1981 NAIA Division II football season

The 1981 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1981 college football season in the United States and the 26th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 21st season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.

1981 NAIA Division II football season
Regular season	August–November 1981
Postseason	November–December 1981
National Championship	Louis Calder Stadium Sherman, TX
Champions	Austin Concordia–Moorhead (3)

The season was played from August to November 1981 and culminated in the 1981 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played at Louis Calder Stadium in Sherman, Texas.[1]

Austin and Concordia–Moorhead tied in the championship game, 24–24, and were declared co-national champions. It was Austin's first NAIA national title and Concordia's third.

Conference standings

1981 Frontier Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Carroll (MT) $ 5 – 1 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Montana Tech 4 – 1 – 1     5 – 3 – 2 Rocky Mountain 2 – 4 – 0     2 – 6 – 0 Western Montana 0 – 5 – 1     0 – 7 – 1 $ – Conference champion	1981 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T William Jewell $^ 8 – 0 – 0     11 – 1 – 0 Missouri Valley 7 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Baker 6 – 2 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Graceland 5 – 3 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Ottawa 4 – 4 – 0     5 – 4 – 1 MidAmerica Nazarene 3 – 5 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Central Methodist 2 – 6 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Tarkio 1 – 7 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 Culver–Stockton 0 – 8 – 0     0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant	1981 Hoosier–Buckeye Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Anderson (IN) $^ 8 – 0 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Findlay 7 – 1 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Wilmington (OH) 5 – 3 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Hanover 5 – 3 – 0     5 – 3 – 1 Defiance 4 – 4 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Earlham 3 – 5 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Taylor 3 – 5 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Manchester (IN) 1 – 7 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 Bluffton 0 – 8 – 0     0 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
1981 Illini–Badger Football Conference standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Northeastern Illinois + 3 – 1 – 1     5 – 5 – 1 Milton + 3 – 1 – 1     4 – 5 – 1 Concordia (WI) + 2 – 1 – 1     5 – 2 – 2 Eureka 2 – 2 – 1     3 – 5 – 1 Concordia (IL) 2 – 2 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Lakeland 0 – 5 – 0     1 – 7 – 1 + – Conference co-champions	1981 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Bethany (KS) $ 8 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Southwestern (KS) 5 – 2 – 1     5 – 2 – 2 Friends 5 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Sterling 5 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 St. Mary of the Plains 4 – 4 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Tabor 3 – 5 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Kansas Wesleyan 2 – 5 – 1     2 – 7 – 1 McPherson 2 – 6 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 Bethel (KS) 1 – 7 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1981 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Concordia–Moorhead $^ 8 – 0 – 0     11 – 0 – 2 Saint John's (MN) 6 – 2 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 St. Thomas (MN) 6 – 2 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 Gustavus Adolphus 5 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Augsburg 3 – 5 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Macalester 2 – 6 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 St. Olaf 2 – 6 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Bethel (MN) 2 – 6 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Hamline 2 – 6 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
1981 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Concordia (NE) + 4 – 1 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Hastings + 4 – 1 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Midland + 4 – 1 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Doane 2 – 3 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 Nebraska Wesleyan 1 – 4 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 Dana 0 – 5 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 + – Conference co-champions	1981 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Dickinson State $^ 6 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Jamestown 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Valley City State 4 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 North Dakota Science 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 3 – 0 Minot State 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 4 – 1 Mayville State 1 – 5 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 Bismarck JC 0 – 6 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant	1981 Northwest Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Pacific Lutheran $^ 5 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Linfield 4 – 1 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 Lewis & Clark 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Whitworth 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Willamette 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Pacific (OR) 0 – 5 – 0     0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
1981 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T South Dakota Tech + 5 – 1 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 Sioux Falls + 5 – 1 – 0     6 – 3 – 1 South Dakota–Springfield 4 – 2 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Huron 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Dakota State 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Black Hills State 1 – 4 – 1     1 – 7 – 1 Dakota Wesleyan 0 – 5 – 1     0 – 9 – 1 + – Conference co-champions	1981 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Austin +^ 9 – 1 – 0     11 – 1 – 1 Sul Ross + 9 – 1 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Tarleton State 6 – 4 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 McMurry 3 – 7 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Trinity (TX) 2 – 8 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 Lubbock Christian 1 – 9 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant	1981 NAIA Division II independents football records Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Westminster (PA) ^   –       10 – 1 – 0 Oklahoma Panhandle State ^   –       9 – 1 – 0 Cal Lutheran   –       8 – 2 – 0 Northwestern (IA)   –       6 – 2 – 1 Benedictine (KS)   –       4 – 6 – 0 Texas Lutheran   –       4 – 6 – 0 ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Frontier	Carroll (MT)	5–1
Heart of America	William Jewell	8–0
Hoosier-Buckeye	Anderson (IN)	8–0
Kansas	Bethany	8–0
Minnesota	Concordia–Moorhead	8–0
Nebraska	Concordia–Nebraska Hastings Midland Lutheran	4–1
North Dakota	Dickinson State	6–0
Northwest	Pacific Lutheran	5–0
South Dakota	Sioux Falls South Dakota Tech	5–1
Texas	Austin Sul Ross	9–1

Postseason

	Quarterfinals Campus sites					Semifinals Campus sites					Championship Sherman, TX
		Austin	27
		Oklahoma Panhandle State*	16
							Austin*	33
							William Jewell	28
		Pacific Lutheran	14
		William Jewell*	19
												Austin*	24
												Concordia–Moorhead	24
		Dickinson State	9
		Concordia–Moorhead*	13
							Concordia–Moorhead	23
							Westminster (PA)*	17
		Anderson (IN)	6
		Westminster (PA)*	21

See also

• 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season
• 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season
• 1981 NCAA Division II football season
• 1981 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 December 2, 2015.