1982 NCAA Division II football season

The 1982 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 August 1982, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 11, 1982, at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas. During the game's five-year stretch in McAllen, the "City of Palms", it was referred to as the Palm Bowl.

1982 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1982
Playoffs	December 1982
National Championship	Palm Bowl Veterans Stadium McAllen, TX
Champion	Southwest Texas State (2)

Southwest Texas State defeated UC Davis in the championship game, 34–9, to win their second overall and second consecutive Division II national title.

Conference changes and new programs

• One team upgraded from Division II to Division I-AA prior to the season.
• The Far Western Football Conference changed its name to the Northern California Athletic Conference. Its membership remained the same.
• The Lone Star Conference became a full Division II member conference.
• The Western Football Conference was formed by five football-playing schools in California.

School	1981 Conference	1982 Conference
Alabama State	Independent	SWAC (I-AA)
Cal Poly	CCAA	Western
Cal Poly Pomona	CCAA	Western
Cal State Northridge	CCAA	Western
Central Florida	D-III Independent	D-II Independent
Portland State	Independent	Western
Santa Clara	Independent	Western
Valdosta State	New program	Gulf South

Conference standings

1981 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Northern No. 8 Virginia Union xy$^ 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Hampton 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Norfolk State 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Elizabeth City State 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Virginia State 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Saint Paul's (VA) 0 – 7 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Southern North Carolina Central xy 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Johnson C. Smith 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Livingstone 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Fayetteville State 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Winston-Salem State 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Bowie State 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Championship: Virginia Union 33, North Carolina Central 26 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll	1982 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Hillsdale $^ 6 – 0 – 0 12 – 1 – 0 Grand Valley State 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Northwood 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Wayne State (MI) 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Ferris State 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 6 – 0 Michigan Tech 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 Saginaw Valley State 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll	1982 Gulf South Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 5 Jacksonville State $^ 7 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 Mississippi College 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 North Alabama 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Delta State 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Livingston 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Valdosta State 2 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 1 Troy State 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Tennessee–Martin 0 – 6 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll
1982 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Ashland $ 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Butler 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Evansville 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Franklin (IN) 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Indiana Central 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Saint Joseph's (IN) 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Valparaiso 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Georgetown (KY) 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1982 Lone Star Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Southwest Texas State $^ 7 – 0 – 0 14 – 0 – 0 Angelo State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 East Texas State 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Abilene Christian 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Stephen F. Austin 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Texas A&I 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Howard Payne 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Sam Houston State 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll	1982 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T NE Missouri State $^ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Central Missouri State 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Missouri-Rolla 3 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 SE Missouri State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 1 NW Missouri State 0 – 4 – 1 2 – 7 – 1 Lincoln (MO) 0 – 4 – 1 1 – 8 – 1 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
1982 North Central Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 North Dakota State $^ 7 – 0 – 0 12 – 1 – 0 North Dakota 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 South Dakota * 4 – 2 – 1 6 – 5 – 0 Northern Colorado 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 3 – 1 Nebraska–Omaha 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 South Dakota State * 2 – 4 – 1 4 – 6 – 0 Augustana (SD) 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Morningside 0 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 St. Cloud State † 0 – 0 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Mankato State † 0 – 0 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant * – South Dakota and South Dakota State split two head-to-head games, which counted as a tie for each team in the conference standings. † – ineligible for the conference title Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll	1982 Northern California Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 UC Davis $^ 5 – 0 – 0 12 – 1 – 0 Sacramento State 3 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Cal State Hayward 3 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 1 San Francisco State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Chico State 1 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Humboldt State 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll	1982 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 6 Moorhead State $^ 5 – 0 – 1 7 – 2 – 1 Minnesota Duluth 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0 Minnesota Morris 3 – 2 – 1 4 – 4 – 2 Northern State 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Southwest State (MN) 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 Bemidji State 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Winona State 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1982 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T East Division No. 10 East Stroudsburg xy$ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 West Chester 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Millersville 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Kutztown 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Mansfield 1 – 3 – 1 3 – 6 – 1 Bloomsburg 1 – 4 – 1 1 – 7 – 1 Cheyney 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 6 – 0 West Division Edinboro xy 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0 Slippery Rock 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Shippensburg 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Clarion 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 IUP 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Lock Haven 1 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 California (PA) 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 Championship: East Stroudsburg 24, Edinboro 22 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant California forfeited three wins, including conference wins over IUP and Lock Haven, and a non-conference tie with Mansfield. Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll	1982 Western Football Conference standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Cal Poly $ 4 – 0 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Santa Clara 3 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Cal State Northridge 2 – 2 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Cal Poly Pomona 1 – 3 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 Portland State 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1982 NCAA Division II independents football records Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 9 Southern Connecticut State   –   9 – 1 – 0 Eastern Washington   –   8 – 2 – 0 Saint Mary's   –   7 – 2 – 1 No. 6 Northern Michigan ^   –   8 – 3 – 0 Central State (OH)   –   7 – 4 – 0 Liberty   –   7 – 4 – 0 Towson State   –   7 – 4 – 0 Arkansas–Pine Bluff   –   5 – 5 – 1 American International   –   4 – 6 – 0 New Haven   –   4 – 6 – 0 Morgan State   –   4 – 7 – 0 Kentucky State   –   2 – 9 – 0 Sonoma State   –   2 – 9 – 0 Central Connecticut   –   1 – 7 – 1 UCF   –   0 – 10 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Conference summaries

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons

Conference Champions

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Virginia Union Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Hillsdale Gulf South Conference – Jacksonville State Heartland Collegiate Conference – Ashland Lone Star Conference – Southwest Texas State Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Northeast Missouri State North Central Conference – North Dakota State Northern California Athletic Conference – UC Davis Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota State–Moorhead Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – East Stroudsburg Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Colorado Mesa South Atlantic Conference – Carson-Newman Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Fort Valley State

Postseason

1982 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams	8
Finals Site	Veterans Stadium McAllen, TX
Champion	Southwest Texas State (2nd title, 2nd title game)
Runner-up	UC Davis (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Jacksonville State North Dakota State
Winning coach	Jim Wacker 2nd championship

The 1982 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the 10th single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas, for the second time.

Playoff bracket

	First round Campus sites					Semifinals Campus sites					Championship McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium McAllen, TX
	Southwest Texas State		27
	Fort Valley State		6
						Southwest Texas State		19
						Jacksonville State		14
	Jacksonville State		34
	Northeast Missouri State		21
											Southwest Texas State		34
											UC Davis		9
	North Dakota State		21
	Virginia Union		20
						North Dakota State		14
						UC Davis		19
	UC Davis		42
	Northern Michigan		21

See also

• 1982 NAIA Division I football season
• 1982 NAIA Division II football season