1978 NAIA Division I football season

1979 Central States Intercollegiate Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; * – Pittsburg State forfeited conference wins over Kearney State, Missouri Southern, Missouri Western, Wayne State (NE), Emporia State, and Washburn. ;

1978 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant;

1978 NAIA Division I football season
1978 NAIA Division I football season
Regular season	August–November 1978
Postseason	December 2–16, 1978
National Championship	McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium; McAllen, TX
Champions	Angelo State
	← 1977; NAIA Division I football season; 1979 →;

The 1978 NAIA Division I football season was the 23rd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the ninth season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1978 and culminated in the 1978 NAIA Division I Football National Championship. Known this year as the Palm Bowl, the title game was played on December 16, 1978 at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas.^[1]

Angelo State defeated Elon in the Palm Bowl, 24–14, to win their first NAIA national title.^[2]

Conference changes[]

This is the final season that the NAIA officially recognizes a football champion from two conferences, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.^[3] The SWAC has since become an NCAA Division I FCS conference while the PSAC competes at the Division II level; both continue to sponsor football.

Conference standings[]

1978 Evergreen Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Oregon College $^	5	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Eastern Washington	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Western Washington	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Central Washington	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Oregon Tech	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Eastern Oregon	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Southern Oregon	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	6	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant

1978 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Grand Valley State $^	5	–	0	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	4	–	1	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Northwood	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Saginaw Valley State	1	–	3	–	1	4	–	5	–	1
Ferris State	1	–	3	–	1	3	–	5	–	2
Hillsdale	1	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant

1978 Lone Star Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Angelo State $^	7	–	0	–	0	14	–	0	–	0
Abilene Christian	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Sam Houston State	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Texas A&I	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Southwest Texas State	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Stephen F. Austin	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
East Texas State	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Howard Payne	0	–	7	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant

1978 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
East Central $	4	–	0	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
NW Oklahoma State	3	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Northeastern State	1	–	2	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
SW Oklahoma State	1	–	2	–	1	2	–	6	–	1
SE Oklahoma State	0	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion

1978 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Western State (CO) $^	8	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
Southern Utah	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Adams State	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Western New Mexico	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Fort Lewis	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Mesa State	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Westminster (UT)	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Colorado Mines	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
New Mexico Highlands	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Southern Colorado *	0	–	0	–	0	8	–	2	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant * – ineligible for conference title

1978 South Atlantic Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Elon +^	6	–	0	–	1	9	–	1	–	1
Presbyterian +	6	–	0	–	1	8	–	2	–	1
Newberry	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Lenoir–Rhyne	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Mars Hill	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	7	–	0
Gardner–Webb	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	5	–	1
Catawba	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Carson–Newman	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant

1978 Wisconsin State University Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Wisconsin–La Crosse +^	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Wisconsin–Whitewater +	7	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin–Eau Claire	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Wisconsin–Stout	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin–Oshkosh	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin–River Falls	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin–Stevens Point	2	–	6	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin–Platteville	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Wisconsin–Superior	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant

Conference champions[]

Conference	Champion	Record
Arkansas Intercollegiate	Central Arkansas	6–0
Central States	Kearney State	7–0
Evergreen	Oregon College	5–1
Great Lakes	Grand Valley State	5–0
Lone Star	Angelo State	7–0
NIC	Minnesota–Morris	8–0
Oklahoma	East Central State	4–0
PSAC	Clarion State Shippensburg State	5–1
RMAC	Western State	8–0
South Atlantic	Elon Presbyterian	6–0–1
SWAC	Grambling State	5–0–1
WVIAC	North: Shepherd South: Concord	6–3 8–1
Wisconsin State	Wisconsin–La Crosse Wisconsin–Whitewater	7–1 7–1

Postseason[]

Quarterfinals December 2, 1978 Campus sites		Semifinals December 9, 1978 Campus sites		1978 Palm Bowl December 16, 1978 McAllen, TX

Grand Valley State	24

Wisconsin–La Crosse*	14
		Grand Valley State	7

		Elon*	13
Concord	6

Elon*	21
				Elon	14

				Angelo State	24
Western State	21

Central Arkansas*	17
		Western State	3

		Angelo State*	35
Oregon College	0

Angelo State*	32

References[]

^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
^ "1978 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
^ "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 20–23. Retrieved 11 December 2021.

[1] "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.

[2] "1978 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 22, 2015.

[3] "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 20–23. Retrieved 11 December 2021.

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