quarterback Steve Mariucci,[6] later a head coach in the NFL for nine seasons.

Playoff bracket

	First round Campus sites November 29					Semifinals Pioneer Bowl Grantland Rice Bowl December 6					Championship Camellia Bowl Hughes Stadium Sacramento, CA December 13
	Northern Michigan		24
	Boise State *		21
						Northern Michigan		28
						Livingston		26
	Livingston		34
	North Dakota*		14
											Northern Michigan		16
											Western Kentucky		14
	Western Kentucky		14
	Northern Iowa*		12
						Western Kentucky		14
						New Hampshire		3
	New Hampshire		35
	Lehigh *		21

* Denotes host institution

See also

• 1975 NAIA Division I football season
• 1975 NAIA Division II football season

References

1. "1975 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
2. "Winless in '74, then a title in '75". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 14, 1975. p. 10B.
3. "2017 WKU Football Media Guide" (PDF). wkusports.com. Western Kentucky Athletics. p. 164.
4. "2017 Ohio Valley Conference Media Guide" (PDF). ovcsports.com. p. 82.
5. "2014 Tennessee Tech Football Guide". ttusports.com. Tennessee Tech Athletics. p. 166.
6. "Fumbles cost Boise 24-21". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 30, 1975. p. 3B.