NCAA Division II National Football Championship

Logo for the 2005 Division II National Championship game

National football championship trophy room at Bearcat Stadium at Northwest Missouri State University. The two trophies in the middle are national championships in 1998 and 1999. The four trophies on the left are for appearances in the title games in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008. Northwest in 2009 is appearing in an unprecedented fifth consecutive national title game competing against Grand Valley which defeated Northwest twice before in title games.

The NCAA Division II National Football Championship began in 1973. Prior to 1973, four regional bowl games were played in order to provide postseason action for what was then called the NCAA College Division and a poll determined the final champion.

The National Championship game was held at Sacramento, California from 1973–1975. It was in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1976–1977. The game was played in Longview, Texas in 1978. For 1979 and 1980, Albuquerque, New Mexico hosted the game. McAllen, Texas hosted the championship games from 1981–1985. Since 1986 the Division II championship game has been played annually at Braly Municipal Stadium near the campus of the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama. Since 1998 the games have been broadcast on ESPN.

NCAA College Division Wire Service National Champions

From 1964 to 1972, four regional bowl games were played that led up to a wire service poll to determine the final champion of Division II's predecessor, the NCAA College Division.

Those games were:

• West: Camellia Bowl, in Sacramento, California 1964–1972
• Midwest: Pecan Bowl in Abilene, Texas 1964–1967 & Arlington, Texas 1968–1970, Pioneer Bowl in Wichita Falls, Texas, 1971–1972
• Mideast: Grantland Rice Bowl in Murfreesboro, Tennessee 1964–1968 & Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1969–1972
• East: Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida 1964–1967, Boardwalk Bowl in Atlantic City, New Jersey 1968–1972

Winners of regional bowls

Year	West	Midwest	Mideast	East
1964	Montana State	Northern Iowa	Middle Tennessee State	East Carolina
1965	Los Angeles State	North Dakota State	Ball State / Tenn State (tie game)	East Carolina
1966	San Diego State	North Dakota	Tennessee State	Morgan State
1967	San Diego State	Texas-Arlington	Eastern Kentucky	Tennessee-Martin
1968	Humboldt State	North Dakota State	Louisiana Tech	Delaware
1969	North Dakota State	Arkansas State	East Tennessee State	Delaware
1970	North Dakota State	Arkansas State	Tennessee State	Delaware
1971	Boise State	Louisiana Tech	Tennessee State	Delaware
1972	North Dakota	Tennessee State	Louisiana Tech	Massachusetts

National champions by polling

Year	Champion
1958	Southern Miss
1959	Bowling Green
1960	Ohio
1961	Pittsburg State
1962	Southern Miss (UPI), Florida A&M (AP)
1963	Delaware (UPI), Northern Illinois (AP)
1964	Los Angeles State (UPI), Wittenberg (AP)
1965	North Dakota State
1966	San Diego State
1967	San Diego State
1968	San Diego State (UPI), North Dakota State (AP)
1969	North Dakota State
1970	Arkansas State
1971	Delaware
1972	Delaware
1973	Tennessee State
1974	Louisiana Tech (UPI), Central Michigan (AP)

National Championship games

A playoff series was started in 1973 to determine the Division II champion.

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Location
1973	Louisiana Tech	Western Kentucky	34–0	Sacramento, California
1974	Central Michigan	Delaware	54–14	Sacramento, California
1975	Northern Michigan	Western Kentucky	16–14	Sacramento, California
1976	Montana State	Akron	24–13	Wichita Falls, Texas
1977	Lehigh University	Jacksonville State	33–0	Wichita Falls, Texas
1978	Eastern Illinois	Delaware	10–9	Longview, Texas
1979	Delaware	Youngstown State	38–21	Albuquerque, New Mexico
1980	Cal Poly-SLO	Eastern Illinois	21–13	Albuquerque, New Mexico
1981	Southwest Texas State	North Dakota State	42–13	McAllen, Texas
1982	Southwest Texas State	UC Davis	34–9	McAllen, Texas
1983	North Dakota State	Central State	41–21	McAllen, Texas
1984	Troy State	North Dakota State	18–17	McAllen, Texas
1985	North Dakota State	North Alabama	35–7	McAllen, Texas
1986	North Dakota State	South Dakota	27–7	Florence, Alabama
1987	Troy State	Portland State	31–17	Florence, Alabama
1988	North Dakota State	Portland State	35–21	Florence, Alabama
1989	Mississippi College†	Jacksonville State	3–0	Florence, Alabama
1990	North Dakota State	Indiana (Pa.)	51–11	Florence, Alabama
1991	Pittsburg State	Jacksonville State	23–6	Florence, Alabama
1992	Jacksonville State	Pittsburg State	17–13	Florence, Alabama
1993	North Alabama	Indiana (Pa.)	41–34	Florence, Alabama
1994	North Alabama	Texas A&M-Kingsville	16–10	Florence, Alabama
1995	North Alabama	Pittsburg State	27–7	Florence, Alabama
1996	Northern Colorado	Carson-Newman	23–14	Florence, Alabama
1997	Northern Colorado	New Haven	51–0	Florence, Alabama
1998	Northwest Missouri State	Carson-Newman	24–6	Florence, Alabama
1999	Northwest Missouri State	Carson-Newman	58–52 (4OTs)	Florence, Alabama
2000	Delta State	Bloomsburg	63–34	Florence, Alabama
2001	North Dakota	Grand Valley State	17–14	Florence, Alabama
2002	Grand Valley State	Valdosta State	31–24	Florence, Alabama
2003	Grand Valley State	North Dakota	10–3	Florence, Alabama
2004	Valdosta State	Pittsburg State	36–31	Florence, Alabama
2005	Grand Valley State	Northwest Missouri State	21–17	Florence, Alabama
2006	Grand Valley State	Northwest Missouri State	17–14	Florence, Alabama
2007	Valdosta State	Northwest Missouri State	25–20	Florence, Alabama
2008	Minnesota Duluth	Northwest Missouri State	21–14	Florence, Alabama
2009	Northwest Missouri State	Grand Valley State	30–23	Florence, Alabama
2010	Minnesota Duluth	Delta State	20–17	Florence, Alabama

† Mississippi College's tournament participation, along with its championship, were vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Most national championships

The teams that have won the most national championships since 1973 are:

Team	Championships	Winning years
North Dakota State*	5	1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990
Grand Valley State	4	2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
North Alabama	3	1993, 1994, 1995
Northwest Missouri State	3	1998, 1999, 2009
Minnesota Duluth	2	2008, 2010
Northern Colorado*	2	1996, 1997
Troy State*	2	1984, 1987
Southwest Texas State*	2	1981, 1982
Valdosta State	2	2004, 2007
Cal Poly-SLO*	1	1980
Central Michigan*	1	1974
Delta State	1	2000
Delaware*	1	1979
Eastern Illinois*	1	1978
Jacksonville State*	1	1992
Lehigh*	1	1977
Louisiana Tech*	1	1973
Montana State*	1	1976
North Dakota*	1	2001
Northern Michigan	1	1975
Pittsburg State	1	1991

• * Inactive, see Teams that moved to Division I

Teams that moved to Division I

Most of the participants in early national championship games have moved into Division I, the main catalyst for their moves being the creation of Division I-AA, now the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), in 1978. The following Division II title game participants later moved to Division I:

Division I FBS (formerly I-A)

• • Akron (1976 runner-up)
  • Central Michigan (1974 champion)
  • Louisiana Tech (1973 champion)
  • Troy (1984 and 1987 champion as Troy State)
  • Western Kentucky (1973 and 1975 runner-up)

• Division I FCS (formerly I-AA)
  • Cal Poly-SLO (1980 champion)
  • Delaware (1979 champion;1974 and 1978 runner-up)
  • Eastern Illinois (1978 champion;1980 runner-up)
  • Jacksonville State (1992 champion; 1977, 1989 and 1991 runner-up)
  • Lehigh (champion 1977)
  • Montana State (champion 1976)
  • North Dakota (champion 2001, runner-up 2003)
  • North Dakota State (champion 1965, 1968, 1969, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990; runner-up 1981, 1984)
  • Northern Colorado (champion 1996, 1997)
  • Portland State (runner-up 1987, 1988)
  • South Dakota (runner-up 1986)
  • Texas State (champion 1981, 1982 as Southwest Texas State)
  • UC Davis (runner-up 1982)
  • Youngstown State (runner-up 1979)

See also

• College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS
• NCAA Division I Football Championship
• NCAA Division I FCS Consensus Mid-Major Football National Championship
• NCAA Division III National Football Championship
• NAIA National Football Championship
• NJCAA National Football Championship
• List of college bowl games

External links

• NCAA Division II National Football Championship history
• D2football.com