1981 NCAA Division II football season

The 1981 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 1981, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 12, 1981, at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas. During the game's five-year stretch in McAllen, the "City of Palms", it was referred to as the Palm Bowl.

1981 NCAA Division II football season
Regular seasonAugust – November 1981
PlayoffsDecember 1981
National ChampionshipPalm Bowl
Veterans Stadium
McAllen, TX
ChampionSouthwest Texas State

Southwest Texas State defeated North Dakota State in the championship game, 42–13, to win their first Division II national title.[1]

Conference changes and new programs

School1980 Conference1981 Conference
Eastern WashingtonEvergreen (NAIA)D-II Independent
Mankato StateNorthernNorth Central
Northern MichiganMid-ContinentD-II Independent
Portland StateI-AA IndependentD-II Independent
Southwest Missouri StateMIAAMid-Continent (I-AA)
St. Cloud StateNorthernNorth Central
Tennessee StateMid-Continent (D-II)Ohio Valley (I-AA)

Conference standings

1981 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
CalState Northridge $ 2 0 0  6 4 1
Cal Poly Pomona 1 1 0  4 7 0
Cal Poly 0 2 0  4 5 0
  • $ Conference champion
1981 Far Western Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
UC Davis + 4 1 0  6 4 0
Cal State Hayward + 4 1 0  6 4 1
Humboldt State 3 2 0  6 4 0
Chico State 3 2 0  5 5 0
Sacramento State 1 4 0  5 6 0
San Francisco State 0 5 0  3 7 0
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from Division II Football Committee poll
1981 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Grand Valley State $ 6 0 0  7 2 0
Hillsdale ^ 5 1 0  10 2 0
Ferris State 3 3 0  4 4 0
Wayne State (MI) 3 3 0  4 5 0
Northwood 2 4 0  4 6 0
Saginaw Valley State 2 4 0  3 7 0
Michigan Tech 0 6 0  1 8 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
1981 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Franklin (IN) + 6 1 0  8 2 0
Indiana Central + 6 1 0  7 4 0
Saint Joseph's (IN) 5 2 0  6 3 0
Ashland 5 2 0  6 4 0
Butler 2 5 0  3 7 0
Evansville 2 5 0  3 8 0
Georgetown (KY) 1 6 0  1 9 0
Valparaiso 1 6 0  1 9 0
  • + Conference co-champions
1981 Lone Star Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 4 Southwest Texas State $^ 6 1 0  13 1 0
Texas A&I 5 2 0  9 2 0
Abilene Christian 5 2 0  8 2 0
Angelo State 5 2 0  8 3 0
East Texas State 4 3 0  7 4 0
Sam Houston State 2 5 0  3 7 0
Howard Payne 1 6 0  3 7 0
Stephen F. Austin 0 7 0  1 10 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
1981 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
NE Missouri State $ 4 1 0  6 4 0
Missouri-Rolla 3 1 1  6 3 1
NW Missouri State 3 2 0  6 4 0
Central Missouri State 2 2 1  4 4 3
SE Missouri State 2 3 0  2 9 0
Lincoln (MO) 0 5 0  0 11 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ NCAA Division II playoff participant
1981 North Central Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 6 North Dakota State $^ 7 0 0  10 3 0
North Dakota 4 3 0  6 4 0
Northern Colorado 4 3 0  5 4 0
South Dakota * 3 3 1  5 6 0
Nebraska–Omaha 3 4 0  5 6 0
South Dakota State * 2 4 1  4 6 0
Morningside 2 5 0  5 6 0
Augustana (SD) 2 5 0  3 7 0
  • + Conference co-champions
  • ^ NCAA Division II playoff participant
  • * – South Dakota and South Dakota State split two head-to-head games, which counted as a tie for each team in the conference standings.
Rankings from AP Poll
1981 NCAA Division II independents football records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Northern Michigan ^      11 1 0
Eastern Washington      7 3 0
Saint Mary's      7 3 0
New Haven      4 4 2
Towson State      5 5 0
Morgan State      4 5 0
Central State (OH)      4 7 0
Sonoma State      3 7 0
Portland State      2 9 0
Liberty      1 9 0
  • ^ NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Conference summaries

Conference Champions

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Virginia Union
Far Western Football Conference – UC Davis and Cal State–Hayward
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Grand Valley State
Gulf South Conference – Jacksonville State
Lone Star Conference – Southwest Texas State
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Northeast Missouri State
North Central Conference – North Dakota State
Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota State–Moorhead
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – Shippensburg
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – New Mexico Highlands
South Atlantic Conference – Elon
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Alabama A&M

Postseason

1981 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams8
Finals Site
Champion
  • Southwest Texas State
  • (1st title, 1st title game)
Runner-up
Semifinalists
Winning Coach

The 1981 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the ninth single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas, for the first time.

Playoff bracket

First round
Campus sites
Semifinals
Campus sites
Championship
McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium
McAllen, TX
         
Northern Michigan 55
Elizabeth City State 6
Northern Michigan 0
Southwest Texas State 62
Southwest Texas State 38
Jacksonville State 22
Southwest Texas State 42
North Dakota State 13
North Dakota State 24
Puget Sound 10
North Dakota State 18
Shippensburg State 6
Shippensburg State 40
Virginia Union 27

See also

References

  1. "1981 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
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