1975 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	September – November 1975
Playoffs	November – December 1975
National Championship	Hughes Stadium Sacramento, CA
Champion	Northern Michigan
← 1974 NCAA Division II football seasons 1976 →

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.

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

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
v t e	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
v t e	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 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Norfolk State $	7	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Johnson C. Smith	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Virginia Union	6	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Elizabeth City State	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Hampton	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Fayetteville State	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Livingstone	3	–	3	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Virginia State	2	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Winston-Salem State	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Shaw	0	–	6	–	1	1	–	8	–	1
Saint Paul's (VA)	0	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion

1975 Far Western Conference football standings
v t e	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

1975 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Wayne State (MI) $	3	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 15 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 Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1975 Indiana Collegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Butler $	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	1	–	0
Indiana Central ^	5	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	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 ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant

1975 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Minnesota Morris $	6	–	0	–	0	8	–	1	–	0
St. Cloud State	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Michigan Tech	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Winona State	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Moorhead State	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Bemidji State	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Southwest State (MN)	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1975 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e	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	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 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
East Division
East Stroudsburg xy$	6	–	0	–	0	10	–	0	–	0
Millersville	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
West Chester	3	–	2	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Kutztown	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	5	–	1
Mansfield	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Cheyney	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Bloomsburg	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	8	–	0
West Division
Edinboro xy	6	–	0	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
IUP	4	–	1	–	1	8	–	1	–	1
Clarion	3	–	2	–	1	6	–	2	–	1
Shippensburg	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Slippery Rock	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Lock Haven	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	8	–	0
California (PA)	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	8	–	0
Championship: East Stroudsburg 24, Edinboro 20
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

1975 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Division I
Bethune–Cookman x	4	–	1	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
Florida A&M	4	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Tuskegee	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Albany State	3	–	2	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Alabama A&M	2	–	3	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Alabama State	1	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Morris Brown	0	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Division II
Fisk x	5	–	0	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Fort Valley State	4	–	0	–	1	6	–	0	–	2
Savannah State	2	–	2	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Lane	2	–	2	–	0	2	–	6	–	0
Knoxville	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	1
Miles	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Clark (GA)	1	–	3	–	1	4	–	4	–	1
Morehouse	0	–	5	–	0	0	–	9	–	0

x – Division champion/co-champions

1975 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Grambling State *	4	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Southern +	4	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 7 Jackson State +	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. T–19 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 champion * – Grambling State vacated a share of the conference championship. Rankings from NCAA Division II AP poll for Grambling State and NAIA Division I poll for Southern and Jackson State

1975 Virginia College Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Madison $	5	–	0	–	0	9	–	0	–	1
Virginia Union	2	–	0	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Hampden–Sydney	4	–	1	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Virginia State	2	–	1	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Randolph–Macon	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Hampton	1	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Saint Paul's (VA)	1	–	2	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Emory & Henry	0	–	3	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Washington and Lee	0	–	3	–	0	1	–	8	–	1
Bridgewater	0	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion

1975 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northern Division
No. 3 Salem xy$^	4	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
Shepherd	2	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Fairmont State	2	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
West Liberty State	2	–	2	–	0	3	–	4	–	2
West Virginia Wesleyan	0	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Southern Division
Concord xy	4	–	0	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
West Virginia State	2	–	2	–	0	3	–	6	–	1
Glenville State	2	–	2	–	0	2	–	6	–	1
West Virginia Tech	1	–	3	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Bluefield State	1	–	3	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Championship: Salem 27, Concord 10
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Conference standings based on power ratings Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1975 Yankee Conference football standings
v t e	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	1	–	4	–	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
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 2 Northern Michigan ^		–		13	–	1	–	0
American International		–		8	–	1	–	0
Lehigh ^		–		9	–	3	–	0
Delaware		–		8	–	3	–	0
Portland State		–		8	–	3	–	0
Akron		–		7	–	4	–	0
Kentucky State		–		7	–	4	–	0
UNLV		–		7	–	4	–	0
Santa Clara		–		6	–	5	–	0
Tennessee State		–		5	–	4	–	0
Youngstown State		–		5	–	4	–	0
Chattanooga		–		5	–	5	–	1
Bucknell		–		5	–	5	–	0
Indiana State		–		5	–	5	–	0
Lafayette		–		5	–	5	–	0
Southern Connecticut State		–		5	–	5	–	0
Central Connecticut		–		4	–	5	–	0
Central State (OH)		–		4	–	6	–	0
Eastern Michigan		–		4	–	6	–	0
Eastern Illinois		–		3	–	5	–	2
Northeastern		–		3	–	6	–	0
Western Carolina		–		3	–	7	–	0
Nevada		–		3	–	8	–	0
Nebraska–Omaha		–		2	–	9	–	0
Arkansas–Pine Bluff		–		0	–	11	–	0

^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from AP Poll

Conference summaries

Conference	Champion(s)
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
Indiana Collegiate Conference	Butler
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Southeast Missouri State
North Central Conference	North Dakota
Northern Intercollegiate Conference	Minnesota–Morris
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference	East Stroudsburg State
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

References

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

NCAA Division II football

Seasons

Playoffs

Championship games

Bowl era	East: Tangerine Bowl (1964–1967), Boardwalk Bowl (1968–1972) Mideast: Grantland Rice Bowl (1964–1972) Midwest: Pecan Bowl (1964–1970), Pioneer Bowl (1971–1972) West: Camellia Bowl (1964–1967)
Playoff era	1973 2008 2009 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Records & statistics

v t e NCAA football seasons
Pre-NCAA	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905
NCAA pre-divisional	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
NCAA University Division	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division I	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
NCAA College Division	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division II	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
NCAA Division III	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024