1979 NCAA Division II football season

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1979 NCAA Division II football season
Regular seasonAugust – November 1979
PlayoffsDecember 1979
National ChampionshipZia Bowl
University Stadium
Albuquerque, NM
ChampionDelaware

The 1979 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 1979, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship in December 1979 at University Stadium in Albuquerque, NM. During the game's two-year stretch in New Mexico, it was referred to as the Zia Bowl. The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens defeated the Youngstown State Penguins, 38–21, to win their first Division II national title.[1]

Conference changes and new programs[]

  • One program upgraded to Division I-AA while one other downgraded back to Division II.
School 1978 Conference 1979 Conference
Bethune-Cookman SIAC (II) MEAC (I-AA)
Eastern Washington Evergreen (NAIA) Independent
Morgan State MEAC (I-AA) Independent
Nicholls State Gulf South Independent
Northern Colorado Independent North Central
Southeastern Louisiana Gulf South Independent

Conference standings[]

1979 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Youngstown State $^ 5 – 0 – 0 11 – 2 – 0
Northern Iowa 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Akron 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Eastern Illinois 1 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Northern Michigan 1 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Western Illinois 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division II AP Poll
1979 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Cal Poly $ 2 – 0 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Cal State Northridge 1 – 1 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Cal Poly Pomona 0 – 2 – 0 0 – 11 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NCAA Division II AP Poll
1979 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Virginia Union $^ 8 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
Winston-Salem State 6 – 1 – 1 8 – 2 – 1
Norfolk State 6 – 1 – 1 8 – 3 – 1
Virginia State 5 – 2 – 1 6 – 4 – 1
Fayetteville State 4 – 3 – 1 4 – 4 – 1
Elizabeth City State 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Hampton 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Livingstone 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Johnson C. Smith 1 – 6 – 1 1 – 9 – 1
Saint Paul's (VA) 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
Bowie State * 0 – 0 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
  • * – ineligible for conference title
Rankings from NCAA Division II AP Poll
1979 Far Western Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
UC Davis $ 5 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 1
Humboldt State 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Chico State 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Sacramento State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
San Francisco State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Cal State Hayward 0 – 5 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Adjusted for Cal State Hayward forfeit to San Francisco State and Cal Poly Pomona forfeits to UC Davis and Sacramento State
1979 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Saginaw Valley State $^ 4 – 0 – 1 8 – 2 – 1
Wayne State (MI) 3 – 1 – 1 3 – 5 – 1
Ferris State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 1
Grand Valley State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Northwood 1 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Hillsdale 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
1979 Gulf South Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Mississippi College $^ 5 – 1 – 0 10 – 3 – 0
Troy State 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 1
Tennessee–Martin 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
North Alabama 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Delta State 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Jacksonville State 1 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Livingston 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from AP Poll
1979 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Saint Joseph's (IN) $ 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Franklin (IN) 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Butler 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Valparaiso 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Indiana Central 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Evansville 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Georgetown (KY) * 3 – 0 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Ashland * 0 – 1 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • * – ineligible for conference title
1979 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
NW Missouri State $ 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
SE Missouri State 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 1
Missouri-Rolla 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 1
SW Missouri State 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
NE Missouri State 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Central Missouri State 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Lincoln (MO) 1 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
1979 North Central Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 North Dakota $^ 5 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 8 South Dakota State * ^ 4 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
North Dakota State 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Nebraska–Omaha 3 – 3 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
South Dakota * 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Augustana (SD) 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Morningside 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 10 – 0
Northern Colorado † 0 – 0 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
  • * – South Dakota State won two head-to-head games over South Dakota, which counted as one game for each team in the conference standings.
    † – Northern Colorado was ineligible for the conference title.
Rankings from AP Poll
1979 NCAA Division II independents football records
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Delaware ^   –   13 – 1 – 0
Towson State   –   9 – 1 – 0
No. 4 Morgan State ^   –   9 – 2 – 0
Eastern Washington   –   7 – 2 – 0
Nicholls State   –   8 – 3 – 0
United States International   –   8 – 3 – 0
American International   –   6 – 3 – 0
No. 10 Santa Clara   –   6 – 3 – 0
Central State (OH)   –   5 – 5 – 0
Central Connecticut   –   4 – 5 – 0
James Madison   –   4 – 5 – 0
Arkansas–Pine Bluff   –   2 – 8 – 0
  • ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from Associated Press poll

Conference summaries[]

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons
Conference Champions
Association of Mid-Continent Universities Youngstown State
California Collegiate Athletic Association Cal Poly
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Virginia Union
Far Western Football Conference UC Davis
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Saginaw Valley State
Gulf South Conference Mississippi College
Heartland Collegiate Conference Saint Joseph's
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association Northwest Missouri State
North Central Conference North Dakota
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Alabama A&M

Postseason[]

1979 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams8
Finals Site
Champion
Runner-up
  • Youngstown State
  • (1st title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coach
  • Tubby Raymond
  • 1st championship

The 1979 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the sixth single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at University Stadium in Albuquerque, NM for the first time. With the game being played in New Mexico for the next two years, it was deemed the Zia Bowl.

Playoff bracket[]

First round
Campus sites 		Semifinals
Campus sites 		Championship
University Stadium
Albuquerque, NM
         
Delaware 58
Virginia Union 28
Delaware 60
Mississippi College 10
Mississippi College 35
North Dakota 15
Delaware 38
Youngstown State 21
Youngstown State 51
South Dakota State 7
Youngstown State 52
Alabama A&M 0
Alabama A&M 27
Morgan State 7

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "1979 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
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