1979 NAIA Division I football season

1979 NAIA Division I football season
Regular seasonAugust–November 1979
PostseasonDecember 1–15, 1979
National ChampionshipMcAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium
McAllen, TX
ChampionsTexas A&I (6)

The 1979 NAIA Division I football season was the 24th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 10th season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1979 and culminated in the 1979 NAIA Division I Football National Championship. Known again this year as the Palm Bowl, the title game was played on December 15, 1979, at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas.[1]

The Texas A&I Javelinas defeated the Central State Bronchos in the Palm Bowl, 20–14, to win their sixth NAIA national title.[2]

Conference realignment

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Membership changes

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Team 1978 conference 1979 conference
Eastern Washington Evergreen (NAIA) Independent (NCAA Division II)

Conference standings

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1979 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 11 Arkansas–Monticello $ 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
Henderson State 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Arkansas Tech 3 – 2 – 1 3 – 6 – 1
Central Arkansas 2 – 2 – 2 7 – 2 – 2
Ouachita Baptist 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Harding 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Southern Arkansas 1 – 4 – 1 3 – 6 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 Central States Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Kearney State +^ 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Pittsburg State + 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Missouri Western 3 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Missouri Southern 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Wayne State (NE) 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 1
Fort Hays State 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Emporia State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Washburn 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 Evergreen Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 13 Oregon College $ 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 1 – 1
No. T–15 Oregon Tech 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Eastern Oregon 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Western Washington 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Southern Oregon 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Central Washington 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 8 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 Saginaw Valley State $^ 4 – 0 – 1 8 – 2 – 1
Wayne State (MI) 3 – 1 – 1 3 – 5 – 1
Ferris State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 1
Grand Valley State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Northwood 1 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Hillsdale 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 Lone Star Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Texas A&I $^ 6 – 1 – 0 12 – 1 – 0
No. 17 Stephen F. Austin 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
No. 7 Angelo State ^ 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
East Texas State 5 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Abilene Christian 3 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
No. 19 Southwest Texas State 3 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Howard Payne 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Sam Houston State 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Minnesota Duluth + 7 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Moorhead State + 7 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Minnesota Morris ^ 6 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
St. Cloud State 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Mankato State 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Michigan Tech 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Southwest State (MN) 2 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Bemidji State 1 – 7 – 0 1 – 8 – 1
Winona State 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 11 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant
1979 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
East Central $ 4 – 0 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
No. 18 SW Oklahoma State 3 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
No. 12 Northeastern State 2 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
SE Oklahoma State 1 – 3 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
NW Oklahoma State 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Western State (CO) $^ 7 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
No. 14 Southern Colorado 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Colorado Mines 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Adams State 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Fort Lewis 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Southern Utah 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
New Mexico Highlands 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Western New Mexico 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Mesa 1 – 7 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 South Atlantic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Presbyterian $^ 7 – 0 – 0 11 – 2 – 0
No. 9 Mars Hill 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 1
Carson–Newman 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Elon 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Newberry 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Lenoir–Rhyne 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Catawba 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Gardner–Webb 1 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Northern Division
No. 10 Fairmont State xy$ 7 – 1 – 1 9 – 1 – 1
No. T–15th West Liberty State x 7 – 1 – 1 7 – 2 – 1
Salem 6 – 2 – 1 6 – 3 – 1
Shepherd 5 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
West Virginia Wesleyan 1 – 8 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
Southern Division
West Virginia State xy 6 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Concord 4 – 3 – 2 5 – 3 – 2
Glenville State 3 – 6 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
West Virginia Tech 1 – 6 – 2 1 – 6 – 2
Bluefield State 1 – 7 – 1 1 – 8 – 1
Championship: Fairmont State 14, West Virginia State 13
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 Wisconsin State University Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Wisconsin–River Falls $^ 7 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
No. 20 Wisconsin–La Crosse 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Wisconsin–Whitewater 6 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Wisconsin–Stout 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Wisconsin–Stevens Point 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Wisconsin–Oshkosh 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Wisconsin–Platteville 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Wisconsin–Eau Claire 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Wisconsin–Superior 0 – 8 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
    Wisconsin–Eau Claire forfeited two non-conference games.
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 NAIA Division I independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Liberty Baptist   –   9 – 1 – 1
No. 5 Central State (OK) ^   –   11 – 2 – 0
Kentucky State   –   6 – 5 – 0
Wofford   –   5 – 5 – 0
Guilford   –   4 – 5 – 0
Eastern New Mexico   –   4 – 6 – 0
Cameron   –   3 – 7 – 0
Langston   –   1 – 8 – 0
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

Conference champions

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Conference Champion Record
Arkansas Arkansas–Monticello 5–1
Central States Kearney State
Pittsburg State 		6–1
Evergreen Oregon College 5–0
Great Lakes Saginaw Valley State 4–0–1
Lone Star Texas A&I 6–1
NIC Minnesota–Duluth
Moorhead State (MN) 		7–1
Oklahoma East Central State 4–0
RMAC Western State (CO) 7–1
South Atlantic Presbyterian 7–0
WVIAC North: Fairmont and West Liberty State
South: West Virginia State 		6–2–1
6–3
Wisconsin State Wisconsin–River Falls 7–1

Postseason

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Quarterfinals
December 1, 1979
Campus sites 		Semifinals
December 8, 1979
Campus sites 		1979 Palm Bowl
December 15, 1979
McAllen, TX
         
Saginaw Valley State 3
Presbyterian* 36
Presbyterian 6
Central State (OK)* 28
Central State (OK) 42
Kearney State* 22
Central State (OK) 14
Texas A&I 20
Wisconsin–River Falls 7
Angelo State* 31
Angelo State 19
Texas A&I* 22
Western State (CO) 14
Texas A&I* 38

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 November 22, 2015.
  2. ^ "1979 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
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