1991 NAIA Division I football season

1991 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant;

1991 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference football standings
	+ – Conference co-champions; ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant;

1991 NAIA Division I football season
1991 NAIA Division I football season
Regular season	August–November 1991
Postseason	November 23–December 14, 1991
National Championship	; Wilberforce, OH
Champions	Central Arkansas
	← 1990; NAIA Division I football season; 1992 →;

The 1991 NAIA Division I football season was the 36th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 22nd season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1991 and culminated in the 1991 NAIA Champion Bowl playoffs and the 1991 NAIA Champion Bowl, played this year on December 14, 1991 at in Wilberforce, Ohio, on the campus of Central State University.^[1]

Central Arkansas defeated Central State (OH), the defending national champions, in the Champion Bowl, 19–16, to win their third NAIA national title.^[2] It was the Bears' first non-shared national title.

Conference changes[]

This is the final season that the NAIA officially recognizes a football champion from the South Atlantic Conference.^[3] The SAC, and its eight members, would become an NCAA Division II conference by the 1993 season.

Conference standings[]

1991 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Western State (CO) $^	6	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Fort Hays State	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Colorado Mines	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Chadron State	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	1
Mesa State	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Adams State	2	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Fort Lewis	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
New Mexico Highlands *	0	–	0	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

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

1991 South Atlantic Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Carson–Newman $^	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
Catawba	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Lenoir–Rhyne	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Wingate	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Elon	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Gardner–Webb	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Presbyterian	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Mars Hill	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant

1991 NAIA Division I independents football records
v t	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
Central State (OH) ^		–		11	–	2	–	0

^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant

Conference champions[]

Conference	Champion	Record
Arkansas	Central Arkansas	5–0–1
NIC	Minnesota–Duluth	4–1
Oklahoma	Northeastern State	5–0
South Atlantic	Carson–Newman	—
WVIAC	Shepherd	7–0

Postseason[]

Quarterfinals November 23, 1991 Campus sites		Semifinals December 7, 1991 Campus sites		1991 Champion Bowl December 14, 1991 Wilberforce, OH

Iowa Wesleyan	14

Moorhead State (MN)*	47
		Moorhead State (MN)	18

		Central Arkansas*	38
Central Arkansas	30

Northeastern State*	14
				Central Arkansas	19

				Central State (OH)*	16
Carson–Newman	21

Western State (CO)*	38
		Western State (CO)	13

		Central State (OH)*	20
Shepherd	22

Central State (OH)*	34

References[]

^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
^ "1991 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
^ "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. p. 22. Retrieved 11 December 2021.

[1] "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.

[2] "1991 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 25, 2015.

[3] "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. p. 22. Retrieved 11 December 2021.

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