1987 NCAA Division II football season
Regular seasonAugust – November 1987
PlayoffsNovember 28 – December 12, 1987
National ChampionshipBraly Municipal Stadium
Florence, AL
ChampionTroy State (2)
Harlon Hill TrophyJohnny Bailey, Texas A&I

The 1987 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 1987, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 12, 1987, at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama, hosted by the University of North Alabama. The Troy State Trojans defeated the Portland State Vikings, 31–17, to win their second Division II national title.[1]

The Harlon Hill Trophy was awarded to Johnny Bailey, running back from Texas A&I.

Conference changes and new programs

School 1986 Conference 1987 Conference
Central State (OH) Independent NAIA Independent
Howard Payne Lone Star NAIA Independent
Towson State Independent I-AA Independent

Conference standings

1987 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Northern
No. 15 Hampton xy 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Virginia State 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 1
Virginia Union 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Norfolk State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Elizabeth City State 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Saint Paul's (VA) 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 11 – 0
Southern
No. 12 Winston-Salem State xy$^ 7 – 0 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Fayetteville State 4 – 1 – 2 6 – 2 – 2
Johnson C. Smith 4 – 2 – 1 4 – 5 – 2
North Carolina Central 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Bowie State 2 – 4 – 1 4 – 6 – 1
Livingstone 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Championship: Winston-Salem State 22, Hampton 12
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
1987 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Northern Michigan $^ 4 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
Grand Valley State 4 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Hillsdale 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Saginaw Valley State 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Ferris State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Wayne State (MI) 0 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
1987 Gulf South Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Troy State $^ 8 – 0 – 0 12 – 1 – 1
Mississippi College 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
North Alabama 4 – 3 – 1 7 – 3 – 1
Valdosta State 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Delta State 3 – 4 – 1 6 – 4 – 1
Jacksonville State 3 – 4 – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Livingston 3 – 4 – 1 5 – 5 – 1
Tennessee–Martin 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
West Georgia 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
1987 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Butler $ 4 – 0 – 1 8 – 1 – 1
Ashland 3 – 1 – 1 7 – 2 – 1
Indianapolis 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Valparaiso 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Saint Joseph's (IN) 1 – 3 – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Evansville 0 – 4 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
1987 Lone Star Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Texas A&I + 4 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 9 Angelo State +^ 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
No. 13 Eastern New Mexico 3 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
Abilene Christian 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
West Texas State 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
East Texas State 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
1987 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Central Missouri State + 4 – 0 – 1 7 – 3 – 1
SE Missouri State + 4 – 0 – 1 6 – 4 – 1
NE Missouri State 3 – 2 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Missouri–Rolla 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
NW Missouri State 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Lincoln (MO) 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1987 North Central Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Mankato State $^ 8 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
St. Cloud State 6 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
North Dakota State 6 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Nebraska–Omaha 5 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
South Dakota 5 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
North Dakota 5 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
South Dakota State 4 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Morningside 3 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Northern Colorado 2 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Augustana (SD) 1 – 8 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
1987 Northern California Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 UC Davis $ 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Chico State 3 – 2 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Humboldt State 2 – 2 – 1 3 – 7 – 1
Sonoma State 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Cal State Hayward 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
San Francisco State 0 – 4 – 1 1 – 8 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
1987 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Minnesota Morris $ 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
No. 14 Southwest State (MN) 4 – 1 – 1 7 – 4 – 1
No. 16 Moorhead State ^ 4 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Northern State 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Winona State 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Bemidji State 0 – 5 – 1 2 – 7 – 1
Minnesota Duluth 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 11 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
    Minnesota Duluth forfeited 8 wins including 5 conference wins, over Minnesota Morris, Moorhead State, Northern State, Winona State, and Bemidji State.
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1987 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
East Division
No. 2 West Chester xy 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 14 Bloomsburg 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Millersville 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Kutztown 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
East Stroudsburg 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Mansfield 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Cheyney 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
West Division
No. 6 IUP xy$^ 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 16 Clarion 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
California (PA) 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Shippensburg 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Slippery Rock 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Edinboro 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Lock Haven 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Championship: IUP 21, West Chester 9
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
1987 Western Football Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Portland State $^ 6 – 0 – 0 11 – 2 – 1
Cal State Northridge 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Cal Poly 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Santa Clara 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Southern Utah State 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Sacramento State 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Cal Lutheran 1 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
1987 NCAA Division II independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 16 New Haven   –   8 – 2 – 0
Saint Mary's   –   8 – 3 – 0
No. 11 UCF ^   –   9 – 4 – 0
Springfield   –   5 – 3 – 1
Central Connecticut   –   4 – 4 – 1
American International   –   3 – 5 – 2
Liberty   –   3 – 7 – 0
Kentucky State   –   2 – 8 – 1
Michigan Tech   –   2 – 7 – 0
Southern Connecticut State   –   1 – 9 – 0
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Conference summaries

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons
Conference Champions

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Winston-Salem State
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Northern Michigan
Gulf South Conference – Troy State
Heartland Collegiate Conference – Butler
Lone Star Conference – Angelo State and Texas A&I
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Central Missouri State and Southeast Missouri State
North Central Conference – Minnesota State–Mankato
Northern California Athletic Conference – UC Davis
Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota–Morris
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – Indiana (PA)
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Colorado Mesa
South Atlantic Conference – Gardner–Webb
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Alabama A&M and Tuskegee
Western Football League – Portland State

Postseason

1987 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams8
Finals Site
Champion
Runner-up
Semifinalists
Winning coach


The 1987 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the 15th single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama, for the second time.

Playoff bracket

First round
Campus sites 		Semifinals
Campus sites 		Championship
Braly Municipal Stadium
Florence, AL
         
Portland State 27
Mankato State 21
Portland State 13
Northern Michigan 7
Northern Michigan 23*
Angelo State 20
Portland State 17
Troy State 31
UCF 12
IUP 10
UCF 10
Troy State 31
Troy State 45
Winston-Salem State 14

See also

References

  1. ^ "1987 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
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