1976 NAIA Division II football season

The 1976 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1976 college football season in the United States and the 21st season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the seventh season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.

1976 NAIA Division II football season
Regular season	August–November 1976
Postseason	November–December 1976
National Championship	Redlands, CA
Champions	Westminster (PA) (2)

The season was played from August to November 1976 and culminated in the 1976 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played on the campus of the University of Redlands in Redlands, California.[1]

Westminster (PA) defeated Redlands in the championship game, 20–13, to win their second NAIA national title.

Conference standings

1976 Frontier Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Carroll (MT) $ 4 – 0 – 0     7 – 1 – 0 Western Montana 2 – 2 – 0     3 – 5 – 0 Rocky Mountain 2 – 2 – 0     2 – 6 – 0 Eastern Montana 1 – 3 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Montana Tech 1 – 3 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1976 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Northwood $ 4 – 1 – 0     5 – 2 – 1 Grand Valley State 3 – 2 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Wayne State (MI) 3 – 2 – 0     6 – 2 – 0 Ferris State 3 – 2 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Hillsdale 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Saginaw Valley State 0 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1976 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Missouri Valley $ 5 – 0 – 1     8 – 1 – 1 Graceland 4 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Ottawa 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 William Jewell 3 – 3 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Central Methodist 3 – 3 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Tarkio 2 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Baker 0 – 5 – 1     2 – 7 – 1 $ – Conference champion
1976 Hoosier–Buckeye Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Defiance + 6 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Findlay + 6 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Hanover + 6 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Wilmington (OH) 5 – 2 – 1     5 – 3 – 1 Taylor 4 – 4 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Manchester (IN) 4 – 4 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Anderson (IN) 3 – 5 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Bluffton 1 – 7 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 Earlham 0 – 7 – 1     1 – 7 – 1 + – Conference co-champions	1976 Illini–Badger Football Conference standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Milton $ 4 – 0 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 Eureka 3 – 1 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Northeastern Illinois 2 – 2 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Concordia (IL) 1 – 3 – 0     2 – 6 – 1 Lakeland 0 – 4 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1976 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Friends $ 8 – 0 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Sterling 6 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Bethany (KS) 5 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Bethel (KS) 5 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 McPherson 4 – 4 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Southwestern (KS) 3 – 5 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 St. Mary of the Plains 3 – 5 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Kansas Wesleyan 2 – 6 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Tabor 0 – 8 – 0     0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1976 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Saint John's (MN) $^ 7 – 0 – 0     10 – 0 – 1 St. Olaf 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 St. Thomas (MN) 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Concordia–Moorhead 5 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Gustavus Adolphus 3 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Hamline 2 – 5 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Augsburg 1 – 6 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 Macalester 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant St. Thomas (MN) received a non-conference forfeit win from St. Cloud State.	1976 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Midland + 4 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Hastings + 4 – 1 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Nebraska Wesleyan + 4 – 1 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Doane 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Dana 1 – 4 – 0     3 – 5 – 0 Concordia (NE) 0 – 5 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions	1976 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Dakota State + 4 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Dakota Wesleyan + 4 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Black Hills State 3 – 2 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 South Dakota Tech 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 4 – 1 Huron 1 – 3 – 1     4 – 5 – 1 South Dakota–Springfield 0 – 4 – 1     ? – ? – ? + – Conference co-champions
1976 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Trinity (TX) $ 4 – 0 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Sul Ross 3 – 1 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 McMurry 1 – 3 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Tarleton State 1 – 3 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 Austin 0 – 4 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1976 Tri-State Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Northwestern (IA) $ 4 – 0 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Bethel (MN) 3 – 1 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 Yankton 2 – 2 – 0     0 – 6 – 4 Sioux Falls 1 – 3 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 Westmar 0 – 4 – 0     0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1976 NAIA Division II independents football records Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Texas Lutheran ^   –       10 – 1 – 0 Westminster (PA) ^   –       10 – 1 – 0 Cal Lutheran   –       9 – 1 – 0 Benedictine (KS)   –       7 – 4 – 0 ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant

Postseason

	Semifinals Campus sites					Championship Redlands, CA
		Westminster (PA)	31
		Texas Lutheran*	0
							Westminster (PA)	20
							Redlands*	13
		Valley City State	39
		Redlands* (OT)	40

See also

• 1976 NCAA Division I football season
• 1976 NCAA Division II football season
• 1976 NCAA Division III football season

References

1. "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.