1977 NCAA Division II football season

The 1977 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 August 1977 and concluded with the championship game on December 10 at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Lehigh Engineers defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 33–0 in the Pioneer Bowl to win their first Division II national title.[1]

1977 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1977
Playoffs	November 26 – December 10, 1977
National Championship	Pioneer Bowl Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, TX
Champion	Lehigh

This was the last season prior to the creation of Division I-AA, now Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), which debuted in 1978.[2]

Conference changes and new programs

School	1975 Conference	1976 Conference
Tennessee–Chattanooga	D-II Independent	Southern (I-A)

Conference standings

1977 Big Sky Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. T–5 Boise State $ 6 – 0 – 0     9 – 2 – 0 No. T–5 Northern Arizona ^ 5 – 1 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 Montana State 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Weber State 2 – 4 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Idaho State 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Idaho 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Montana 1 – 5 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Boise State concluded its regular season after the NCAA Division II playoffs started; runner-up Northern Arizona was awarded playoff bid. Rankings from NCAA Division II AP Poll	1977 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Cal Poly $ 2 – 0 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Cal State Northridge 1 – 1 – 0     7 – 3 – 1 Cal Poly Pomona 0 – 2 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1977 Far Western Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 3 UC Davis $^ 5 – 0 – 0     11 – 1 – 0 Chico State 3 – 1 – 1     6 – 2 – 1 Cal State Hayward 2 – 2 – 1     6 – 3 – 1 San Francisco State 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Humboldt State 1 – 3 – 1     5 – 4 – 1 Sacramento State 0 – 4 – 1     0 – 10 – 1 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll
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 Indiana Collegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Saint Joseph's (IN) + 3 – 1 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Butler + 3 – 1 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Indiana Central 2 – 1 – 1     6 – 2 – 1 Valparaiso 1 – 2 – 1     3 – 6 – 1 Evansville 0 – 4 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 + – Conference co-champions	1977 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 4 South Carolina State $ 6 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 1 North Carolina A&T 5 – 1 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Delaware State 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Morgan State 3 – 3 – 0     4 – 6 – 1 Howard 2 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Maryland Eastern Shore 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 North Carolina Central 0 – 6 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from Associated Press poll
1977 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T SE Missouri State + 4 – 1 – 1     7 – 3 – 1 Missouri-Rolla + 4 – 1 – 1     7 – 3 – 1 NE Missouri State 4 – 2 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 SW Missouri State 3 – 2 – 1     6 – 3 – 1 NW Missouri State 2 – 3 – 1     5 – 5 – 1 Central Missouri State 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Lincoln (MO) 0 – 6 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant	1977 North Central Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 1 North Dakota State $^ 6 – 0 – 1     9 – 2 – 1 Augustana (SD) 4 – 3 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Northern Iowa 4 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 South Dakota State 3 – 3 – 1     5 – 4 – 1 Nebraska–Omaha * 2 – 2 – 3     3 – 6 – 2 North Dakota 2 – 4 – 1     4 – 7 – 1 South Dakota * 2 – 4 – 1     4 – 7 – 0 Morningside 1 – 5 – 1     2 – 6 – 1 $ – 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 from AP Poll	1977 Ohio Valley Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Austin Peay $ 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Tennessee Tech 5 – 2 – 0     9 – 2 – 0 Eastern Kentucky 4 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Murray State 4 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Middle Tennessee State 3 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Morehead State 2 – 4 – 1     2 – 6 – 2 East Tennessee State 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Western Kentucky 1 – 5 – 1     1 – 8 – 1 $ – Conference champion
1977 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Grambling State $ 6 – 0 – 0     10 – 1 – 0 Jackson State 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Texas Southern 3 – 2 – 1     6 – 4 – 1 Mississippi Valley State 2 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Alcorn State 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Southern 1 – 4 – 1     3 – 7 – 1 Prairie View A&M 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1977 Yankee Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 2 UMass $ 5 – 0 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Rhode Island 4 – 1 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 New Hampshire 3 – 2 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Boston University 1 – 4 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Maine 1 – 4 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Connecticut 1 – 4 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from Associated Press poll	1977 NCAA Division II independents football records Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 8 Lehigh ^   –       12 – 2 – 0 UNLV   –       9 – 2 – 0 No. T–5 Nevada   –       8 – 3 – 0 Northern Michigan   –       7 – 3 – 0 Portland State   –       7 – 4 – 0 Delaware   –       6 – 3 – 1 Akron   –       6 – 4 – 1 Central State (OH)   –       5 – 6 – 0 Bucknell   –       4 – 5 – 0 Cal State Los Angeles   –       4 – 5 – 0 Northeastern   –       3 – 6 – 1 Northern Colorado   –       3 – 7 – 0 Santa Clara   –       2 – 7 – 1 ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll

Conference summaries

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons

Conference Champions

Big Sky Conference – Boise State 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 Lone Star Conference – Abilene Christian and Texas A&I Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Missouri–Rolla and Southeast Missouri State North Central Conference – North Dakota State Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota–Morris Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – Clarion Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Western State South Atlantic Conference – Elon Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (Division II) – Florida A&M Yankee Conference – Massachusetts

Postseason

1977 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams	8
Finals Site	Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, TX
Champion	Lehigh (1st title, 1st title game)
Runner-up	Jacksonville State (1st title game)
Semifinalists	UC Davis North Dakota State
Winning Coach	John Whitehead 1st championship

The 1977 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the fifth single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of Division II college football. The championship game was held at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas for the second time.

Playoff bracket

	First round Campus sites November 26					Semifinals Campus sites Knute Rockne Bowl Grantland Rice Bowl December 3					Championship Pioneer Bowl Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, TX December 10
	UC Davis*		34
	Bethune–Cookman		16
						UC Davis*		30
						Lehigh		39
	Lehigh		30
	UMass*		23
											Lehigh		33
											Jacksonville State		0
	North Dakota State*		20
	Northern Michigan		6
						North Dakota State		7
						Jacksonville State*		31
	Jacksonville State		35
	Northern Arizona*		0

* Denotes host institution

• Northern Arizona was the Big Sky runner-up; champion Boise State had a scheduling conflict.

See also

• 1977 NAIA Division I football season
• 1977 NAIA Division II football season

References

1. "1977 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
2. "Big schools win battle". St. Petersburg Independent. (Florida). Associated Press. January 13, 1978. p. 5C.