1979 NAIA Division II football season
Regular seasonAugust–November 1979
PostseasonNovember–December 1979
National ChampionshipDonnell Stadium
Findlay, OH
ChampionsFindlay

The 1979 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1979 college football season in the United States and the 24th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 10th season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1979 and culminated in the 1979 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played at Donnell Stadium in Findlay, Ohio.[1]

The Findlay Oilers defeated the Northwestern Red Raiders in the championship game, 51–6, to win their first NAIA national title.

Conference standings

1979 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Millikin $ 7 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 0
Elmhurst 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
No. 11 Illinois Wesleyan 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Augustana (IL) 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
North Central (IL) 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
North Park 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Carroll (WI) 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Wheaton (IL) 1 – 7 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
Carthage 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 8 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1979 Frontier Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Montana Tech $ 4 – 0 – 0 6 – 2 – 1
Carroll (MT) 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
Rocky Mountain 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Western Montana 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1979 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 9 William Jewell + 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
Baker + 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
No. 12 Missouri Valley 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 1
Graceland 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Ottawa 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Central Methodist 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Tarkio 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1979 Hoosier–Buckeye Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Findlay +^ 7 – 1 – 0 10 – 1 – 1
No. 10 Hanover + 7 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
No. 16 Anderson (IN) 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Wilmington (OH) 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Manchester (IN) 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Bluffton 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Defiance 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Taylor 1 – 7 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
Earlham 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1979 Illini–Badger Football Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Milton + 3 – 1 – 0 6 – 2 – 1
Lakeland + 3 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Northeastern Illinois 2 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Eureka 1 – 3 – 0 2 – 6 – 0
Concordia (IL) 1 – 3 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Northeastern Illinois forfeited a win over Lakeland.
1979 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Bethany (KS) $^ 8 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
Tabor 7 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Friends 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Southwestern (KS) 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
McPherson 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Bethel (KS) 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Sterling 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Kansas Wesleyan 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
St. Mary of the Plains 1 – 7 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1979 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 13 Saint John's (MN) + 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
St. Olaf + 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
No. 15 Concordia–Moorhead + 6 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
No. 17 St. Thomas (MN) + 6 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Gustavus Adolphus 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Hamline 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Augsburg 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Bethel (MN) 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Macalester 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 8 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1979 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. T–5 Midland $^ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
Concordia (NE) 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Hastings 2½ – 2½ – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Doane 1½ – 2½ – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Nebraska Wesleyan 1 – 3 – 1 3 – 5 – 1
Dana 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
    Hastings and Doane played twice; each game counted as ½ of a game in the conference standings.
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1979 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 Jamestown $^ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
No. 19 Dickinson State 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Valley City State 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Wahpeton Science 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 3 – 1
Minot State 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 4 – 0
Mayville State 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 7 – 1
Bismarck JC 0 – 6 – 0 ? – ? – ?
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1979 Northwest Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Pacific Lutheran $^ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 14 Linfield 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 1
Willamette 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 1
Whitworth 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 4 – 1
Lewis & Clark 1 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Pacific (OR) 0 – 5 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1979 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Black Hills State $ 5 – 0 – 1 6 – 3 – 1
Dakota State 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
South Dakota Tech 4 – 1 – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Sioux Falls 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
South Dakota–Springfield 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Huron 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Dakota Wesleyan 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1979 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Claremont-Mudd $ 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Whittier 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Redlands 3 – 2 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
La Verne 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Pomona-Pitzer 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 5 – 0
Occidental 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 6 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
1979 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. T–5 Austin $^ 7 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
McMurry 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Tarleton State 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Sul Ross 2 – 6 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Trinity (TX) 1 – 7 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Lubbock Christian 0 – 0 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1979 Tri-State Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Northwestern (IA) $^ 2 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 20 Westmar 2 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Yankton 0 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1979 NAIA Division II independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Cal Lutheran ^   –   7 – 2 – 1
Waynesburg   –   6 – 3 – 0
No. 18 Peru State   –   6 – 4 – 0
Westminster (PA)   –   4 – 5 – 0
Chadron State   –   4 – 5 – 1
Azusa Pacific   –   3 – 4 – 1
Oklahoma Panhandle State   –   4 – 6 – 0
Texas Lutheran   –   4 – 6 – 0
Geneva   –   3 – 6 – 0
Simon Fraser   –   3 – 6 – 0
Benedictine (KS)   –   2 – 8 – 0
Iowa Wesleyan   –   2 – 8 – 0
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

Conference champions

Conference Champion Record
Frontier Montana Tech 4–0
Heart of America William Jewell
Baker (KS) 		5–1
Hoosier-Buckeye Findlay
Hanover 		7–1
Kansas Bethany 8–0
Minnesota Concordia–Moorhead
Saint John's (MN)
St. Olaf
St. Thomas (MN) 		6–2
Nebraska Midland Lutheran 5–0
North Dakota Jamestown 4–0
South Dakota Black Hills State 5–0–1
Texas Austin College 7–1

Postseason

Quarterfinals
Campus sites 		Semifinals
Campus sites 		Championship
Findlay, OH
         
  Midland Lutheran 27
  Northwestern (IA)‡ 40
  Northwestern (IA)* 49
  Bethany (KS) 21
  Austin 24
  Bethany (KS)* 35
  Northwestern (IA) 6
  Findlay* 51
  Pacific Lutheran 34
  Cal Lutheran* 14
  Pacific Lutheran 0
  Findlay* 9
  Jamestown 15
  Findlay* 41

See also

References

  1. ^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
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