The 1988 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1988 college football season in the United States and the 33rd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 19th season of play of the NAIA division II for football.

1988 NAIA Division II football season
Regular seasonAugust–November 1988
PostseasonNovember–December 1988
National ChampionshipMemorial Stadium
New Wilmington, PA
ChampionsWestminster (PA) (4)

The season was played from August to November 1988 and culminated in the 1988 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played at the Memorial Stadium on the campus of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.[1]

The Westminster Titans defeated the Wisconsin–La Crosse Indians in the championship game, 21–14, to win their fourth NAIA national title.

Conference standings

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1988 Columbia Football Association standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Mount Hood League
No. 12 Oregon Tech x^ 6 0 0 9 3 0
No. 20 Linfield 4 2 0 7 2 0
Southern Oregon 3 3 0 5 4 0
Pacific (OR) 3 3 0 3 5 1
Western Oregon 3 3 0 3 6 0
Willamette 2 4 0 4 5 0
Eastern Oregon 0 6 0 0 9 0
Mount Rainier League
No. 4 Central Washington x^ 6 0 0 9 1 0
No. 11 Pacific Lutheran ^ 5 1 0 7 3 0
Puget Sound 4 2 0 4 5 0
Western Washington 3 3 0 5 4 0
Whitworth 1 5 0 3 5 1
Simon Fraser 1 5 0 3 7 0
Lewis & Clark 1 5 0 2 7 0
  • x – League champion/co-champions
    ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 Frontier Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Carroll (MT) $^ 6 0 0 10 1 0
Montana Tech 4 2 0 6 3 0
Rocky Mountain 1 5 0 3 8 0
Western Montana 1 5 0 1 5 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Baker $^ 7 0 0 9 1 0
Missouri Valley 5 2 0 6 4 0
Tarkio 5 2 0 5 5 0
Graceland 4 3 0 7 3 0
William Jewell 4 3 0 5 4 1
MidAmerica Nazarene 2 5 0 4 6 0
Culver–Stockton 1 6 0 2 8 0
No. 2 Evangel * ^ 0 7 0 0 12 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
    Evangel finished the 1988 season with an 11–1 record and a 7–0 mark in HAAC play. In March 1989, the team forfeited all 11 wins and their conference title because it had used two ineligible players.
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Bethany (KS) $^ 9 0 0 10 1 0
McPherson 6 3 0 6 4 0
Southwestern (KS) 6 3 0 6 4 0
St. Mary of the Plains 5 4 0 6 4 0
Kansas Wesleyan 5 4 0 5 4 0
Bethel (KS) 5 4 0 5 5 0
Ottawa 5 4 0 5 5 0
Friends 2 7 0 2 8 0
Sterling 1 8 0 1 9 0
Tabor 1 8 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 Mid-South Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Cumberland (KY) $^ 5 0 0 10 1 0
No. 24 Georgetown (KY) 4 1 0 7 3 0
Evansville 3 2 0 5 5 0
Union (KY) 2 3 0 6 4 0
Kentucky Wesleyan 1 4 0 4 6 0
Campbellsville 0 5 0 0 11 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 21 Nebraska Wesleyan $^ 5 0 0 7 3 0
Dana 3 2 0 6 4 0
Doane 3 2 0 4 5 0
Midland 3 2 0 4 6 0
Concordia (NE) 1 4 0 3 6 0
Hastings 0 5 0 3 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 17 Valley City State $^ 6 0 0 7 3 0
No. 16 Dickinson State 5 1 0 8 1 0
Minot State 4 2 0 6 3 0
Jamestown 3 3 0 4 5 0
Mayville State 1 5 0 3 6 0
NDSCS–Wahpeton 1 5 0 3 6 0
Mary 1 5 0 2 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 Sioux Falls $^ 5 0 0 9 1 1
Huron 3 2 0 7 3 0
Black Hills State 3 2 0 3 6 0
Dakota Wesleyan 3 2 0 3 7 0
South Dakota Tech 1 4 0 1 8 0
Dakota State 0 5 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 9 Austin $^ 9 1 0 9 2 0
Tarleton State 7 3 0 7 3 0
Sul Ross 5 5 0 5 5 0
Midwestern State 4 6 0 4 6 0
Howard Payne 4 6 0 4 7 0
McMurry 1 9 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 Tri-State Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Northwestern (IA) $^ 3 0 0 12 1 0
Benedictine (KS) 2 1 0 7 3 0
Westmar 1 2 0 4 5 0
Peru State 0 3 0 6 4 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 Wisconsin State University Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Wisconsin–Whitewater $^ 7 1 0 9 3 0
No. 14 Wisconsin–La Crosse * 6 2 0 11 3 0
No. 15 Wisconsin–River Falls 6 2 0 7 3 0
No. 25 Wisconsin–Stevens Point 5 3 0 7 4 0
Wisconsin–Platteville 4 4 0 6 4 0
Wisconsin–Oshkosh 4 4 0 5 4 1
Wisconsin–Eau Claire 3 5 0 5 5 0
Wisconsin–Stout 1 7 0 2 8 0
Wisconsin–Superior 0 8 0 0 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant
  • * – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1988 NAIA Division II independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Westminster (PA) ^     14 0 0
No. 19 Azusa Pacific     7 1 0
No. 13 Bluffton ^     9 2 0
Geneva     8 2 0
No. 23 Wilmington (OH)     7 2 1
Franklin (IN)     7 3 0
St. Francis (IL)     6 4 0
Chadron State     5 5 0
Findlay     3 6 0
St. Ambrose     2 6 1
Tiffin     2 8 0
Waynesburg     2 8 0
Oklahoma Panhandle State     1 7 0
Iowa Wesleyan     0 10 0
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

Conference champions

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Conference Champion Record
Columbia Mount Rainier League: Central Washington
Mount Hood League: Oregon Tech
6–0
6–0
Frontier Carroll (MT) 6–0
Heart of America Evangel 7–0
Illini-Badger Concordia–Wisconsin 8–1
Kansas Bethany 9–0
Mid-South Cumberland (KY) 5–0
Nebraska Nebraska Wesleyan 5–0
North Dakota Valley City State 6–0
South Dakota Sioux Falls 5–0
Tri-State Northwestern (IA) 3–0
WSUC Wisconsin–Whitewater 7–1

Rankings

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Final NAIA Division II poll rankings:

Rank Team (first place votes) Record (thru Nov. 12) Points
1 Westminster (PA) (16) 10–0 518
2 Evangel 9–0 486
3 Carroll (MT) (3) 9–0 474
4 Central Washington (1) 9–0 466
5 Northwestern (IA) (1) 10–0 452
6 Bethany (KS) 9–0 418
7 Cumberland (KY) 10–0 404
8 Sioux Falls 9–0–1 370
9 Austin 9–1 340
10 Baker 8–1 332
11 Pacific Lutheran 7–2 332
12 Oregon Tech 7–2 270
13 Bluffton 8–1 254
14 Wisconsin–La Crosse 8–2 241
15 Wisconsin–River Falls 7–3 211
16 Dickinson State 7–1 200
17 Valley City State 7–2 187
18 Concordia (WI) 8–1 162
19 Azusa Pacific 7–1 130
20 Linfield 7–2 129
21 Nebraska Wesleyan 7–2 118
22 Greenville 8–1 117
23 Wilmington (OH) 7–2–1 79
24 Georgetown (KY) 7–3 77
25 Wisconsin–Stevens Point 7–4 29

[2]

Postseason

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First Round
Campus sites
Quarterfinals
Campus sites
Semifinals
Campus sites
Championship
New Wilmington, PA
            
  Pacific Lutheran 35
  Oregon Tech* 56
  Oregon Tech 70
  Carroll (MT)* 35
  Central Washington 7
  Carroll (MT)* 28
  Oregon Tech* 24
  Wisconsin–La Crosse 37
  Sioux Falls 9
  Northwestern (IA)* 14
  Northwestern (IA)* 33
  Wisconsin–La Crosse 45
  Valley City State 6
  Wisconsin–La Crosse* 31
  Wisconsin–La Crosse 14
  Westminster (PA)* 21
  Nebraska Wesleyan 14
  Evangel* 45
  Evangel* 22
  Bethany 10
  Baker 19
  Bethany* 21
  Evangel 9
  Westminster (PA)* 26
  Bluffton 30
  Cumberland (KY)* 14
  Bluffton 7
  Westminster (PA)* 40
  Austin 12
  Westminster (PA)* 34

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  2. ^ "Final NAIA Division II poll". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. November 15, 1988. p. 26. Retrieved May 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com  .