1981 NAIA Division I football season

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1981 NAIA Division I football season
Regular seasonAugust–November 1981
PostseasonDecember 5–19, 1981
National Championship
Burlington, NC
ChampionsElon (2)

The 1981 NAIA Division I football season was the 26th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 12th season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1981 and culminated in the 1981 NAIA Division I Champion Bowl, played this year on December 19, 1981 at in Burlington, North Carolina (near the campus of Elon College).[1]

Defending national champion Elon defeated Pittsburg State in the Champion Bowl, 3–0, to win their second NAIA national title.[2]

Conference changes[]

  • This is the final season the NAIA officially recognizes a football champion from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Lone Star Conference.[3] Both the GLIAC and the Lone Star became an NCAA Division II conferences, where both continue to sponsor football (with the exception of a ten-year hiatus for the GLIAC between 1989 and 1999).

Conference standings[]

1981 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Central Arkansas $^ 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Arkansas–Monticello 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Henderson State 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Southern Arkansas 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Arkansas Tech 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 1
Ouachita Baptist 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Harding 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
1981 Central States Intercollegiate Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Pittsburg State $^ 7 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
Missouri Western 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Missouri Southern * 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 1
Kearney State 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Fort Hays State 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Wayne State (NE) 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Washburn 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Emporia State 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
    * – Missouri Southern forfeited a non-conference win over Evangel.
1981 Evergreen Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Oregon Tech $ 4 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Eastern Oregon 3 – 1 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Central Washington 2 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Western Oregon 1 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Western Washington 0 – 4 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
Southern Oregon *   –   6 – 4 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • * – Southern Oregon was ineligible for the conference title
1981 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   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 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Northeastern State $ 3 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
SW Oklahoma State 2 – 2 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
SE Oklahoma State 2 – 2 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
East Central 2 – 2 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
NW Oklahoma State 1 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • SW Oklahoma State foreited six victories including conference wins over Northeastern State and SE Oklahoma State.
1981 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
New Mexico Highlands $ 7 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Mesa State 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Southern Utah 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Western State (CO) 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Adams State 3 – 4 – 1 3 – 5 – 1
Fort Lewis 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Southern Colorado 2 – 6 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Colorado Mines 2 – 5 – 1 3 – 5 – 1
Western New Mexico 1 – 7 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1981 South Atlantic Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Elon $^ 6 – 1 – 0 12 – 1 – 1
Presbyterian 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Carson–Newman 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Catawba 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Gardner–Webb 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Mars Hill 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Newberry 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Lenoir–Rhyne 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
1981 Wisconsin State University Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Wisconsin–Eau Claire $ 8 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
Wisconsin–Whitewater 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Wisconsin–Stout 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Wisconsin–La Crosse 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Wisconsin–Platteville 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Wisconsin–Stevens Point 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Wisconsin–Oshkosh 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Wisconsin–River Falls 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Wisconsin–Superior 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 11 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion

Conference champions[]

Conference Champion Record
Arkansas Intercollegiate Central Arkansas 6–0
Central States Pittsburg State 7–0
Evergreen Oregon Tech 5–0
NIC Moorhead State (MN) 6–0
Oklahoma Northeastern State 3–1
RMAC New Mexico Highlands 7–1
South Atlantic Elon 6–1
WVIAC Concord (WV)
Fairmont State 		7–1
WSUC Wisconsin–Eau Claire 8–0

Postseason[]

Quarterfinals
December 5, 1981
Campus sites 		Semifinals
December 12, 1981
Campus sites 		1981 Champion Bowl
December 19, 1981
Burlington, NC
         
Cameron† 48
Central Arkansas 24
Vacant –
Pittsburg State –
Moorhead State 13
Pittsburg State 14
Pittsburg State 0
Elon* 3
Hillsdale 14
Fairmont State 12
Hillsdale 13
Elon 41
Elon 38
Concord 8
  • † Cameron was disqualified after their first round win over Central Arkansas after it was discovered they had been using ineligible players.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  2. ^ "1981 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  3. ^ "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. p. 20. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
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