2003 NAIA football season
National Championship	Jim Carroll Stadium Savannah, TN December 20, 2003
Champion	Carroll (MT)
Player of the Year	Tyler Emmert (quarterback, Carroll (MT))
← 2002 NAIA football season 2004 →

The 2003 NAIA football season was the component of the 2003 college football season organized by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the United States. The season's playoffs, known as the NAIA Football National Championship, culminated with the championship game on December 20, at Jim Carroll Stadium in Savannah, Tennessee. The Carroll Fighting Saints defeated the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers, 41–28, in the title game to win the program's second consecutive NAIA championship.^[1]^[2]

Conference standings

2003 Central States Football League standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 NW Oklahoma State $^	5	–	0	11	–	2
Peru State	3	–	2	7	–	4
Bacone	3	–	2	5	–	6
Langston	2	–	3	2	–	8
Haskell	1	–	4	3	–	6
SW Assemblies	1	–	4	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2003 Dakota Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 5 Dickinson State $^	9	–	0	11	–	1
No. 6 Mary $	8	–	1	10	–	2
No. 18 Minot State	7	–	2	7	–	3
Black Hills State	5	–	4	5	–	4
Valley City State	4	–	5	5	–	5
Jamestown	4	–	5	4	–	6
Huron	3	–	6	4	–	6
South Dakota Mines	3	–	6	3	–	7
Dakota State	2	–	7	2	–	8
Mayville State	0	–	9	1	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2003 Frontier Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 Carroll (MT) $^	8	–	0	15	–	0
No. 24 Montana Western	6	–	2	7	–	4
Montana Tech	3	–	5	3	–	8
Rocky Mountain	2	–	6	2	–	8
MSU Northern	1	–	7	1	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2003 Great Plains Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Sioux Falls $^	10	–	0	12	–	1
No. 7 Northwestern (IA) ^	9	–	1	10	–	2
Hastings	6	–	4	6	–	4
No. 25 Midland Lutheran	6	–	4	6	–	4
Nebraska Wesleyan	6	–	4	6	–	4
Concordia (NE)	5	–	5	5	–	5
Dakota Wesleyan	4	–	6	5	–	6
Doane	4	–	6	4	–	6
Morningside	3	–	7	3	–	7
Dana	2	–	8	2	–	9
Briar Cliff	0	–	10	0	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2003 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 8 MidAmerica Nazarene $^	10	–	0	12	–	1
No. 12 Benedictine (KS) ^	9	–	1	9	–	3
Evangel	6	–	4	6	–	4
Avila	5	–	5	5	–	5
Graceland	5	–	5	5	–	5
Missouri Valley	5	–	5	5	–	5
Baker	4	–	6	4	–	6
Culver–Stockton	4	–	6	4	–	6
William Jewell	3	–	7	3	–	7
Lindenwood	2	–	8	3	–	8
Central Methodist	2	–	8	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2003 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 14 Ottawa $^	9	–	0	9	–	2
No. 17 Tabor ^	8	–	1	9	–	2
McPherson	5	–	4	6	–	4
Bethany (KS)	5	–	4	5	–	4
Southwestern (KS)	5	–	4	5	–	5
Kansas Wesleyan	4	–	5	4	–	6
Bethel (KS)	4	–	5	4	–	5
Friends	3	–	6	3	–	6
Saint Mary (KS)	2	–	7	2	–	8
Sterling	0	–	9	0	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2003 Mid-South Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 11 Georgetown (KY) +^	8	–	1	9	–	3
No. 10 Lambuth +^	8	–	1	9	–	3
No. 16 Campbellsville	7	–	2	9	–	2
No. 20 Cumberland (KY)	7	–	2	8	–	2
Pikeville	3	–	6	4	–	6
Union (KY)	3	–	6	4	–	7
Cumberland (TN)	3	–	6	3	–	7
Belhaven	2	–	7	4	–	7
Virginia–Wise	2	–	7	3	–	8
Bethel (TN)	2	–	7	2	–	9

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2003 Mid-States Football Association standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Mideast League
No. 4 Saint Francis (IN) x^	6	–	0	12	–	1
No. 22 Walsh	5	–	1	8	–	3
Geneva	4	–	2	7	–	4
Quincy	3	–	3	5	–	6
Urbana	2	–	4	3	–	8
Taylor	1	–	5	2	–	8
Malone	0	–	6	2	–	8
Midwest League
No. 15 McKendree ^	5	–	2	8	–	3
No. 19 Trinity International x	5	–	2	8	–	3
No. 9 St. Ambrose x^	5	–	2	8	–	4
No. 21 Saint Xavier x	5	–	2	7	–	4
Olivet Nazarene x	5	–	2	6	–	4
William Penn	2	–	5	2	–	8
Iowa Wesleyan	1	–	6	1	–	9
St. Francis (IL)	0	–	7	1	–	9

x – League champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2003 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North
Martin Luther x	5	–	2	7	–	2
Northwestern (MN) x	5	–	2	6	–	4
Minnesota Morris	4	–	2	5	–	6
Crown	3	–	4	4	–	7
Trinity Bible	0	–	7	0	–	9
South
Westminster (MO) x$	7	–	0	7	–	2
Rockford	5	–	1	7	–	3
Principia	2	–	5	3	–	6
Maranatha Baptist	2	–	5	2	–	7
Blackburn	1	–	6	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions

2003 NAIA independents football records
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 13 Azusa Pacific ^		–		8	–	2
Edward Waters		–		7	–	4
Texas College		–		7	–	3
Southern Oregon		–		5	–	4
Allen		–		4	–	6
Webber International		–		3	–	7
Paul Quinn		–		1	–	6
Southern Virginia		–		0	–	10
Waldorf		–		0	–	11

^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

Postseason

^ "NAIA championship up for grabs". The Jackson Sun. December 20, 2003. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Colin Fly (December 21, 2003). "Emmert leads Carroll to another NAIA title". The Bismarck Tribune. p. 5D – via Newspapers.com.

Records & statistics