1981 NCAA Division II football season

1981 NCAA Division II Football Championship
1981 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams	8
Finals Site	Veterans Stadium; McAllen, TX;
Champion	Southwest Texas State; (1st title, 1st title game);
Runner-up	North Dakota State; (1st title game);
Semifinalists	Northern Michigan; Shippensburg State;
Winning coach	Jim Wacker; 1st championship;

1981 NCAA Division II football season
1981 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1981
Playoffs	December 1981
National Championship	Palm Bowl; Veterans Stadium; McAllen, TX
Champion	Southwest Texas State
	← 1980; NCAA Division II football seasons; 1982 →;

The 1981 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began in August 1981, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 12, 1981, at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas. During the game's five-year stretch in McAllen, the "City of Palms", it was referred to as the Palm Bowl.

Southwest Texas State defeated North Dakota State in the championship game, 42–13, to win their first Division II national title.^[1]

Conference realignment

Conference changes

Prior to the 1981 season, the Mid-Continent Conference was shifted from Division II to Division I-AA; its four members, Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Western Illinois, and Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State), all made the transition. Northern Michigan and Youngstown State, who had been members of the Mid-Continent the previous season, departed the league before the shift. NMU remained in Division II while YSU departed for the Ohio Valley Conference in Division I-AA.
After spending 1980 as a club team, Sonoma State University officially joined Division II this year.^[2]
Four Members of the Lone Star Conference- Texas A&I, Angelo State, Abilene Christian, and Southwest Texas State- reclassified to Division II from the NAIA this year. The remaining members of the conference remained in the NAIA.^[3]

Membership changes

School	1980 Conference	1981 Conference
Abilene Christian	Lone Star (NAIA)	Lone Star (D-II)
Angelo State	Lone Star (NAIA)	Lone Star (D-II)
Eastern Washington	Evergreen (NAIA)	D-II Independent
Liberty	NAIA Independent	D-II Independent
Mankato State	Northern	Independent
Northern Michigan	Mid-Continent	D-II Independent
Portland State	I-AA Independent	D-II Independent
Southwest Missouri State	MIAA	Mid-Continent (I-AA)
Sonoma State	Club Team	Independent
Southwest Texas State	Lone Star (NAIA)	Lone Star (D-II)
St. Cloud State	Northern	Independent
Texas A&I	Lone Star (NAIA)	Lone Star (D-II)
Youngstown State	Mid-Continent (D-II)	Ohio Valley (I-AA)

Conference standings

1981 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Cal State Northridge $	2	–	0	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Cal Poly Pomona	1	–	1	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Cal Poly	0	–	2	–	0	4	–	5	–	0

$ – Conference champion

1981 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northern
No. 2 Virginia Union xy$^	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
Elizabeth City State ^	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 10 Hampton	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Norfolk State	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	1
Virginia State	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Saint Paul's (VA)	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	10	–	0
Southern
North Carolina Central xy	6	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Winston-Salem State	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Johnson C. Smith	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Fayetteville State	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	5	–	0
Livingstone	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Bowie State *	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Championship: Virginia Union 45, North Carolina Central 7
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant * – ineligible for conference title Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll for Virginia Union and NAIA Division I poll for Hampton

1981 Far Western Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
UC Davis +	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Cal State Hayward +	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Humboldt State	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Chico State	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Sacramento State	1	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
San Francisco State	0	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions

1981 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Grand Valley State $	6	–	0	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
No. 3 Hillsdale ^	5	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Ferris State	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	4	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Northwood	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Saginaw Valley State	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Michigan Tech	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1981 Gulf South Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Jacksonville State $^	6	–	0	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. T–10 North Alabama	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Livingston	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Mississippi College	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Tennessee–Martin	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Troy State	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Delta State	0	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1981 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Franklin (IN) +	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Indiana Central +	6	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Saint Joseph's (IN)	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Ashland	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Butler	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Evansville	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Georgetown (KY)	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Valparaiso	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions

1981 Lone Star Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Southwest Texas State $^	6	–	1	–	0	13	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Texas A&I	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Abilene Christian	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Angelo State	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 17 East Texas State	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Sam Houston State	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Howard Payne	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Stephen F. Austin	0	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll for Southwest Texas State and Texas A&I and NAIA Division I poll for East Texas State

1981 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
NE Missouri State $	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Missouri-Rolla	3	–	1	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
NW Missouri State	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Central Missouri State	2	–	2	–	1	4	–	4	–	3
SE Missouri State	2	–	3	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Lincoln (MO)	0	–	5	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant

1981 North Central Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 North Dakota State $^	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	3	–	0
North Dakota	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Northern Colorado	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
South Dakota *	3	–	3	–	1	5	–	6	–	0
Nebraska–Omaha	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
South Dakota State *	2	–	4	–	1	4	–	6	–	0
Morningside	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Augustana (SD)	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant * – South Dakota and South Dakota State split two head-to-head games, which counted as a tie for each team in the conference standings. Rankings from AP Poll

1981 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Moorhead State $*	6	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	1
Minnesota Duluth	5	–	1	–	0	9	–	1	–	0
Minnesota Morris ^	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	1
Southwest State (MN)	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Northern State	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Winona State	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Bemidji State	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant * – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1981 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
East Division
Millersville xy	5	–	0	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Kutztown	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
East Stroudsburg	3	–	2	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Mansfield	3	–	2	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Cheyney	1	–	4	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Bloomsburg	0	–	5	–	0	0	–	10	–	0
West Division
No. 8 Shippensburg xy$^	6	–	0	–	0	12	–	1	–	0
California (PA)	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Clarion	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Lock Haven	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Indiana (PA)	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Slippery Rock	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Edinboro	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	6	–	0
Championship: Shippensburg 34, Millersville 17
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from AP Poll

1981 NCAA Division II independents football records
v t e	Conf.			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 1 Northern Michigan ^		–		11	–	1	–	0
Puget Sound		–		10	–	2	–	0
West Chester		–		8	–	3	–	0
Eastern Washington		–		7	–	3	–	0
Saint Mary's		–		7	–	3	–	0
Southern Connecticut State		–		6	–	3	–	1
Alabama State		–		5	–	4	–	1
Arkansas–Pine Bluff		–		5	–	4	–	2
Central Connecticut		–		5	–	5	–	0
Mankato State		–		5	–	5	–	0
New Haven		–		4	–	4	–	2
Towson State		–		5	–	5	–	0
Morgan State		–		4	–	5	–	0
St. Cloud State		–		4	–	6	–	1
Central State (OH)		–		4	–	7	–	0
Sonoma State		–		3	–	7	–	0
Kentucky State		–		2	–	6	–	0
Santa Clara		–		2	–	8	–	0
Portland State		–		2	–	9	–	0
American International		–		1	–	8	–	0
Liberty		–		1	–	9	–	0

^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Conference summaries

Conference Champions
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Virginia Union Far Western Football Conference – UC Davis and Cal State–Hayward Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Grand Valley State Gulf South Conference – Jacksonville State Heartland Collegiate Conference – Franklin and Indiana Central Lone Star Conference – Southwest Texas State Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Northeast Missouri State North Central Conference – North Dakota State Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota State–Moorhead Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – Shippensburg Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – New Mexico Highlands South Atlantic Conference – Elon Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Alabama A&M

Postseason

The 1981 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the ninth single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas, for the first time.

Playoff bracket

First round Campus sites		Semifinals Campus sites		Championship McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium McAllen, TX

Northern Michigan	55

Elizabeth City State	6
		Northern Michigan	0

		Southwest Texas State	62
Southwest Texas State	38

Jacksonville State	22
				Southwest Texas State	42

				North Dakota State	13
North Dakota State	24

Puget Sound	10
		North Dakota State	18

		Shippensburg	6
Shippensburg	40

Virginia Union	27

References

^ "1981 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/296705181/?match=1&clipping_id=176705217
^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/379468171/?match=1&clipping_id=176925634

[1] "1981 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 4, 2014.

[2] ttps://www.newspapers.com/image/296705181/?match=1&clipping_id=176705217

[3] ttps://www.newspapers.com/image/379468171/?match=1&clipping_id=176925634

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e NCAA football seasons
Pre-NCAA	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905
NCAA pre-divisional	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961
NCAA University Division	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division I	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
NCAA College Division	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division II	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
NCAA Division III	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025