1987 NAIA Division I football season

1987 Central States Intercollegiate Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant;

1987 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant;

1987 NAIA Division I football season
1987 NAIA Division I football season
Regular season	August–November 1987
Postseason	November 28–December 19, 1987
National Championship	; Lawton, OK
Champions	Cameron
	← 1986; NAIA Division I football season; 1988 →;

The 1987 NAIA Division I football season was the 32nd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 18th season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1987 and culminated in the 1987 NAIA Champion Bowl playoffs and the 1987 NAIA Champion Bowl, played this year on December 19, 1987 at in Lawton, Oklahoma, on the campus of Cameron University.^[1]

Cameron defeated Carson–Newman in the Champion Bowl (a re-match of the previous year's final, won by the Eagles), 30–2, to win their first NAIA national title.^[2]

Conference realignment[]

Conference changes[]

This is the final season that the NAIA officially recognizes a football champion from the Central States Intercollegiate Conference.^[3] The CSIC would play one more season as part of the NAIA before disbanding.

Conference standings[]

1987 Columbia Football League standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northern Division
Central Washington * x	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Pacific Lutheran ^	4	–	1	–	1	11	–	1	–	1
Puget Sound	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Simon Fraser	4	–	2	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Western Washington	2	–	3	–	1	4	–	3	–	2
Whitworth	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Lewis & Clark	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	9	–	0
Southern Division
Oregon Tech x	5	–	1	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Southern Oregon *	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Linfield	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Pacific (OR)	3	–	2	–	1	4	–	3	–	2
Western Oregon	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Willamette	1	–	4	–	1	3	–	5	–	1
Eastern Oregon	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

x – Division champion/co-champions * – NAIA Division I playoff participant ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant

1987 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Northern Michigan $^	4	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Grand Valley State	4	–	1	–	0	0	–	7	–	4
Hillsdale	2	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Saginaw Valley State	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Ferris State	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	0	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1987 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northeastern State +^	3	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
East Central +	3	–	1	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
NW Oklahoma State ^	2	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
SE Oklahoma State	2	–	2	–	0	4	–	5	–	2
SW Oklahoma State	0	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

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

1987 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Mesa State $^	6	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
Adams State *	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
New Mexico Highlands	3	–	2	–	1	5	–	3	–	1
Western New Mexico	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Fort Lewis	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Western State (CO)	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Colorado Mines	0	–	5	–	1	3	–	5	–	1

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant * – Adams State forfeited three victories including a conference win over Western New Mexico

1987 South Atlantic Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Gardner–Webb $^	6	–	1	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
Presbyterian ^	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	5	–	0
Carson–Newman ^	4	–	3	–	0	10	–	4	–	0
Elon	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Lenoir–Rhyne	3	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Newberry	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Catawba	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Mars Hill	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant

1987 NAIA Division I independents football records
v t	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
Central State (OH) ^		–		10	–	1	–	1
Cameron ^		–		11	–	2	–	0
Arkansas–Pine Bluff		–		7	–	4	–	0

^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant

Conference champions[]

Conference	Champion	Record
Arkansas	Central Arkansas	6–0
Central States	Pittsburg State	7–0
NIC	Minnesota–Duluth	5–1
Oklahoma	Northeastern State East Central	3–1
RMAC	Mesa (CO)	6–0
South Atlantic	Gardner–Webb	6–1
WVIAC	Concord (WV)	7–1

Postseason[]

Format[]

After nine seasons of an eight-team bracket, the tournament field expanded to sixteen. In turn, the playoffs began during the month of November for the first time since 1975.

Bracket[]

First Round November 28, 1987 Campus sites		Quarterfinals December 5, 1987 Campus sites		Semifinals December 12, 1987 Campus sites		1987 Champion Bowl December 19, 1987 Lawton, OK

Central Washington	14

Southern Oregon*	21
		Southern Oregon	7

		Mesa State*	38
Mesa State	49

Southwest State (MN)*	7
				Mesa State	7

				Carson–Newman*	21
Moorhead State	7

Gardner–Webb*	27
		Gardner–Webb	24

		Carson–Newman*	27
Carson–Newman	26

Central State (OH)*	13
						Carson–Newman	2

						Cameron*	30
NW Oklahoma State	7

Central Arkansas*	31
		Central Arkansas	7

		Cameron*	14
Emporia State	12

Cameron*	17
				Cameron	20

				Pittsburg State*	10
Concord	0

Presbyterian*	41
		Presbyterian	21

		Pittsburg State*	42
Northeastern State	0

Pittsburg State*	57

References[]

^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
^ "1987 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 23, 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 23, 2015.

[2] "1987 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 23, 2015.

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

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