1975 NCAA Division II football season
1975 NCAA Division II football season | |||
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Regular season | September – November 1975 | ||
Postseason | November – December 1975 | ||
National Championship | Hughes Stadium Sacramento, CA | ||
Champions | Northern Michigan | ||
Division II football season
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The 1975 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 September and concluded with the Division II Championship on December 13 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California.
Northern Michigan defeated Western Kentucky in the championship game, 16–14, to win their first Division II national title.[1][2]
Conference and program changes
- The South Atlantic Conference (SAC-8) was formed as a football-only conference by eight teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
School | 1974 Conference | 1975 Conference |
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Elon | Conference Carolinas (NAIA) | South Atlantic |
Gardner–Webb | NAIA Independent | South Atlantic |
Vermont | Yankee | Dropped Program |
Conference standings
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Conference summaries
Conference Champions |
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Big Sky Conference – Boise State |
Postseason
1975 NCAA Division II National Football Championship playoffs | |
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Teams | 8 |
Finals Site | Charles C. Hughes Stadium Sacramento, California |
Champions | Northern Michigan (1st title) |
Runner-Up | Western Kentucky (2nd championship game) |
Semifinalists | West Alabama New Hampshire |
The 1975 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the third single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division II college football.
The four quarterfinal games were played on campus and all four host teams lost. The semifinals were the Pioneer Bowl in Wichita Falls, Texas, and the Grantland Rice Bowl in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The championship game was the Camellia Bowl, held at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California for the third and final time. The Northern Michigan Wildcats defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 16–14 to win their first national title. Of all current members of Division II, as of 2015, Northern Michigan was the first to win the playoff national championship. They went from winless (0–10) in 1974 to 13–1 and national champions in 1975,[2] led by sophomore quarterback Steve Mariucci,[3] later a head coach in the NFL for nine seasons.
Playoff bracket
First round Campus sites November 29 | Semifinals Pioneer Bowl Grantland Rice Bowl December 6 | Championship Camellia Bowl Hughes Stadium Sacramento, CA December 13 | ||||||||||||
Northern Michigan | 24 | |||||||||||||
Boise State * | 21 | |||||||||||||
Northern Michigan | 28 | |||||||||||||
West Alabama | 26 | |||||||||||||
West Alabama | 34 | |||||||||||||
North Dakota * | 14 | |||||||||||||
Northern Michigan | 16 | |||||||||||||
Western Kentucky | 14 | |||||||||||||
Western Kentucky | 14 | |||||||||||||
Northern Iowa * | 12 | |||||||||||||
Western Kentucky | 14 | |||||||||||||
New Hampshire | 3 | |||||||||||||
New Hampshire | 35 | |||||||||||||
Lehigh * | 21 | |||||||||||||
* Denotes host institution
See also
References
- ↑ "1975 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
- 1 2 "Winless in '74, then a title in '75". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 14, 1975. p. 10B.
- ↑ "Fumbles cost Boise 24-21". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 30, 1975. p. 3B.