1978 NCAA Division II football season

The 1978 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 1978, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship in December 1978 at Lobo Stadium in Longview, Texas. The Eastern Illinois Panthers defeated the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens, 10–9, to win their first Division II national title.[1]

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

Conference changes and new programs

• Five conferences and five other programs departed Division II for the newly formed Division I-AA.
• The Mid-Continent Conference was established as a Division II football conference with six teams from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio.

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
Northern Colorado	GPAC	North Central
Northern Iowa	North Central	Mid-Continent
Portland State	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
UNLV	D-II Independent	I-A Independent

Conference standings

1978 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings 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 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 Rankings from Associated Press poll	1978 Far Western Conference football standings 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 from Associated Press poll
1978 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T 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	1978 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings 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 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings 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 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 from AP Poll	1978 NCAA Division II independents football records Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 3 Delaware ^   –       10 – 4 – 0 Northern Colorado   –       4 – 6 – 0 Central State (OH)   –       2 – 9 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll

Conference summaries

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons

Conference Champions

Association of Mid-Continent Universities – Youngstown 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 – Angelo State Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Southwest Missouri State North Central Conference – South Dakota Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota–Morris Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – East Stroudsburg Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Western State South Atlantic Conference – Elon and Presbyterian 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 for Division I classification (Division I-AA in football), which took effect on September 1, 1978.[2] FAMU subsequently competed in the 1978 Division I-AA postseason, winning the Division I-AA championship.

Postseason

1978 NCAA Division II 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

The 1978 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the sixth single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at Lobo Stadium in Longview, Texas for the first time.

Playoff bracket

	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

See also

• 1978 NAIA Division I football season
• 1978 NAIA Division II football season

References

1. "1978 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
2. Cooper, Barry (August 31, 1978). "Florida A&M granted Division 1 status". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee, Florida. p. 1B. Retrieved May 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.