Football championship game
The NAIA football national championship is decided by a post-season playoff system featuring the best National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) college football teams in the United States. Under sponsorship of the NAIA, the championship game has been played annually since 1956.[ 1]
In 1970, NAIA football was divided into two divisions based on enrollment, Division I and Division II
Texas A&I (now known as Texas A&M–Kingsville) is still the most prolific program with seven NAIA championships, despite having been in NCAA Division II since 1980. Carroll College of Montana is the most successful team still playing at the NAIA level, with six national titles.
Keiser is the current champion, having defeated the Northwestern Red Raiders in the 2023 title game, 31–21.
Over the years, the NAIA championship games were played under a variety of names:
Aluminum Bowl (1956)Holiday Bowl (1957–1960)[ a] Camellia Bowl (1961–1963)[ b] Champion Bowl (1964–1976 and 1980–1996, Division I games only) Apple Bowl (1977, Division I game only) Palm Bowl (1978–1979, Division I games only) Season Date Champion Score Runner-up Location Winning 1956 December 22, 1956 Montana State Saint Joseph's (IN) 0–0[ c] Little Rock, Arkansas Tony Storti Bob Jauron 1957 December 21, 1957 Pittsburg State 27–26 Hillsdale Saint Petersburg, Florida Carnie Smith 1958 December 20, 1958 Northeastern State 19–13 Arizona State–Flagstaff Saint Petersburg, Florida Harold "Tuffy" Stratton 1959 December 19, 1959 Texas A&I 20–7 Lenoir–Rhyne Saint Petersburg, Florida Gil Steinke 1960 December 17, 1960 Lenoir–Rhyne 15–14 Humboldt State Saint Petersburg, Florida Clarence Stasavich 1961 December 9, 1961 Pittsburg State 12–7 Linfield Sacramento, California Carnie Smith 1962 December 8, 1962 Central State (OK) 28–13 Lenoir–Rhyne Sacramento, California Al Blevins 1963 December 14, 1963 Saint John's (MN) 33–27 Prairie View A&M Sacramento, California John Gagliardi 1964 December 12, 1964 Concordia (MN) Sam Houston State 7–7[ c] Augusta, Georgia Jake Christiansen Paul Pierce 1965 December 11, 1965 Saint John's (MN) 33–0 Linfield Augusta, Georgia John Gagliardi 1966 December 10, 1966 Waynesburg 42–21 Wisconsin–Whitewater Tulsa, Oklahoma Carl DePasqua 1967 December 9, 1967 Fairmont State 28–21 Eastern Washington Morgantown, West Virginia Harold "Deacon" Duvall 1968 December 14, 1968 Troy State 43–35 Texas A&I Montgomery, Alabama Billy Atkins 1969 December 13, 1969 Texas A&I 32–7 Concordia (MN) Kingsville, Texas Gil Steinke 1970 December 12, 1970 Texas A&I 48–7 Wofford Greenville, South Carolina Gil Steinke 1971 December 11, 1971 Livingston 14–12 Arkansas Tech Birmingham, Alabama Mickey Andrews 1972 December 9, 1972 East Texas State 21–18 Carson–Newman Commerce, Texas Ernest Hawkins 1973 December 8, 1973 Abilene Christian 42–14 Elon Shreveport, Louisiana Wally Bullington 1974 December 14, 1974 Texas A&I 34–23 Henderson State Kingsville, Texas Gil Steinke 1975 December 13, 1975 Texas A&I 37–0 Salem Kingsville, Texas Gil Steinke 1976 December 11, 1976 Texas A&I 26–0 Central Arkansas Kingsville, Texas Gil Steinke 1977 December 10, 1977 Abilene Christian 24–7 Southwestern Oklahoma State Seattle, Washington DeWitt Jones 1978 December 16, 1978 Angelo State 34–14 Elon McAllen, Texas Jim Hess 1979 December 15, 1979 Texas A&I 20–14 Central State (OK) McAllen, Texas Ron Harms 1980 December 20, 1980 Elon 17–10 Northeastern State Burlington, North Carolina Jerry Tolley 1981 December 19, 1981 Elon 3–0 Pittsburg State Burlington, North Carolina Jerry Tolley 1982 December 18, 1982 Central State (OK) 14–11 Mesa State Edmond, Oklahoma Gary Howard 1983 December 17, 1983 Carson–Newman 36–28 Mesa State Grand Junction, Colorado Ken Sparks 1984 December 15, 1984 Carson–Newman Central Arkansas 19–19[ c] Conway, Arkansas Ken Sparks Harold Horton 1985 December 21, 1985 Hillsdale Central Arkansas 10–10[ c] Conway, Arkansas Dick Lowry Harold Horton 1986 December 20, 1986 Carson–Newman 17–0 Cameron Jefferson City, Tennessee Ken Sparks 1987 December 19, 1987 Cameron 30–2 Carson–Newman Lawton, Oklahoma Brian Naber 1988 December 17, 1988 Carson–Newman 56–21 Adams State Jefferson City, Tennessee Ken Sparks 1989 December 16, 1989 Carson–Newman 34–20 Emporia State Jefferson City, Tennessee Ken Sparks 1990 December 8, 1990 Central State (OH) 38–16 Mesa State Grand Junction, Colorado Billy Joe 1991 December 14, 1991 Central Arkansas 19–16 Central State (OH) Wilberforce, Ohio Mike Isom 1992 December 12, 1992 Central State (OH) 19–16 Gardner–Webb Boiling Springs, North Carolina Billy Joe 1993 December 11, 1993 East Central 49–35 Glenville State Ada, Oklahoma Hank Walbrick 1994 December 10, 1994 Northeastern State 13–12 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Pine Bluff, Arkansas Tom Eckert 1995 December 2, 1995 Central State (OH) 37–7 Northeastern State Tahlequah, Oklahoma Rick Comegy 1996 December 7, 1996 Southwestern Oklahoma State 33–31 Montana Tech Weatherford, Oklahoma Paul Sharp 1997 December 20, 1997 Findlay 14–7 Willamette Savannah, Tennessee Dick Strahm 1998 December 19, 1998 Azusa Pacific 17–14 Olivet Nazarene Savannah, Tennessee Vic Shealy 1999 December 18, 1999 Northwestern Oklahoma State 34–26 Georgetown (KY) Savannah, Tennessee Tim Albin 2000 December 16, 2000 Georgetown (KY) 20–0 Northwestern Oklahoma State Savannah, Tennessee Bill Cronin 2001 December 15, 2001 Georgetown (KY) 49–27 Sioux Falls Savannah, Tennessee Bill Cronin 2002 December 21, 2002 Carroll (MT) 28–7 Georgetown (KY) Savannah, Tennessee Mike Van Diest 2003 December 20, 2003 Carroll (MT) 41–28 Northwestern Oklahoma State Savannah, Tennessee Mike Van Diest 2004 December 18, 2004 Carroll (MT) 15–13 (2 OT) Saint Francis (IN) Savannah, Tennessee Mike Van Diest 2005 December 17, 2005 Carroll (MT) 27–10 Saint Francis (IN) Savannah, Tennessee Mike Van Diest 2006 December 16, 2006 Sioux Falls 23–19 Saint Francis (IN) Savannah, Tennessee Kalen DeBoer 2007 December 15, 2007 Carroll (MT) 17–9 Sioux Falls Savannah, Tennessee Mike Van Diest 2008 December 20, 2008 Sioux Falls 23–7 Carroll (MT) Rome, Georgia Kalen DeBoer 2009 December 19, 2009 Sioux Falls 25–22 Lindenwood Rome, Georgia Kalen DeBoer 2010 December 18, 2010 Carroll (MT) 10–7 Sioux Falls Rome, Georgia Mike Van Diest 2011 December 17, 2011 Saint Xavier 24–20 Carroll (MT) Rome, Georgia Mike Feminis 2012 December 13, 2012 Marian (IN) 30–27 (OT) Morningside Rome, Georgia Ted Karras Jr. 2013 December 21, 2013 Grand View 35–23 Cumberlands (KY) Rome, Georgia Mike Woodley 2014 December 19, 2014 Southern Oregon 55–31 Marian (IN) Daytona Beach, Florida Craig Howard 2015 December 19, 2015 Marian (IN) 31–14 Southern Oregon Daytona Beach, Florida Mark Henninger 2016 December 17, 2016 Saint Francis (IN) 38–17 Baker Daytona Beach, Florida Kevin Donley 2017 December 16, 2017 Saint Francis (IN) 24–13 Reinhardt Daytona Beach, Florida Kevin Donley 2018 December 15, 2018 Morningside 35–28 Benedictine Daytona Beach, Florida Steve Ryan 2019 December 21, 2019 Morningside 40–38 Marian (IN) Grambling, Louisiana Steve Ryan 2020 [ d] May 10, 2021 Lindsey Wilson 45–13 Northwestern (IA) Grambling, Louisiana Chris Oliver 2021 December 18, 2021 Morningside 38–28 Grand View Durham, North Carolina Steve Ryan 2022 December 17, 2022 Northwestern (IA) 35–25 Keiser Durham, North Carolina Matt McCarty 2023 December 18, 2023 Keiser 31–21 Northwestern (IA) Durham, North Carolina Doug Socha
Championships by school [ edit ] Programs that no longer compete in NAIA are indicated in italics with a pink background. Team Championships Winning years Texas A&I (Texas A&M–Kingsville) 7 1959, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979 Carroll (MT) 6 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010 Carson–Newman 5 1983, 1984,[ a] Central Arkansas 3 1984,[ a] [ a] Central State (OH) 3 1990, 1992, 1995 Sioux Falls 3 2006, 2008, 2009 Morningside 3 2018, 2019, 2021 Pittsburg State 2 1957, 1961 Saint John's (MN) 2 1963, 1965 Abilene Christian 2 1973, 1977 Elon 2 1980, 1981 Central State (OK) (Central Oklahoma) 2 1962, 1982 Northeastern State 2 1958, 1994 Georgetown (KY) 2 2000, 2001 Marian (IN) 2 2012, 2015 Saint Francis (IN) 2 2016, 2017 Montana State 1 1956[ a] Saint Joseph's (IN) 1 1956[ a] Lenoir–Rhyne 1 1960 Concordia–Moorhead 1 1964[ a] Sam Houston State 1 1964[ a] Waynesburg 1 1966 Fairmont State 1 1967 Troy State (Troy) 1 1968 Livingston (West Alabama) 1 1971 East Texas State (Texas A&M–Commerce) 1 1972 Angelo State 1 1978 Hillsdale 1 1985[ a] Cameron 1 1987 East Central (OK) 1 1993 Southwestern Oklahoma 1 1996 Findlay (OH) 1 1997 Azusa Pacific 1 1998 Northwestern Oklahoma 1 1999 Saint Xavier 1 2011 Grand View 1 2013 Southern Oregon 1 2014 Lindsey Wilson 1 2020 Northwestern (IA) 1 2022 Keiser 1 2023
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