1978 NAIA Division II football season

The 1978 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1978 college football season in the United States and the 23rd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the ninth season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.

1978 NAIA Division II football season
Regular season	August–November 1978
Postseason	November–December 1978
National Championship	Donnell Stadium Findlay, OH
Champions	Concordia–Moorhead (2)

The season was played from August to November 1978 and culminated in the 1978 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played at Donnell Stadium in Findlay, Ohio.

Concordia–Moorhead defeated Findlay in the championship game, 7–0, to win their second NAIA national title.

Conference changes

• This is the final season that the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is officially recognized as an NAIA football conferences. The SIAC has since become an NCAA Division III conference.

Conference standings

1978 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 11 Elmhurst + 7 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 0 Millikin + 7 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 0 North Central (IL) 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Carroll (WI) 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Wheaton (IL) 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Augustana (IL) 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Illinois Wesleyan 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Carthage 1 – 7 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 North Park 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1978 Frontier Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 6 Carroll (MT) $^ 4 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0 Montana Tech 2 – 1 – 1 2 – 4 – 2 Eastern Montana 2 – 1 – 1 2 – 6 – 1 Rocky Mountain 1 – 3 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 Western Montana 0 – 4 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1978 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 5 Missouri Valley $^ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 No. 18 Baker 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Ottawa 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Central Methodist 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 William Jewell 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Graceland 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Tarkio 0 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1978 Hoosier–Buckeye Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Findlay $^ 8 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0 Hanover 6 – 2 – 0 6 – 2 – 1 Defiance 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Wilmington (OH) 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Anderson (IN) 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Manchester (IN) 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Bluffton 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 Taylor 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 Earlham 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1978 Illini–Badger Football Conference standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 19 Milton $ 4 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 0 Lakeland 3 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Northeastern Illinois 2 – 2 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Eureka 1 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Concordia (IL) 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1978 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 8 Bethany (KS) $^ 8 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 0 Southwestern (KS) 7 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0 Friends 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 McPherson 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Tabor 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Sterling 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 St. Mary of the Plains 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Kansas Wesleyan 1 – 7 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 Bethel (KS) 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1978 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Concordia–Moorhead * + 7 – 1 – 0 11 – 1 – 0 St. Olaf +^ 7 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 No. 15 Gustavus Adolphus 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 No. T–20 Saint John's (MN) 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 St. Thomas (MN) 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Hamline 3 – 4 – 1 5 – 4 – 1 Augsburg 2 – 5 – 1 3 – 6 – 1 Bethel (MN) 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Macalester 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant * – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1978 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 13 Hastings $ 4½ – ½ – 0 8 – 1 – 0 Nebraska Wesleyan 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Concordia (NE) 3 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 1 Doane 2½ – 2½ – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Dana 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 Midland 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion Hastings and Doane played twice; each game counted as ½ of a game in the conference standings. Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1978 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 10 Valley City State $ 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 0 – 1 No. 12 Jamestown 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 0 Dickinson State 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Minot State 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 4 – 1 Wahpeton Science 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 6 – 0 Mayville State 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 6 – 1 Bismarck JC 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1978 Northwest Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 Linfield $^ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0 Pacific Lutheran 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 3 – 0 Pacific (OR) 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Willamette 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Whitworth 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Lewis & Clark 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1978 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. T–20 Dakota State $ 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 South Dakota Tech 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 1 Dakota Wesleyan 3 – 2 – 1 5 – 4 – 1 Black Hills State 3 – 2 – 1 6 – 3 – 1 Huron 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 South Dakota–Springfield 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 7 – 1 Sioux Falls 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1978 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Redlands $ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0 Claremont-Mudd 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Whittier 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Occidental 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 La Verne 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 7 – 0 Pomona-Pitzer 0 – 5 – 0 0 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1978 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 4 Tarleton State $^ 7 – 0 – 1 8 – 1 – 1 McMurry 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Trinity (TX) 2 – 4 – 2 4 – 4 – 2 Austin 2 – 5 – 1 3 – 6 – 1 Sul Ross 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1978 Tri-State Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 7 Northwestern (IA) $^ 2 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Westmar 2 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Yankton 0 – 3 – 0 1 – 8 – 1 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1978 NAIA Division II independents football records Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 9 Cal Lutheran   –   8 – 2 – 0 Waynesburg   –   6 – 2 – 0 No. 16 Chadron State   –   7 – 2 – 2 No. 14 Westminster (PA)   –   6 – 2 – 1 No. 17 Illinois College   –   6 – 2 – 1 Peru State   –   5 – 3 – 2 Simon Fraser   –   4 – 5 – 0 Azusa Pacific   –   3 – 6 – 0 Benedictine (KS)   –   3 – 6 – 0 Texas Lutheran   –   3 – 6 – 0 Geneva   –   3 – 7 – 0 Oklahoma Panhandle State   –   2 – 7 – 0 Iowa Wesleyan   –   0 – 9 – 0 Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Frontier	Carroll (MT)	4–0
Heart of America	Missouri Valley	6–0
Hoosier-Buckeye	Findlay	8–0
Illini-Badger	Milton	4–0
Kansas	Bethany	8–0
Minnesota	Concordia–Moorhead St. Olaf	7–1
Nebraska	Hastings	4–0–1
North Dakota	Valley City State	4–0
Pacific Northwest	Linfield	5–0
South Dakota	Dakota State	6–0
SCIAC	Redlands	5–0
Texas	Tarleton State	7–0–1

Postseason

	Quarterfinals Campus sites					Semifinals Campus sites					Championship Findlay, OH
		Missouri Valley*	30
		Bethany (KS)	16
							Missouri Valley	9
							Findlay*	27
		Findlay*	13
		Tarleton State	6
												Findlay*	0
												Concordia–Moorhead	7
		Concordia–Moorhead*	49
		Northwestern (IA)	0
							Concordia–Moorhead	24
							Linfield*	23
		Linfield*	32
		Carroll (MT)	6

See also

• 1978 NAIA Division I football season
• 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season
• 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season
• 1978 NCAA Division II football season
• 1978 NCAA Division III football season