1977 NAIA Division II football season

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

1977 NAIA Division II football season
Regular season	August–November 1977
Postseason	November–December 1977
National Championship	Thousand Oaks, CA
Champions	Westminster (PA) (3)

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]

Westminster (PA) defeated Cal Lutheran in the championship game, 17–9, to win their third, and second consecutive, NAIA national title.

Conference standings

1977 Frontier Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T 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	1977 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Grand Valley State $ 4 – 1 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Wayne State (MI) 3 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Northwood 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Saginaw Valley State 2 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Hillsdale 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Ferris State 2 – 3 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1977 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Missouri Valley $ 6 – 0 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Baker 4 – 2 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 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
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 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T 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.
1977 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T 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     ? – ? – ? $ – Conference champion	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 ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant

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 (WV)	13
							Westminster (PA)	17
							Cal Lutheran*	9
		Linfield	28
		Cal Lutheran*	29

See also

• 1977 NCAA Division I football season
• 1977 NCAA Division II football season
• 1977 NCAA Division III football season

References

1. "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.