1987 NAIA Division II football season

1987 NAIA Division II football season
Regular season	August–November 1987
Postseason	November–December 1987
National Championship	Tacoma Dome Tacoma, WA
Champions	Pacific Lutheran (2) Wisconsin–Stevens Point (forfeited)
←1986 NAIA Division II football season 1988→

The 1987 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1987 college football season in the United States and the 32nd season of college football sponsored by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), was the 18th season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1987 and culminated in the 1987 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played at the Tacoma Dome near the campus of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. ^[1] Pacific Lutheran and Wisconsin–Stevens Point played to a tie, 16–16, and were declared co-national champions. It was Pacific Lutheran's second NAIA national title and Wisconsin–Stevens Point's first. However, the Pointers later forfeited their shared of title after it was discovered they had been used two ineligible players during the season. ^[2]

Conference realignment

Conference changes

• This was the first season for the Mid-South Conference . ^[3]

Conference standings

1987 Columbia Football League standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Northern Division No. 8 Central Washington * x 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 No. 6 Pacific Lutheran ^ 4 – 1 – 1 11 – 1 – 1 No. 17 Puget Sound 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Simon Fraser 4 – 2 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Western Washington 2 – 3 – 1 4 – 3 – 2 Whitworth 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Lewis & Clark 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 9 – 0 Southern Division Oregon Tech x 5 – 1 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 No. 15 Southern Oregon * 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Linfield 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Pacific (OR) 3 – 2 – 1 4 – 3 – 2 Western Oregon 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Willamette 1 – 4 – 1 3 – 5 – 1 Eastern Oregon 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 x – Division champion/co-champions * – NAIA Division I playoff participant ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll for Central Washington, Puget Sound, and Southern Oregon and NAIA Division II poll for Pacific Lutheran	1987 Frontier Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 5 Carroll (MT) $^ 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Montana Tech 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Rocky Mountain 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1987 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Baker $^ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 No. 21 Missouri Valley 4 – 1 – 1 6 – 3 – 1 William Jewell 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Tarkio 2 – 2 – 2 2 – 6 – 2 Culver–Stockton 1 – 3 – 2 3 – 5 – 2 Graceland 1 – 4 – 1 2 – 6 – 1 MidAmerica Nazarene 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1987 Illini–Badger Football Conference standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Concordia (IL) $ 5 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 0 Concordia (WI) 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Lakeland 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Northeastern Illinois 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 Eureka 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Principia 0 – 5 – 0 0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1987 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 8 Bethany (KS) +^ 8 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 No. 17 Southwestern (KS) +^ 8 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Kansas Wesleyan 7 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Sterling 6 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Friends 5 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 St. Mary of the Plains 3 – 6 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Bethel (KS) 3 – 6 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Ottawa 3 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 McPherson 1 – 8 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 Tabor 1 – 8 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1987 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 16 Midland $^ 4 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 No. 14 Dana ^ 3 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Nebraska Wesleyan 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Doane 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Hastings 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Concordia (NE) 1 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1987 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Dickinson State $^ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0 No. 19 Valley City State 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Minot State 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Jamestown 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 NDSCS–Wahpeton 1 – 4 – 0 4 – 4 – 0 Mayville State 0 – 5 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1987 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Dakota Wesleyan + 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Black Hills State + 4 – 1 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Huron 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 South Dakota Tech 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Sioux Falls 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Dakota State 0 – 5 – 0 0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1987 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Tarleton State $^ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 Sul Ross 2 – 2 – 2 5 – 2 – 2 McMurry 1 – 3 – 2 3 – 5 – 2 Austin 0 – 4 – 2 2 – 5 – 3 Howard Payne 0 – 0 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
1987 Wisconsin State University Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Wisconsin–Whitewater + 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 1 No. 25 Wisconsin–River Falls + 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 No. 24 Wisconsin–Eau Claire 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Wisconsin–La Crosse 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Wisconsin–Stout 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Wisconsin–Platteville 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Wisconsin–Oshkosh 3 – 5 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Wisconsin–Superior 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 No. 4 Wisconsin–Stevens Point ^ 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 15 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Wisconsin–Stevens Point finished the season with an overall record of 12–2–1 and a conference mark of 7–1, winning the WSUC title and advancing to the NAIA Division II Football National Championship playoffs, where they tied Pacific Lutheran in the title game, sharing the NAIA Division II title. In May 1988, Stevens Point forfeited its 12 wins, the one tie, and the conference and NAIA titles because of the use of two ineligible players. Rankings from NAIA Division II poll	1987 NAIA Division II independents football records v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 St. Ambrose ^   –   11 – 0 – 1 No. 15 Geneva ^   –   11 – 2 – 0 No. 12 Westmar ^   –   9 – 2 – 0 No. 7 Westminster (PA) ^   –   9 – 2 – 0 No. 10 Bluffton ^   –   8 – 2 – 0 No. 13 St. Francis (IL) ^   –   8 – 3 – 0 Findlay   –   5 – 4 – 0 Waynesburg   –   5 – 4 – 0 Wilmington (OH)   –   5 – 4 – 0 Evangel   –   5 – 4 – 1 Peru State   –   5 – 5 – 0 Benedictine (KS)   –   4 – 7 – 0 Iowa Wesleyan   –   4 – 7 – 0 Northwestern (IA)   –   3 – 7 – 0 Oklahoma Panhandle State   –   2 – 7 – 0 Franklin (IN)   –   2 – 8 – 0 Azusa Pacific   –   2 – 8 – 0 Texas Lutheran   –   2 – 8 – 0 Chadron State   –   1 – 8 – 0 Tiffin   –   1 – 9 – 0 ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Columbia	Mount Rainier Division: Central Washington Mount Hood Division: Oregon Tech	5–1 5–1
Frontier	Carroll (MT)	8–2
Heart of America	Baker	6–0
Illini–Badger	Concordia (IL)	5–0
Kansas	Bethany Southwestern (KS)	8–1
Mid-South	Georgetown (KY)	8–3
Nebraska	Midland	4–1
North Dakota	Dickinson State	5–0
South Dakota	Black Hills State	4–1
Texas	Tarleton State	6–0
WSUC	Wisconsin–River Falls Wisconsin–Whitewater	6–2

Postseason

	First Round Campus sites				Quarterfinals Campus sites				Semifinals Campus sites				Championship Tacoma, WA
	Westminster (PA)	24
	Georgetown (KY) ‡	17
					Westminster (PA)*	15
					Geneva	16
	Bluffton	13
	Geneva *	16
									Geneva	25
									Wisconsin–Stevens Point*	48
	Westmar	24
	Wisconsin–Stevens Point *	50
					Wisconsin–Stevens Point	30
					Saint Ambrose*	14
	Saint Ambrose	21
	St. Francis (IL)*	3
													Wisconsin–Stevens Point	16
													Pacific Lutheran*	16
	Bethany	26
	Tarleton State *	38
					Tarleton State*	12
					Baker	13
	Dana	35
	Baker ‡‡	37
									Baker	14
									Pacific Lutheran* (OT)	17
	Dickinson State	21
	Carroll (MT) * (OT)	28
					Carroll (MT)*	26
					Pacific Lutheran	36
	Midland	21
	Pacific Lutheran *	40

• ‡ Game played at Lexington, Kentucky
• ‡‡ Game played at Lawrence, Kansas

See also

• 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season
• 1987 NCAA Division I-AA football season
• 1987 NCAA Division II football season
• 1987 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 5, 2015.
2. "Surprise: Lutes are champs after all". The News Tribune . Tacoma, Washington. May 10, 1988. p. C1. Retrieved November 28, 2021– via Newspapers.com .
3. "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 20–23. Retrieved December 11, 2021.