1988 NAIA Division II football season

The 1988 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1988 college football season in the United States and the 33rd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 19th season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.

1988 NAIA Division II football season
Regular season	August–November 1988
Postseason	November–December 1988
National Championship	Memorial Stadium New Wilmington, PA
Champions	Westminster (PA) (4)

The season was played from August to November 1988 and culminated in the 1988 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played at the Memorial Stadium on the campus of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.[1]

Westminster (PA) defeated Wisconsin–La Crosse in the championship game, 21–14, to win their fourth NAIA national title.

Conference standings

1988 Columbia Football Association standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Mount Hood League Oregon Tech x^ 6 – 0 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 Linfield 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 Southern Oregon 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Pacific (OR) 3 – 3 – 0     3 – 5 – 1 Western Oregon 3 – 3 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Willamette 2 – 4 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Eastern Oregon 0 – 6 – 0     0 – 9 – 0 Mount Rainer League Central Washington x^ 6 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Pacific Lutheran ^ 5 – 1 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Puget Sound 4 – 2 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Western Washington 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Whitworth 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 5 – 1 Simon Fraser 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Lewis & Clark 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 x – League champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant	1988 Frontier Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Carroll (MT) $^ 6 – 0 – 0     10 – 1 – 0 Montana Tech 4 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Rocky Mountain 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Western Montana 1 – 5 – 0     1 – 5 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant	1988 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Baker $^ 7 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Missouri Valley 5 – 2 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Tarkio 5 – 2 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Graceland 4 – 3 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 William Jewell 4 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 1 MidAmerica Nazarene 2 – 5 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Culver–Stockton 1 – 6 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 Evangel * ^ 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 12 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Evangel finished the 1988 season with an 11–1 record and a 7–0 mark in HAAC play. In March 1989, they forfeited all 11 wins and their conference title because they had used two ineligible players.
1988 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Bethany (KS) $^ 9 – 0 – 0     10 – 1 – 0 McPherson 6 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Southwestern (KS) 6 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 St. Mary of the Plains 5 – 4 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Kansas Wesleyan 5 – 4 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Bethel (KS) 5 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Ottawa 5 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Friends 2 – 7 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 Sterling 1 – 8 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 Tabor 1 – 8 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant	1988 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Nebraska Wesleyan $^ 5 – 0 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Dana 3 – 2 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Doane 3 – 2 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Midland 3 – 2 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Concordia (NE) 1 – 4 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Hastings 0 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant	1988 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Valley City State $^ 6 – 0 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Dickinson State 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Minot State 4 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Jamestown 3 – 3 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Mayville State 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 NDSCS–Wahpeton 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Mary 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
1988 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Sioux Falls $^ 5 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 1 Huron 3 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Black Hills State 3 – 2 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Dakota Wesleyan 3 – 2 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 South Dakota Tech 1 – 4 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 Dakota State 0 – 5 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant	1988 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Austin $^ 9 – 1 – 0     9 – 2 – 0 Tarleton State 7 – 3 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Sul Ross 5 – 5 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Midwestern State 4 – 6 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Howard Payne 4 – 6 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 McMurry 1 – 9 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant	1988 Tri-State Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Northwestern (IA) $^ 3 – 0 – 0     12 – 1 – 0 Benedictine (KS) 2 – 1 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Westmar 1 – 2 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Peru State 0 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Columbia	Mount Rainier League: Central Washington Mount Hood League: Oregon Tech	6–0 6–0
Frontier	Carroll (MT)	6–0
Heart of America	Evangel	7–0
Illini-Badger	Concordia–Wisconsin	8–1
Kansas	Bethany	9–0
Mid-South	Cumberland (KY)	5–0
Nebraska	Nebraska Wesleyan	5–0
North Dakota	Valley City State	6–0
South Dakota	Sioux Falls	5–0
Tri-State	Northwestern (IA)	3–0
WSUC	Wisconsin–Whitewater	7–1

Postseason

	First Round Campus sites					Quarterfinals Campus sites					Semifinals Campus sites					Championship New Wilmington, PA
		Pacific Lutheran	35
		Oregon Tech*	56
							Oregon Tech	70
							Carroll (MT)*	35
		Central Washington	7
		Carroll (MT)*	28
												Oregon Tech*	24
												Wisconsin–La Crosse	37
		Sioux Falls	9
		Northwestern (IA)*	14
							Northwestern (IA)*	33
							Wisconsin–La Crosse	45
		Valley City State	6
		Wisconsin–La Crosse*	31
																	Wisconsin–La Crosse	14
																	Westminster (PA)*	21
		Nebraska Wesleyan	14
		Evangel*	45
							Evangel*	22
							Bethany	10
		Baker	19
		Bethany*	21
												Evangel	9
												Westminster (PA)*	26
		Bluffton	30
		Cumberland (KY)*	14
							Bluffton	7
							Westminster (PA)*	40
		Austin	12
		Westminster (PA)*	34

See also

• 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season
• 1988 NCAA Division I-AA football season
• 1988 NCAA Division II football season
• 1988 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 December 5, 2015.