1986 Linfield Wildcats football team

The 1986 Linfield Wildcats football team was an American football team that represented Linfield University and won the national championship during the 1986 NAIA Division II football season. In their 19th season under head coach Ad Rutschman, the Wildcats compiled a perfect 12–0 record and won the Columbia Football League (CFL) championship. They participated in the NAIA Division II playoffs, defeating Pacific Lutheran (27–21) in the quarterfinals, Carroll (MT) (53–7) in the semifinals, and Baker (17–0) in the NAIA Division II Championship Game.

1986 Linfield Wildcats football
NAIA Division II national champion CFL champion
NAIA Division II Championship Game, W 17–0 vs. Baker
Conference	Columbia Football League
Division	Southern Division
Record	12–0 (6–0 CFL)
Head coach	Ad Rutschman (19th season)
Home stadium	Maxwell Field

1986 Columbia Football League standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Northern Division
No. 5 Pacific Lutheran x^	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
No. 19 Central Washington	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Puget Sound	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
No. 18 Simon Fraser	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Whitworth	1	–	4	–	1			2	–	6	–	1
Western Washington	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Eastern Oregon	0	–	5	–	1			0	–	8	–	1
Southern Division
No. 1 Linfield x^	6	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 13 Western Oregon	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Oregon Tech	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Southern Oregon	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Willamette	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Pacific (OR)	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Lewis & Clark	1	–	5	–	0			1	–	8	–	0
x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll for Central Washington, Simon Fraser, and Western Oregon and NAIA Division II poll for Pacific Lutheran and Linfield

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 20	at Central Washington	Ellensburg, WA	W 41–32
September 27	Western Oregon	Maxwell Field McMinnville, OR	W 45–14
October 4	Pacific Lutheran	Maxwell Field McMinnville, OR	W 43–17
October 11	at Willamette	Salem, OR	W 49–14
October 18	Southern Oregon	Maxwell Field McMinnville, OR	W 28–14
October 25	Simon Fraser	Maxwell Field McMinnville, OR	W 14–0
November 1	at Lewis & Clark	Portland, OR	W 42–7
November 8	at Oregon Tech	Klamath Falls, OR	W 38–20
November 15	Pacific (OR)	Maxwell Field McMinnville, OR	W 42–26
November 22	at Pacific Lutheran	Tacoma, WA	W 27–21 OT
November 29	Carroll (MT)	Maxwell Field McMinnville, OR	W 53–7
December 13	Baker	Wortman Stadium McMinnville, OR	W 17–0	4,167