1988 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1988
Playoffs	November 19 – December 10, 1988
National Championship	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL
Champion	North Dakota State (4)
Harlon Hill Trophy	Johnny Bailey, Texas A&I
← 1987 NCAA Division II football seasons 1989 →

The 1988 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 1988, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 10, 1988, at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama, hosted by the University of North Alabama. The North Dakota State Bison defeated the Portland State Vikings, 35–21, to win their fourth Division II national title. The tournament bracket also expanded for the first time, from 8 teams to 16 teams.^[1]

The Harlon Hill Trophy was awarded to Johnny Bailey, running back from Texas A&I, for the second consecutive year.

Conference changes and new programs

School	1987 Conference	1988 Conference
Cameron	NAIA Independent	Lone Star
Central State (OK)	NAIA Independent	Lone Star
Evansville	Heartland	Mid-South (NAIA)
Wofford	NAIA Independent	Independent

Conference standings

1988 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northern
Virginia State xy	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Virginia Union	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Hampton	3	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Norfolk State	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Elizabeth City State	1	–	4	–	1	2	–	7	–	1
Southern
No. 5 Winston-Salem State xy$^	5	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 20 Bowie State ^	4	–	1	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
No. 17 North Carolina Central ^	4	–	1	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
Johnson C. Smith	1	–	4	–	1	2	–	7	–	1
Livingstone	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Fayetteville State	0	–	4	–	2	0	–	7	–	2
Championship: Winston-Salem State 13, Virginia State 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

1988 Central States Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Pittsburg State $^	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 11 Emporia State ^	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 14 Washburn ^	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
No. 24 Kearney State	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Fort Hays State	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	6	–	1
Missouri Western	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Missouri Southern	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Wayne State (NE)	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1988 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Hillsdale $^	5	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 19 Northern Michigan	4	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Grand Valley State	3	–	2	–	0	0	–	7	–	4
No. 25 Saginaw Valley State	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Ferris State	1	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	0	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll for Northern Michigan and NAIA Division I poll for Hillsdale and Saginaw Valley State

1988 Gulf South Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 9 Tennessee–Martin +^	7	–	1	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
No. 7 Jacksonville State +^	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Mississippi College +^	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Valdosta State	4	–	3	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
Troy State	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
West Georgia	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Delta State	2	–	5	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
North Alabama	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Livingston	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1988 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Butler $^	3	–	0	–	1	8	–	2	–	1
Saint Joseph's (IN)	3	–	1	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Ashland	2	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Indianapolis	1	–	2	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Valparaiso	0	–	4	–	0	0	–	9	–	1

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant

1988 Lone Star Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Texas A&I $^	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	3	–	0
No. 15 East Texas State	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Angelo State	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
No. 18 Cameron	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	3	–	1
Central State (OK)	4	–	3	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Abilene Christian	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
West Texas State	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Eastern New Mexico	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll for Texas A&I and East Texas State and NAIA Division I poll for Cameron

1988 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
NE Missouri State +	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
SE Missouri State +	5	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Central Missouri State +	5	–	1	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Missouri–Rolla	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
NW Missouri State	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Southwest Baptist	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Lincoln (MO)	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions

1988 North Central Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 North Dakota State $^	9	–	0	–	0	14	–	0	–	0
No. 18 Augustana (SD) ^	6	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
South Dakota State	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
North Dakota	5	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
No. 17 St. Cloud State	5	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
South Dakota	4	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Northern Colorado	4	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Nebraska–Omaha	4	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Mankato State	2	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Morningside	0	–	9	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1988 Northern California Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 13 UC Davis $^	5	–	0	–	0	7	–	3	–	1
Sonoma State	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Chico State	3	–	2	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Humboldt State	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Cal State Hayward	1	–	4	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
San Francisco State	1	–	4	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1988 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 12 Moorhead State $^	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 15 Northern State ^	5	–	1	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Minnesota Duluth	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Minnesota Morris	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Southwest State (MN)	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Winona State	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Bemidji State	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1988 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
East Division
No. 11 Millersville x^	6	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 2 West Chester	5	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Bloomsburg	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
East Stroudsburg	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Mansfield	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	2
Cheyney	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Kutztown	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
West Division
No. 14 IUP ^	5	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Shippensburg x	5	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Edinboro	4	–	1	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Slippery Rock	2	–	2	–	2	5	–	3	–	2
Clarion	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
California (PA)	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Lock Haven	0	–	5	–	1	2	–	7	–	2

x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Shippensburg won the West Division on the bases of a head-to-head win over IUP. Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1988 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 12 Albany State $	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Savannah State	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Alabama A&M	6	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Fort Valley State	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Tuskegee	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Morehouse	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Clark (GA)	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	8	–	0
Morris Brown	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	10	–	0
Knoxville	0	–	0	–	0	4	–	4	–	1
Lane	0	–	0	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Miles	0	–	0	–	0	2	–	5	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1988 Western Football Conference standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Portland State $^	6	–	0	–	0	11	–	3	–	1
No. 10 Sacramento State ^	4	–	2	–	0	10	–	3	–	0
Santa Clara	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Cal Poly	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	1
Cal State Northridge	2	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Southern Utah State	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Cal Lutheran	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1988 NCAA Division II independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
Saint Mary's		–		10	–	0	–	0
Liberty		–		8	–	3	–	0
New Haven		–		7	–	3	–	0
Springfield		–		6	–	3	–	1
Central Connecticut		–		5	–	3	–	1
Michigan Tech		–		6	–	4	–	0
UCF		–		6	–	5	–	0
American International		–		5	–	5	–	0
Wofford		–		5	–	5	–	0
Kentucky State		–		4	–	7	–	0
Southern Connecticut State		–		0	–	10	–	0

Conference summaries

Conference Champions
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Winston-Salem State Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Hillsdale Gulf South Conference – Jacksonville State, Mississippi College, and Tennessee–Martin Heartland Collegiate Conference – Butler Lone Star Conference – Texas A&I Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Central Missouri State, Southeast Missouri State, and Northeast Missouri State North Central Conference – North Dakota State Northern California Athletic Conference – UC Davis Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota State–Moorhead Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – Millersville (East), Shippensburg (West) Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Colorado Mesa South Atlantic Conference – Carson-Newman, Catawba, and Lenoir-Rhyne Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Albany State Western Football League – Portland State

Postseason

1988 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams	16
Finals Site	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL
Champion	North Dakota State (4th title, title game)
Runner-up	Portland State (2nd title game)
Semifinalists	Sacramento State Texas A&I
Winning coach	championship

The 1988 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the 16th 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 third time.

Playoff bracket

First round Campus sites		Quarterfinals Campus sites		Semifinals Campus sites		Championship Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL

North Dakota State	49

Augustana (SD)	7
		North Dakota State	36

		Millersville	26
Millersville	27

IUP	24
				North Dakota State	42

				Sacramento State	20
Sacramento State	35

UC Davis	14
		Sacramento State	56

		North Carolina Central	7
North Carolina Central	31

Winston-Salem State	16
						North Dakota State	35

						Portland State	21
Texas A&I	39

Mississippi College	15
		Texas A&I	34

		Tennessee–Martin	0
Tennessee–Martin	23

Butler	6
				Texas A&I	27

				Portland State	35
Portland State	34

Bowie State	17
		Portland State	20

		Jacksonville State	13
Jacksonville State	63

West Chester	24

References

^ "1988 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 4, 2014.

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